Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright
Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius was born in Berlin, Germany. Between 1903 and 1907, he studied architecture in Munich and Berlin. He founded the school of Bahuaus in Weimar in 1919. The main concept of Bauhaus was that all the arts should be combined and work together as a "comprehensive artwork". The school was closed in 1933 because the Nazi regime thought it was a centre of communist ideas. Gropius was forced to leave Germany and in the USA became professor at Harvard and founded a design team, called "The Architects' Collaborative", because he believed in the value of teamwork. He developed a new style, borrowing materials from modern technology (steel, glass, reinforced concrete). He introduced a new system, the Curtain Wall System: it allowed glass walls with no interruptions thanks to an internal steel structure. Gropius's style was minimalistic. It consisted of basic shapes and straigh lines, avoiding eccessive or extravagant designs. He died in Massachussets in 1969.
Curtain Wall System
Instead of using exterior walls to support the building, Gropius used a structure made of steel that supported the floor slabs* from inside. This meant the outer wall was no longer load-bearing and functioned as a non-structural "curtain" of glass, which could continue without interruption. To create a truly seamless façade, especially at the corners, Gropius moved the structural columns back from the edge of the building. This allowed the glass façade to continue without interruption. The glass could wrap around the corners of the building. No vertical structural pillars blocked the façade.
*Floor slabs are horizontal, structural elements, usually made of steel-reinforced concrete, that form the floors and ceilings of a building.
load-bearing: portante (adj)seamless (adj) facade (n): facciata senza soluzione di continuità (facciata vetrata continua) floor slabs (n): solai
The Architects Collaborative
The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects in 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. TAC functioned as a team rather than on an individual basis, which was considered a unique method of architectural practice, which reflected Gropius' philosophy of working collaboratively with others when he was a Bauhaus instructor in Germany prior to TAC.
Germany Architecture, Munich and Berlin The School of Bahuaus all the arts shoulld be combained and work together as a whole professor at Harvard the value of teamwork (he founded the Architects'collaborative) borrowing materials from modern technology The Curtains Wall system: glass walls with no interruptions were possibile thanks to an interior steel structure Minimalistic (basic shapes, straight lines, no decorations) Massachussets
He was born in _____________ He studied ____________ in ________ He founded ____________________ The main concept was that ____________ He became _________________________ He believed in _______________________ He developed a new style _____________ He introduced a new system ___________ Gropius's style was ________ . It consisted of _______ He died in ________________
was born: nacque studied: studiò founded: fondò the main concept was: il concetto principale era became: divenne believed in: credeva in developed a new style: sviluppò un nuovo stile introduced a new system: introdusse un nuovo sistema it consisted of: consiteva in died: morì
Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier was born in Switzerland. His true name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier was a pseudonym. He wasn't just a famous architect of the Modern Movement, he was also an urban planner, a furniture designer, an artist and a writer. At the beginning of his career, he travelled around Europe and worked with famous architects in Paris and Germany. In 1916 he moved to Paris, where he adopted his pseudonym and started to study the Purist theory*. He saw the problems of the industrialized city and tried to find efficient architectural solutions for people living in slums in order to improve the quality of their lives.
*Developed in France after WW1 as a reaction against the fragmentation of Cubism and the decorative nature of Art Nouveau, Purism wanted to create a new rational style in agreement with the industrial age.
Le Corbusier's 5 main ideas
of
Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye
It was built by Le Corbusier in Poissy (outside Paris), between 1929 and 1931. It is an example of a modernist villa and its design includes Le Corbusier's 5 points of Architecture.
Le Corbusier's Contemporary City
In 1930 Le Corbusier made a plan for an ideal city: Ville radieuse. It was never realized. The main aspect were function, efficiency, mass production. The 5% of the city centre consisted of skyscrapers and the remaining 95% of parks with trees.
Social elite
Working class
would live in the city centre
would live at the edge of the city in modest apartments
Although he received great criticism, he also provoked discussions on how to deal with the terrible life conditions of industrial cities.
Frank Lloyd Wright
He was an American architect, one of the most influential of the first half of the 20th century.
He studied Engineering at the university but left without finishing.
In 1887 he moved to Chicago and joined an innovative and progressive architectural firm (Adler and Sullivan).
Frank Lloyd Wright: the Prairie style
In 1893 Wright founded his architectural practice in Oak Park, a village near Chicago.He developed a bold new approach to domestic architecture, the Prairie style. It was a style inspired by the wide, flat landscape of America’s Midwest. Prairie means "prateria".
*practice: studio
During his Prarie period (1900/1910) he designed - low buildings (low: bassi) with:
- sloping roofs (tetti spioventi)
- supressed chimneys (camini "nascosti")
- overhangs and terraces (sporgenze e terrazze)
- unfinished materials
supressed chimneys: chimneys are not visually prominent; they’re hidden, minimized, or blended into the building design.
Frederick Robie House
Frank Lloyd Wright: Usonian houses
Usonian: related to the United States
During the 1930s he started designing Usonian houses, meant for the middle class. They are characterized by a simple and elegant geometry.
Wright's most famous private residence is Fallingwater, a building completely immersed in nature.
In this building there are cantilevered balconies and terraces, with a stream and a waterfall.
cantilivered: a sbalzostream: ruscello waterfall: cascata
Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright: Guggenheim Museum in NY
It has a spiral form. The interior looks like the inside of a seashell. According to his project, people were supposed to visit the artworks by walking down from the top level (reached by a lift). Unfortunately this detail was ignored when the museum was built so the arworks are viewed by walking up the walkway instead.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic architecture
Wright's works are based on the idea of organic architecture.
The main aim of organic architecture is to create harmony between the building where people live and the nature.
This aim can be achieved by taking into account the SITE, so that constructions, furnishings and surroundings are UNIFIED AND INTERRELATED. (UNITI E INTERCONNESSI)
furnishings: arredamento/mobilisurroundings: dintorni custom-made: castomizzato
Wright was the first to create CUSTOM-MADE FURNITURE.He also used new materials, like PYREX GLASS TUBING.
pyrex glass tubings
Johnson Wax Building
Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright
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Transcript
Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright
Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius was born in Berlin, Germany. Between 1903 and 1907, he studied architecture in Munich and Berlin. He founded the school of Bahuaus in Weimar in 1919. The main concept of Bauhaus was that all the arts should be combined and work together as a "comprehensive artwork". The school was closed in 1933 because the Nazi regime thought it was a centre of communist ideas. Gropius was forced to leave Germany and in the USA became professor at Harvard and founded a design team, called "The Architects' Collaborative", because he believed in the value of teamwork. He developed a new style, borrowing materials from modern technology (steel, glass, reinforced concrete). He introduced a new system, the Curtain Wall System: it allowed glass walls with no interruptions thanks to an internal steel structure. Gropius's style was minimalistic. It consisted of basic shapes and straigh lines, avoiding eccessive or extravagant designs. He died in Massachussets in 1969.
Curtain Wall System
Instead of using exterior walls to support the building, Gropius used a structure made of steel that supported the floor slabs* from inside. This meant the outer wall was no longer load-bearing and functioned as a non-structural "curtain" of glass, which could continue without interruption. To create a truly seamless façade, especially at the corners, Gropius moved the structural columns back from the edge of the building. This allowed the glass façade to continue without interruption. The glass could wrap around the corners of the building. No vertical structural pillars blocked the façade.
*Floor slabs are horizontal, structural elements, usually made of steel-reinforced concrete, that form the floors and ceilings of a building.
load-bearing: portante (adj)seamless (adj) facade (n): facciata senza soluzione di continuità (facciata vetrata continua) floor slabs (n): solai
The Architects Collaborative
The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects in 1945 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. TAC functioned as a team rather than on an individual basis, which was considered a unique method of architectural practice, which reflected Gropius' philosophy of working collaboratively with others when he was a Bauhaus instructor in Germany prior to TAC.
Germany Architecture, Munich and Berlin The School of Bahuaus all the arts shoulld be combained and work together as a whole professor at Harvard the value of teamwork (he founded the Architects'collaborative) borrowing materials from modern technology The Curtains Wall system: glass walls with no interruptions were possibile thanks to an interior steel structure Minimalistic (basic shapes, straight lines, no decorations) Massachussets
He was born in _____________ He studied ____________ in ________ He founded ____________________ The main concept was that ____________ He became _________________________ He believed in _______________________ He developed a new style _____________ He introduced a new system ___________ Gropius's style was ________ . It consisted of _______ He died in ________________
was born: nacque studied: studiò founded: fondò the main concept was: il concetto principale era became: divenne believed in: credeva in developed a new style: sviluppò un nuovo stile introduced a new system: introdusse un nuovo sistema it consisted of: consiteva in died: morì
Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier was born in Switzerland. His true name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier was a pseudonym. He wasn't just a famous architect of the Modern Movement, he was also an urban planner, a furniture designer, an artist and a writer. At the beginning of his career, he travelled around Europe and worked with famous architects in Paris and Germany. In 1916 he moved to Paris, where he adopted his pseudonym and started to study the Purist theory*. He saw the problems of the industrialized city and tried to find efficient architectural solutions for people living in slums in order to improve the quality of their lives.
*Developed in France after WW1 as a reaction against the fragmentation of Cubism and the decorative nature of Art Nouveau, Purism wanted to create a new rational style in agreement with the industrial age.
Le Corbusier's 5 main ideas
of
Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye
It was built by Le Corbusier in Poissy (outside Paris), between 1929 and 1931. It is an example of a modernist villa and its design includes Le Corbusier's 5 points of Architecture.
Le Corbusier's Contemporary City
In 1930 Le Corbusier made a plan for an ideal city: Ville radieuse. It was never realized. The main aspect were function, efficiency, mass production. The 5% of the city centre consisted of skyscrapers and the remaining 95% of parks with trees.
Social elite
Working class
would live in the city centre
would live at the edge of the city in modest apartments
Although he received great criticism, he also provoked discussions on how to deal with the terrible life conditions of industrial cities.
Frank Lloyd Wright
He was an American architect, one of the most influential of the first half of the 20th century.
He studied Engineering at the university but left without finishing.
In 1887 he moved to Chicago and joined an innovative and progressive architectural firm (Adler and Sullivan).
Frank Lloyd Wright: the Prairie style
In 1893 Wright founded his architectural practice in Oak Park, a village near Chicago.He developed a bold new approach to domestic architecture, the Prairie style. It was a style inspired by the wide, flat landscape of America’s Midwest. Prairie means "prateria".
*practice: studio
During his Prarie period (1900/1910) he designed- low buildings (low: bassi) with:
- sloping roofs (tetti spioventi)
- supressed chimneys (camini "nascosti")
- overhangs and terraces (sporgenze e terrazze)
- unfinished materials
supressed chimneys: chimneys are not visually prominent; they’re hidden, minimized, or blended into the building design.
Frederick Robie House
Frank Lloyd Wright: Usonian houses
Usonian: related to the United States
During the 1930s he started designing Usonian houses, meant for the middle class. They are characterized by a simple and elegant geometry.
Wright's most famous private residence is Fallingwater, a building completely immersed in nature.
In this building there are cantilevered balconies and terraces, with a stream and a waterfall.
cantilivered: a sbalzostream: ruscello waterfall: cascata
Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright: Guggenheim Museum in NY
It has a spiral form. The interior looks like the inside of a seashell. According to his project, people were supposed to visit the artworks by walking down from the top level (reached by a lift). Unfortunately this detail was ignored when the museum was built so the arworks are viewed by walking up the walkway instead.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic architecture
Wright's works are based on the idea of organic architecture.
The main aim of organic architecture is to create harmony between the building where people live and the nature.
This aim can be achieved by taking into account the SITE, so that constructions, furnishings and surroundings are UNIFIED AND INTERRELATED. (UNITI E INTERCONNESSI)
furnishings: arredamento/mobilisurroundings: dintorni custom-made: castomizzato
Wright was the first to create CUSTOM-MADE FURNITURE.He also used new materials, like PYREX GLASS TUBING.
pyrex glass tubings
Johnson Wax Building