The 10 Most Influential Buildings Of The 20Th Century – A Beginner’s Guide To Contemporary Architecture
- Great plot to start learning about architecture
- Reference guide with some of the most important architects and buildings in recent history
From Prehistory to Postmodernity, architectural styles have always provided a compelling window into the past for anyone interested in the origins and nature of human cultures. Buildings reflect the essence of a time and place, preserved in stone or etched in marble, like no other kind of artifact. Of course, most people are familiar with greatest works of ancient, medieval and renaissance architecture, though few are aware of critical works from the past century that have shaped the way architects execute today.
It speaks volumes about humanity’s age-old fascination with the built environment that 5 of the 7 unusual “Wonders of the World” were architectural. There are many now-famous works of architectural genius from pre-historic times, from Egyptian pyramids to Mayan temples. There are also famous structures from Greek and Roman times, including the Parthenon, Pantheon and great Coliseum of Rome. However, these are far less influential on the way buildings are designed today than certain key architectural works of Original, Post-Modernism and contemporary Deconstructivist movements. The following 10 buildings picture critical works from each of these movements. As each, each of these structures is frequently cited in the field of architecture and beyond. By examining these buildings briefly, one can understand the origins of contemporary approaches to building create.
1) Villa Savoye (by Le Corbusier). This is perhaps the most famous work of the most famous modern architect. This house represents all of what Le Corbusier believed to be modern ideals: it was raised up on columns, had an ‘open plan’ (free of load-bearing walls and able to be rearranged), and it had expansive windows opening out to views of the landscape. As a counterpoint to this highly Modern house, however, it is worth looking at his also-notable Notre Dam du Haut – a church that demonstrated Le Corbusier’s believe that religious architecture was uniquely suited to being abstract, expressive and sublime.
2) Barcelona Pavilion (by Mies van der Rohe). Similar to the Villa Savoye, this structure used columns for its succor which allowed rooms and walls to be openly configured in any way imaginable. It was a ‘complete design,’ including furniture designed by the architect. Though the building was made for a temporary exhibition and its original parts were lost after it was deconstructed, the entire structure was rebuilt from plans and pictures in the 1970′s because of its significance to the history of Fresh architecture.
3) Glass House (by Glass). This is perhaps the height of Unique theories put into practice: an incredibly simple steel-and-glass house which, though it was effectively useless to live in due to the Greenhouse Effect, epitomized the simplicity that Modernism aspired to at its utmost.
4) Bauhaus School (by Gropius). This structure is a pure expression of determined Modernist ideals, including abstract composition and the use of industrial materials, this was not only one of the most famous schools for teaching Modern architecture: the building itself was an excellent example of the movement.
5) Fallingwater (by Wright). The most published piece of American Modernism, this building in fact showed Wright’s amazing abilities to synthesize aspects of different styles, blending materials and modes of expression from the Arts and Crafts movement with the abstraction and aesthetics of movement associated with Modernism. This contrast is highlighted by his use of stone for vertical elements and use of concrete for horizontal ones.
6) Vanna Venturi House (by Venturi). This may be the most commonly referenced example of the origins of Postmodernism. It shows how the normal symbolism of a home can be enhanced and distorted through sportive effects – a stark contrast to the simplicity and elegance associated with Modernism. The famous front-view photograph makes it look almost looks like an child’s abstract drawing of a house.
7) Parc de la Villette (by Tschumi). This park is widely considered to be the first precise fraction of Deconstructivist architecture. The architect randomly arranged and intersected series of abstract elements, explaining that his goal was to strip architecture of all meaning and allow its users to give it meanings of their own. This was contrary to the Modernist dictum that “form follows function” as well as the Postmodern preoccupation with recognizable symbols and ornament.
Frank Gehry House (by Gehry). This was an early work of Deconstructivism in which the architect and owner of the house began to experiment with different forms and materials, from adding chain-link fence and unpainted ply-wood to his yard to ripping the plaster off of walls and leaving the studs bare for all to see. It predates Gehry’s more renowned works, but also portends them.
9) Columbus Convention Center (by Eisenmann). This building pushes the strangeness of Deconstruction in architecture to its limits, using as inspiration the abstract trajectories of planes flying over the building’s place. It has been critiqued for its confusing lack of usability.
10) Seattle Public Library (by Rem Koolhaas). In this structure, Koolhaas radically rethought the nature of a library, considering what was appropriate to our contemporary information technologies. Using a complex process of radiant and computer analysis, as well as the latest in structural engineering technologies and mapping, the architect generated what looks like a strangely deformed skyscraper.
Each of these works is, of course, merely a starting place for further investigation. However, with this basic knowledge in hand, it is possible to search by architect, building or movement to learn more about particularly interesting people, places and times relevant to the history of architecture. This article is but a witness, a small taste of that vast history of architectural styles. Consider it a beginner’s guide, an overview, something to pique interest and arouse curiosity by chronologically tracing human progress as evidenced in works of architecture.
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