ARCHITECTURAL MODERNISM – IS BAUHAUS STILL RELEVANT?

Villa Savoye (Wikimedia Commons 2008)

Modernism formally emerged as a movement in the Bauhaus School (1919-1932) founded by architect Walter Gropius in Germany, first at Weimar and later at Dessau and Berlin, where the essence of the style was encapsulated in the famous tenet “Form follows function”. 

In all fairness, early Modernist works precede that date, and a parade of names must include Adolf Meyer, concrete pioneer Auguste Perret, Richard Neutra, as well as Louis Sullivan (although not a Modernist in the strict sense as he used some ornament), mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright and the father of the contemporary skyscraper. The Fagus Factory in Alfed, Germany, designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer (1913), is a rather elegant building and a fine example of early Modern architecture.

The four fathers of the Modern Movement are widely acknowledged as architects Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rhoe, Le Corbusier (the pseudonym of Swiss French architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret) and Frank Lloyd Wright. The whole design philosophy is evident in Le Corbusier’s iconic Villa Savoye (1931) in Poissy, on the outskirts of Paris, designed in collaboration with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, specifically, in its four principles: open plan, pilotis, strip windows and roof garden. In reference to the strip windows, structural advancements had made it possible for the façade to be like a skin, free of any structural elements, thus allowing the whole width of it to be covered in glass; unheard of before, when buildings had load bearing exterior walls, requiring windows on the façade to be sparse and relatively small in area. It’s not an overstatement to emphasize that the Villa Savoye more than any other Modernist work had a profound influence on architecture across the world.

Ludwig Mies van der Rhoe’s short lived Barcelona Pavilion (1929) was a small and elegant yet powerful statement of Modernism. Frank Lloyd Wright, self-proclaimed as the greatest American architect, designed Fallingwater (1939) in Mill Run, Pensylvania, a home in the woods over a waterfall, with cozy furnishings designed by Wright himself. Wright, in contrast to his contemporaries, generally followed a naturalistic approach, blending edifice and landscaping; his philosophy of organic architecture, were structures were in harmony with the environment and man. Wright also designed the exemplary Johnson Wax headquarters (1939), in Racine, Wisconsin (1939), including the furnishings, in an open plan concept. Whenever he could, Wright preferred to design the furnishings as well, thus having total control over his creation.

Philip Johnson’s supreme Glass House (1953) in New Canaan, Connecticut, was a prismatic, totally transparent home with glass all around, the only private area being the toilet, in the form of a cylinder in the middle of the building. Accused as being voyeuristic, one should consider that it was built in private landscaped grounds, thus allowing a certain degree of privacy. The Farnsworth House (1951) in Plano, Illinois, preceding it, designed by Mies van der Rhoe, had a similar concept and perhaps served as an inspiration for Johnson’s creation.

Oscar Niemeyer by all accounts was an innovative architect, responsible for key Modernist works, most notably the Brasilia complex, the ambitious project for a new capital for Brazil, based on a social ideology. It involved the construction of an entire city in the barren center of the country, and it served in effect as an interesting city planning exercise.

In 1928 CIAM (Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne) indeed established Modernism as a bona fide movement. Most contemporary cities in the world, like Chicago, New York, London, Athens or Berlin, with their proliferation of concrete flat-toped boxes, exemplify the spirit of Modernism, as the de facto dominant civic style. Multiple apartments in large buildings, laid out according to a rational grid, their interiors being stark, devoid of any structural ornament, are utterly functional, being true to the famous tenet of Modernism. Their interior spaces are like a tabula rasa, allowing the Interior Designer the freedom to intervene in an unrestrained fashion. Although in most cases it’s assumed that the designer would logically follow the cues of the building thus creating an interior space in accord with the Modern Style, or even in the Urban Style idiom. 

Let’s interject here that the International Style coincides chronologically with some Modernist works, such as the Villa Savoye. Parenthetically, the term International Style was coined by MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) curators Henry-Russel Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in 1932, in reference to post WWI architectural works in Europe, describing prismatic, color and ornament free mass produced buildings, with flat surfaces typically alternating with areas of glass. 

In contrast to other design styles, Modernism initially had solid social roots. For it idealistically embraced the Industrial Revolution, mass production and technology, in order to make housing and furniture accessible to the masses. However, this noble endeavor was abandoned a few years later, especially upon the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in Saint Louis in the mid-seventies (designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki) and the perceived failure of urban renewal. Architects became disillusioned and abandoned their social agenda, concentrating on what they unquestionably knew best: Form giving.

Modernism has been accused of being too stark and austere, as even photographs of buildings are devoid of people and automobiles. However, both accusations seem unwarranted, considering that lack of structural ornament is not a minus, while people and automobiles tend to date photographs, adversely affecting the relative permanence of an edifice. 

Surprisingly, Modernism has returned as a viable expressive style with a new following, after a short absence (having been deposed mainly by Post Modernism and Deconstruction), for it’s functional, logical and apparently still relevant. Last but not least, the importance of Modernism is also confirmed by the fact that it gave rise to satellite architectural styles.

Bauhaus at Dessau (Wikimedia Commons 2005)

Fagus Factory (Wikimedia Commons 2007) 

Johnson Wax headquarters (Wikimedia Commons 2005)

Fallingwater (Wikimedia Commons 2010)

Glass House (Wikimedia Commons 2009) 

The National Congress of Brazil, Brasilia (Wikimedia Commons, Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, 2007) 

Robie House – Frank Lloyd Wright (Wikimedia Commons, Cervin Robinson 1963)

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