Art and architecture:
The movement of modernism is a movement that has been associated with the transformation of the western societies through development of industrial societies that then resulted to the development of cities. It is a movement that was conceived through the need to develop after the catastrophic events of the world wars. One of the main factors that the modernism has influenced is the aspect of architecture. The movement was developed as a way to reject and relinquish the traditional procedures of planning and adopting better and new methods that are capable of improving the social condition of people.
The movement first began in Europe and later spread to the United States of America. It was as a result of the availability of democracy in these countries and was catalysed by the industrial revolution that came after the two world wars which had caused lots of damage and loss of life.
The eighteenth century had ushered in a whole new era attributed to the great changes especially in technology that changed man’s life. The technological change changed man’s perception of life. However, technology was not the only factor that lead to modernism, philosophy to, had an important role. Both these factors are what led to the turning point of human's perception of life, and there was no turning back.
The modernism movement had been developed as a radical movement aimed at the complete change in the way Europeans perceived their ways of life, science, politics and mostly arts. The movement was rebellious in nature and tried as much as possible to reject the previously established attitudes and culture involving high corruption and wrong doings and whose influences need to be changed. This resulted to great dissatisfaction and in turn forced modern thinkers as well as artist to seek better options and alternatives that would disregard traditional ways and adopt new and better ways that would help transform the society into a new and better place.
Modernism has also been associated with avant-garde a term that refers to ways involving innovations as well as experiments as far as art, politics and culture are concerned. This is an important aspect because it is what differentiated the modernism ways of expression to the traditional reserved ways. Avant-garde is involved with pushing boundaries of the normal perceptions, and it is what made the modernism movement radical in nature because of the fact that it disregards most of the rules and tried new things. The greatest influence of the avant-garde was in the field of architecture and as a result, there was a complete transformation of architecture to what has been referred to as radical architecture which was unified by technology and freed from the clutches of social injustice and in preparation of a new era of change and positive development. The movement resulted to the development of the “superstudio” which was a firm where architects could experiment their radical designs and experimental activities that rejected the old ways.
Architecture being a very influential part of the movement saw great changes to itself. The movement resulted to the rise of modern architects that were already inpatient with the traditional systems that had greatly influenced designs and limited architecture to traditional methods. An example is the development of Bauhaus in the year 1919 by an architecture called Walter Gropius. This was a school of architecture that was established was began to teach concepts of architecture and design that was different from that which was common at the time and tried to adopt new ideas revolutionized the architectural way of thinking.
Through the establishment of this school, the evolution of architecture based on modernism concept began and incorporated aspects that were new as well as more effective in the field. It is a good example of the old systems being attacked by the new system through changes in ideas as well as concepts, in order to establish something new and influence other architects, engineers and technicians to have a modern point of view involving all of them working together in a fused manner in order to produce effective and better results and far as building and construction is concerned.
The school’s ideas and concepts spread to others in Europe and more schools developed with such ideologies and visions. This was made possible by the fact that the European’s way was more influential and most of all radical in nature. It was also international in nature attributed to the use of language that is international. The values and principles it was advocating for were uncomplicated as well as straightforward and in contrast with the old ways it was clean, rational, incorrupt and universal thanks to its use of an international language .
The modernism in architecture was a way of updating architectural definitions to those of the present that believed more in solving problems and performance. It adopted new technologies that were advanced, maintained integrity and also was very much environmental conscious. The movement took consideration of all important aspects in the building and construction and developed new ways that incorporated a bottom-up approach and saw more success.
The fact that the European’s modernism movement was successful led to its spread to other places, and the United States is one of them. In the US the changes in the economy, society and politics attributed to the two world wars made architecture develop the need for new changes. These changes were more geared towards the equality, reforms in the society and freedom of choice. These aspects were used by the architects and exerted great influence through building and construction through which the rest of the population also adopted. Building and construction mainly through architecture became simpler as well as advanced because of the fact that the modernism movements advocates for the use of rational and simple concepts in design that encourage the positive expression necessary for the effective and sustainable building and construction.
All these factors put into emphasis the need to change from the old negative ways and adopt to new contemporary building as well as develop better ways of handling building and construction challenges. The world wars had great effects in the building and construction sector due to much stalling caused by financial problems. As a result, a gap developed in the American construction industry. The end of the war resulted to a surge in the construction of buildings. This was a time when the modernism movement had already taken root in the country and as a result it had greatly influenced the construction and the building of structures in the United States which incorporated new aspects of ideas, design and materials that together led to a whole new system.
The other factors that influenced the thriving of the modernism movement in the US is the country's demographic change associated with the rise in the middle-class citizens that was shifting from rural to urban settlement. This class of people had a high purchasing power and, as a result, they resulted to the development of cities and suburbs with housing that incorporated modernism aspects. It also resulted to the developed of other types of buildings around the settlement areas ranging from commercial buildings, civic buildings, industrial buildings all of which developed the country’s building and construction.
In America, the aspect of modernism was adopted through two main ways, and the first one was through the adoption of the imported philosophy from Europe mainly from Bauhaus school. This was a way done through introduction into the country by major players such as Walter Gropius who had to come to America and introduce the philosophy which involved the fusion of the art and the construction industry in a manner that influences the people’s lives. The other way through which the modernism movement was introduced in the United States was through humanist architecture that helped incorporate aspects of respect for nature and environment in the building and construction of structures in the country. They consider the construction sites full natural characteristics making the construction sustainable in nature. These two factors have been successful in the adoption of the modernism in the United States and in turn it has greatly influenced the building and construction in the country.
The aspect of modernism began to be seen in America with architectural structures having adopted international styles of design. Examples are office buildings designed and constructed in unique ways that incorporate various aspects of banking; offices escalators penthouse. All of which are different from the previous traditional designs, and they are also adoption of international styles of architecture. The Philadelphia savings fund society is one example of a building constructed in such a manner.
Some of the major architects that have embraced the avant-garde perception and used it for modernism movement include Robert Venturi and Aldo Rossi. Both of these men have contributed a lot to society as far as architectural designs are concerned mainly supporting and embracing radical architecture in their designs. Aldo Rossi was from Italy, and one of his biggest projects include the Modena cemetery this was a great structure that brought him great recognition worldwide. He was also associated with the use of monuments in cities to uphold its memories and help in structuring the city. On the other hand, Robert venture is an American architect that has provided very helpful insights in the field of architecture and design. He is attributed the development of the expression “less is a bore”, which was associated with postmodernism. One of his well-known projects is the Vanna Venturi house, which he designed for his mother. These are examples of the development and formalization of the modernism movement which is termed as post-modern architect. Both architects have developed great designs that have been influential and accepted as new international styles of architecture and showed how modernism movement mainly, the aspect of avant-garde has evolved through time .
Modernism therefore development as a radical movement that shifted from the traditional norms and adopted more innovative as well as experimental ways and, as a result, it gave rise to the radical architecture. This form of architecture was sustainable as it unified architects, engineers, as well as technician, and all took considerations of various important factors such as the natural characteristics of the surroundings of construction making them environmental conscious. The modernism movement grew and spread to the United States where it took root after the world wars and the great recession. These periods were associated with much destruction, and afterwards there was a great need to rebuild and restructure. It was during this time that modernism was greatly adopted and with the rise of the affluent middle class who were moving from rural to urban settlements, the sprouting of cities and suburbs began with designs from the new international styles of architecture. However, the movement needed more formalization and, as a result, it gave rise to postmodern architecture attributed to architects such as Aldo Rossi and Robert Venturi who provided great architectural designs in a more formalized way.
Works Cited
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Ghirardo, Diane Yvonne. Architecture after modernism. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1996.
"Modernism: How The Principles Developed - A Brief History." Modern San Diego Dot Com. http://www.modernsandiego.com/ModernDefinition.html (accessed October 23, 2014).
