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TEXT II. FIRST FUNCTION, THEN FORM




 

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the notion that architectural form can develop from the inner function of a building increased in popularity. After the architects of the previous century had reveled in the architectural styles of history, repeatedly quoting past eras, the style of a building was now considered of secondary importance. Many architects found it more interesting to ask how one could give priority to the purpose of a building. No historicizing decoration should adorn the facades in modern buildings it was a question of letting function express itself and be recognizable structurally on the exterior of the building. Glass, steel, and concrete constructions appeared, in which the building's requirements for use were afforded the highest priority. At the same time, after World War I this new orientation towards functionalism also acquired a social component. In their modern designs architects were not only trying to capture the Zeitgeist*, but they also wanted to develop rational, cheap, and quick building methods to combat the acute housing shortage.

The prototype of functionalist architecture and of the clear modernization of the arts in general was the Bauhaus*. The connection between art and craft was of prime importance in the creative process at the Bauhaus school, which architect Walter Gropius* took over as director in 1919. This connection was to be achieved in all areas of art: in the Bauhaus workshops, masters and students devoted themselves to painting and photography, industrial design and architecture, dance and theater. Different artistic personalities, including Theo van Doesburg*, Oskar Schlemmer*, and Wassily Kandinsky*, worked at the Bauhaus until the school was closed in 1932 at the instigation of the Nazis. Even before this, the political pressure on the avant-garde art school had been enormous, so much so that in 1925 the Bauhaus in Weimar had to close and open again in Dessau. Architecturally this new beginning was the creation of Walter Gropius: "It is an auspicious prelude that the Bauhaus is allowed to erect its own casing," he commented; and he completed the building, which was to unite all the arts and crafts activities under one roof, in just thirteen months. "Architecture should be a mirror of our life and times, and so we must recognize in its contemporary features the leading forces of our era." This was Gropius's motto as an architect. And the school's new building turned out to be correspondingly modern too.

 

In Dessau three L-shaped wings were built, combining to form an asymmetric site. Gropius rigorously separated the different functions of the building -such as studios, living quarters, and administration and allocated them to the different wings of the building. In turn the content of each wing could be "read" from the facade as a result of these structural differences. The most spectacular of the three parts of the building, in visual terms, was the workshop wing. Here the work and exhibition spaces for the different departments in the school were housed over four floors. On the side facing the street, the entire wing was glass-fronted, thus creating optimal light conditions in the studios. Even the wings housing the library and administration, and the students' living quarters, enjoyed a large amount of window space. Here, by contrast with the workshop wing, wide strip windows made the separation of the stories legible. All the school's arts and crafts disciplines worked hand-in-hand to create an institution in Dessau that was to become the epitome of modern architecture.

According to the school's manifesto, artists, architects, sculptors, and painters should ultimately be able to work towards "the new building of the future." Appropriately, the in-house mural painting department took on the job of decorating the walls of the new building; the students in the metal workshops designed lamps and tubular steel furniture; and the Bauhaus print department created the logos. Soon Bauhaus was no longer just the perfect example of an art school, but it also epitomized the style Gropius had founded. Its aim was to determine an aesthetic, with materials-based construction determining creative expression. In retrospect, the Bauhaus student, Max Bill*, described this process, writing in lower case letters* as was customary at the Bauhaus: "functionalism originally arose under the pretext of locating function as either the basis or the justification for design decisions." The Bauhaus architects' "design decisions" inclined towards cuboid architectural structures, clear white surfaces, and symmetrical rows of windows. This approach was to cause a worldwide sensation. The central credo of architectural modernity, "form follows function," can be attributed to Louis Sullivan. However, the American architect and theorist was not demanding the rejection of ornament, but rather that architectural decoration should be in keeping with the building itself. The new architecture of the 1920s, by contrast, presented itself as more radical, and rejected any architectural ornamentation. The "New Building" as advocated by Walter Gropius consisted of white cubes with flat roofs.

The industrialization of house building was also an important topic in this context. Attempts by the Art Nouveau movement to oppose industrial mass production had come to nothing, so now it was time to take advantage of its benefits. Gropius, for example, envisaged the mechanization of architectural production: he believed that the mass production of houses would become possible through the standardization of architectural components. At the Deutscher Werkbund* exhibition in Stuttgart in 1927, Gropius presented new solutions for construction using prefabrication. Gropius was one of sixteen avant-garde architects showing their built designs for contemporary living. On a site above Stuttgart called Weissenhof, they presented their highly contemporary housing estate under the artistic direction of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Alongside Gropius and Mies van der Rohe other participating architects included Peter Behrens* and Le Corbusier*.

 

 

Despite their different backgrounds and architectural opinions, the numerous participants were agreed on the question of form and use of materials: for them the homes of the future meant simple, cube-like structures with white facades, a flat roof, large windows, and the visible use of metal. The movement that focused on "New Building" was international. As an "International Style," which was celebrated for its cube buildings with glass and steel facades, the movement's approach shaped the face of cities until long after World War II.

With its demand that internal organizational structures should determine the form of a building's exterior, functionalism as an international architectural language had correspondingly many variations. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto* pursued an influential course, which combined the ideas of functional building with the architectural traditions of his native land. Aalto included the landscape surrounding a building at the heart of the creative process, placing great value on wood, which was and is frequently used in Finnish architecture, in his designs for both houses and furniture. Aalto combined these characteristics with the criteria of functional building. As a result of this combination, his sanatorium in Paimio in southern Finland became an icon of modern architecture. Aalto finished work on the building in 1933: he had created his first great work of architecture, a tuberculosis clinic in the space of five years, in the middle of a forest. The building's various wings in whitewashed concrete with flat roofs stretch.

 

 

 

They are structured differently according to their different functions. But above all light, air, and sun were to be the determining factors in the building complex, and this also corresponded to the requirements of tuberculosis treatment of that time. Aalto's design for a ward block was an innovation in hospital architecture. The narrow building contains numerous rooms for the patients; the architect succeeded in making every one of them south-facing, providing them with as much daylight as possible. The administration block lies to the north of the site, as far away as possible from the patients' rooms in order to avoid any disruption of the necessary peace and quiet.

Aalto's approach was "to make architecture more human." In Paimio, for example, he included in his planning of the patients' rooms the idea that they are created for people who are lying down, and he adapted the arrangement of the windows and doors, as well as color scheme, lighting, and heating of the rooms, to this situation. Aalto even designed most of the furniture himself, using primarily wood, which he preferred to metal. His Paimio chair made of birch wood is anatomically adapted to the needs of the patient, and remains one of the most famous and sought-after pieces of Aalto furniture to this day. The architecture, interior as well as exterior, was to have the most positive impact possible on the residents, and for Aalto functionalist building certainly did not exclude this: "An architectural solution must always have a human motive based on analysis, but that motive has to be materialized in construction that probably is a result of extraneous circumstances."

 

Notes:

 

Zeitgeist – дух времени (нем.)

Bauhaus Ба́ухауз (нем. Bauhaus, Hochschule für Bau und Gestaltung – Высшая школа строительства и художественного конструирования, или Staatliches Bauhaus) – учебное заведение, существовавшее в Германии с 1919 по 1933, а также художественное объединение, возникшее в рамках этого заведения, и соответствующее направление в архитектуре.

Walter Gropius Вальтер Адольф Георг Гропиус (18 мая 1883, Берлин – 5 июля 1969, Бостон) – немецкий архитектор, учредитель Баухауса. Творческое кредо: «Каждый предмет должен до конца отвечать своей цели, то есть выполнять свои практические функции, быть удобным, дешевым и красивым».

Theo van Doesburg Тео ван Дусбург (настоящее имя Christian Emil Marie Küpper; 30 августа 1883, Утрехт – 7 марта 1931, Давос) – нидерландский художник, архитектор и скульптор, теоретик искусства, один из основателей группы «Стиль» и художественного направления «неопластицизм».

Oskar Schlemmer Оскар Шлеммер (4 сентября 1888, Штутгарт – 4 апреля 1943, Баден-Баден) – немецкий художник, скульптор, хореограф и театральный оформитель.

Wassily Kandinsky Васи́лий Васи́льевич Канди́нский (4 (16) декабря 1866, Москва – 13 декабря 1944, Нёйи-сюр-Сен, Франция) – выдающийся русский живописец, график и теоретик изобразительного искусства, один из основоположников абстракционизма. Был одним из основателей группы «Синий всадник», преподавателем Баухауса.

Max Bill Макс Билл (22 декабря 1908 г. Винтертур – ум. 9 декабря 1994 г. Берлин) – швейцарский скульптор, художник-абстракционист, архитектор и дизайнер, представитель цюрихской школы конкретного искусства.

lower case letters – строчные буквы

Deutscher Werkbund –немецкая ассоциация художников, архитекторов, дизайнеров и промышленников. Возникнув в 1907 году, играла важную роль в становлении современной архитектуры.

Peter Behrens –Петер Беренс (14 апреля 1868, Гамбург – 27 февраля 1940, Берлин) – один из основоположников современной промышленной архитектуры и дизайна, представитель Дюссельдорфской художественной школы.

Le CorbusierЛе Корбюзье (настоящее имя Шарль-Эдуар Жаннере-Гри (фр. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris); 6 октября 1887, Ла-Шо-де-Фон, Швейцария – 27 августа 1965, Рокебрюн – Кап-Мартен, Франция) – французский архитектор швейцарского происхождения, пионер архитектурного модернизма и функционализма, представитель архитектуры интернационального стиля, художник и дизайнер.

Alvar AaltoА́лвар Ху́го Хе́нрик А́алто (фин. Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto, 3 февраля 1898, Куортане – 11 мая 1976, Хельсинки) – финский архитектор и дизайнер, крупнейшая фигура в архитектуре Финляндии, «отец модернизма» в Северной Европе, один из основоположников современной школы дизайна. Помимо определяющего влияния на архитектуру XX века, он повлиял на развитие мебельного дизайна и оставил заметный след в дизайне предметов повседневного быта из стекла и ткани.










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