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| This months cover, photo by K.K.W |
From Bauhaus to "The International Style" : New Architecture in NYC & Skopje.
By K.K.W
In 2006, Hugh Pearlman, the architectural critic of The Times, observed that those using the style ("The International Style") today are simply "another species of revivalist", noting the irony. (1) He certainly has a point, though as with everything, its the beginnings of the thing, its growth/change, through time and its influence long after its beginning.
If you asked me now I would have to be honest; most of the new architecture in NYC (Brooklyn & Manhattan), I noticed it, although I did not see it.
Meaning it didn't click and start a chain reaction of creativity. As of now, its all I see.
The extensive use of glass, the simplicity in design, the lack of ornamentation and their often stark contrast to the other buildings that seem from bygone eras, whose meaning has not yet been forgotten, though its quickly fading.
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| Bauhaus University, Weimar Germany 1911 Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
Most if not all the new architecture ("The young ones") in New York and Skopje is of the "International Style" (Bauhaus), or features elements of it. This is mainly the absence of ornamentation and by harmony between the function of the building and its design. However, for many of the new buildings it just might be the look, and some fleeting sense of the Bauhaus ideology, which may be a matter of opinion. Simplicity (sometimes radical), low-cost materials, adoption of large amounts of glass (geared towards use of natural light), and depending on the function of the building or structure and how many in the same area - pleasant /disturbing uniformity (cost effective).
Much of what fueled the development of the Bauhaus (International style) is "Modernism", a cultural movement whose origins lay as far back as the 1880's, and the rise of the industrialized world of the 20th century. These two aspects provided the guideline for most of the creative fields - "make it new!" -Ezra Pound(1). Traditional forms and ways of creating were seen as out-dated and obsolete. A salient characteristic of that time was self-consciousness, leading to experiments with form and work that draws attention to the process and materials used. And the materials to be used: glass, steel/iron, re-inforced concrete and cast-iron were now produced on an even larger scale then before. The forms were beginning to be simplified and geometrically emphasized. The Crystal Palace, Paddington station, Brooklyn Bridge, the Effel Tower, AEG Turbine Factory, The Fagus Factory, The Bauhaus University at Weimar & Dessau.
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| Bauhaus School, Dessau Germany 1926 Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
As society began to drastically change with the onset of the 20th century and the rise of modern urban centers, you had radicals like Walter Groupius who would expound - "...we want architecture adapted to our world of machines, radios and fast cars." (3). His style of architecture and consumer goods was to be functional, cheap, and consistent with mass production, which worked well in Germany before WWI & WWII, but mostly after WWII, to address the postwar housing crisis and to fulfill the promise of article 155 of the 1919 Weimar Constitution ("..a healthy dwelling.." for all Germans, 4). In the United States, given the difference in government, economics, and society, much of this would be transfered, although without the municipal-socialist ideology. In socialist Yugoslavia modern architecture would have a strong influence and display its own social and cultural context. " The Brutalist Style", an off-shoot of "The International Style" developed by Le Corbusier would become very popular there. This, especially after the major earthquake that destroyed much of Skopje in 1963. Both Gropius and Marcel Breuer would teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and their collaboration produced "The Aluminum city terrace" in New Kensington Pennsylvania and the Alan I W Frank House in Pittsburgh.
The Harvard school was enormously influential in America during the 1920's and early 30's producing such greats as Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, Lawrence Halprin and Paul Rudolph. Philip Johnson would meet Mies van der Rohe (architect-director of the Bauhaus school, 1930-33) in 1928 which was a revelation for him at the time, and would help lead to major influences in American architecture for next 30 years. Both Johnson and Henry Russell Hitchcock along with Alfred H Boar (after touring Europe) would produce the landmark exhibition, "The International Style" : Architecture since 1922 at the Museum Of Modern Art (1932). The show was a smash, introducing architects like Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. It would help to put forth the ideals of the Bauhaus ideologies and heavily influence American, and modern architecture in general. The book accompanying the show, coauthored with Hitchcock , Johnson argued that the modern style maintained three formal principals: 1. an emphasis on architectural volume over mass (planes rather than solidity) 2. a rejection of symmetry, and 3. rejection of applied decoration. Often enough you find that these principals are not always rigidly applied.
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| Villa Savoye, France 1928 Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
You can see much of this and aspects of the Bauhaus movement in structures like The Villa Savoye - Possiy, France - 1931, the Glass Palace: Heerlen Netherlands - 1935, the Glass House: New Canaan Connecticut - 1949, The "Lever House": NYC -1952, The Seagram Building: NYC -1956, and Kunsthalle: Bielefeld, Germany, 1968. All of theses structures are striking in that they figuratively overshadowed much of the other architecture of their time and contrasted strongly with them, that they became unforgettable. Also, there was the major influence they ("the young ones" of their day) spurred. The same can be seen with architecture in New York and Skopje, as much of the it both visually and or by design, incorporate so much of the principals of Bauhaus (The International style). The MRT Center building: Skopje, 1984, a shopping center in Vero Skopje , a residential building: on the Westside of Manhattan, NYC, Soravia Center: Skopje, a residential building: @ The Highline, NYC, The seat of the European Union: Skopje.
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| The Engel House, in the white city of Tel Aviv, 1933. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Glass palace, Netherlands 1935 Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
"The people are the creators and or inhabitants of the city and its structures, moving through and about them like blood cells move through our veins. The one without the other is pointless and more importantly, cannot be. Finding common ground, similarities, exchanging ideas while bringing attention to the disappearing parts of our cities due to change, is the goal of the project. To find some beauty, if any, in the juxtaposition of the "young ones" to their elders." (5). For more info go the project page on Facebook & see articles @ www.studiophoenix.blogspot.com - April 2012 post's.
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| The MoMa (Museum of Modern art) NYC 1939. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Glass house, New Canaan Connecticut 1949 Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Farnsworth house Chicago Illinois, 1951. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Lever House, NYC 1952. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Seagram building, NYC 1956. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| The Europa Center, Germany (as seen from the Kurfurstendamm) 1965. This building was directly inspired by The Lever House.
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| MRT building 1984, Skopje Macedonia. Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| Sorovia Center, Skopje (recent) Photo courtesy of Darkkind |
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| Skopje, center of the town, crossroad between Kliment ohridskistreet and boulevard PArtizanski odredi. Photo courtesy of Matej Bogdanovski |
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| Seat of the European Union: Skopje Macedonia Image courtesy of wikipedia |
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| MoMa (Modern museum of art) NYC 2004. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia |
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| Residential building @ The Highline, west-side NYC. Photo by K.K.W |
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| Residential buildings, Williamsburg Bklyn NYC. Photo by K.K.W |
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| Residential buildings, Williamsburg Bklyn NYC. Photo by K.K.W |
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| Residential buildings, Williamsburg Bklyn NYC. Photo by K.K.W |
