Modern Concepts of Architecture

  The great 19th century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design: "Form follows function".

   While the notion that structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality was met with both popularity and scepticism, it had the effect of introducing the concept of "function" in place of Vitruvius "utility". "Function" came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural.

   Nunzia Rondanini stated, "Through its aesthetic dimension architecture goes beyond the functional aspects that it has in common with other human sciences. Through its own particular way of expressing values, architecture can stimulate and influence social life without presuming that, in and of itself, it will promote social development. To restrict the meaning of (architectural) formalism to art for art's sake is not only reactionary; it can also be a purposeless quest for perfection or originality which degrades form into a mere instrumentality".

   Among the philosophies that have influenced modern architects and their approach to building design are rationalism, empiricism, structuralism, post structuralism, and phenomenology.

   In the late 20th century a new concept was added to those included in the compass of both structure and function, the consideration of sustainability. To satisfy the modern ethos a building should be constructed in a manner which is environmentally friendly in terms of the production of its materials, its impact upon the natural and built environment of its surrounding area and the demands that it makes upon non-sustainable power sources for heating, cooling, water and waste management and lighting.

   There is also a concept among architects that although architecture does not exist in a vacuum, architectural form cannot be merely a compilation of historical precedent, functional necessities, and socially aware concerns, but that to achieve significance, a work of architecture must be a transcendent synthesis of all of the former and a creation of worth in and of itself.

ВАРІАНТ IV

History

Origins and the ancient world

   Architecture first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (shelter, security, worship, etc.) and means (available building materials and attendant skills). As human cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, architecture became a craft. Here there is first a process of trial and error, and later improvisation or replication of a successful trial. What is termed Vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many parts of the world. Indeed, vernacular buildings make up most of the built world that people experience every day.

   Early human settlements were mostly rural. Due to a surplus in production the economy began to expand resulting in urbanization thus creating urban areas which grew and evolved very rapidly in some cases. In many ancient civilizations, like the Egyptians' and Mesopotamians', architecture and urbanism reflected the constant engagement with the divine and the supernatural, while in other ancient cultures such as Persia architecture and urban planning was used to exemplify the power of the state.

   The architecture and urbanism of the Classical civilizations such as the Greek and the Roman evolved from civic ideals rather than religious or empirical ones and new building types emerged. Architectural styles developed.

   Texts on architecture began to be written in the Classical period. These became canons to be followed in important works, especially religious architecture. Some examples of canons are found in the writings of Vitruvius, the KaoGongJi of ancient China and Vaastu Shastra of ancient India.

   The architecture of different parts of Asia developed along different lines to that of Europe, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh architecture, each having different characteristics. Buddhist architecture, in particular, showed great regional diversity. In many Asian countries a pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically to enhance the natural landscape.

ВАРІАНТ V

Modernism and Reaction of Architecture

      The dissatisfaction with such a general situation at the turn of the twentieth century gave rise to many new lines of thought that served as precursors to Modern Architecture. Notable among these is the Deutscher Werkbund, formed in 1907 to produce better quality machine made objects. The rise of the profession of industrial design is usually placed here.

  Following this lead, the Bauhaus school, founded in Germany in 1919, consciously rejected history and looked at architecture as a synthesis of art, craft, and technology.

  When Modern architecture was first practiced, it was an avant-garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic underpinnings. Immediately after World War I, pioneering modernist architects sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order, focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. They rejected the architectural practice of the academic refinement of historical styles which served the rapidly declining aristocratic order.

  The approach of the Modernist architects was to reduce buildings to pure forms, removing historical references and ornament in favor of functionalist details. Buildings that displayed their construction and structure, exposing steel beams and concrete surfaces instead of hiding them behind traditional forms, were seen as beautiful in their own right. Architects such as Mies van der Rohe worked to create beauty based on the inherent qualities of building materials and modern construction techniques, trading traditional historic forms for simplified geometric forms, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by the Industrial Revolution.

   Many architects resisted Modernism, finding it devoid of the decorative richness of ornamented styles. As the founders of the International Style lost influence in the late 1970s, Postmodernism developed as a reaction against the austerity of Modernism. Robert Venturi's contention that a "decorated shed" (an ordinary building which is functionally designed inside and embellished on the outside) was better than a "duck" (a building in which the whole form and its function are tied together) gives an idea of this approach.

Для спеціальностей ТГПВ, ТБВК:

ВАРІАНТ I

The Elaboration of New Algorithmic Scheme for Calculation

Of the Physico-Chemical and Physico-Mechanical Characteristics

Of Polymer Adhesive Joints

I. Basic Parameters

  The problems concerning evaluation and prediction of the strength of adhesive joints are usually studied within the framework of mechanics of solids. Such an approach seems to be quite natural but it appears to be somewhat inadequate, since a number of factors (such as the effect of the nature and structure of adhesive and substrate surfaces, the conditions and kinetics of adhesion interaction, the area of interfacial contact are left beyond consideration.

   The physical chemistry of the formation of adhesive systems and their fracture mechanics still remain separate fields of adhesion science, each with its own formalism and area of application. On the one hand, scientists can not study the laws of adhesive joint formation without employing the strength properties of the systems investigated, as the strength of adhesive joint appears to be the only measure of the effectiveness of interfacial interaction. This effectiveness is presumed to be proportional to the parameters of mechanical origin. However, this assumption seems to be neither evident nor universal. On the other hand, the nature of adhesives and substrates, as well as the conditions of interfacial contact formation, are usually ignored by engineers designing the adhesive joints. Thus, in developing new adhesives and adhesive bonding techniques it is difficult to rely on the data that they obtain. Contradiction between the two approaches is one of the most important problems іn the science of adhesion and may be overcome by combining them. We consider that the main trend to achieve this task involves further development of the energy approach describing both the formation and the fracture of the polymer adhesive joints.

ВАРІАНТ II