International Style - Influences and Characteristics

Overview

In this blog post I am going to describe the influences and characteristics of International Style.

International style finds its roots in Europe and the United States during the 1920s and 30s. This movement was boosted drastically in the middle of the 20th century and later spread to Scandinavia and Japan. This style is distinguished by rectilinear forms, sharp geometry, edges at right angles and completely exposed of decoration or any sort of ornament. This style of architecture is mainly composed of very simple and light plane surfaces (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998).

International style grew and expanded from three main factors. The first would be from the architects’ frustration at the usage of eclectic building traits, which ultimately provided minimal relation to the construction’s actual function. The second was the rapid growth of industry within society itself and the third was the need for development of new building technologies. All of these traits dictated a search for a style of architecture which was honest, economical and utilitarian. Eventually, International Style became the status symbol of American corporate power and progressiveness (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998).

Major figures who contributed to the movement are:

 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Philip C. Johnson

The Glass House (Philip C. Johnson)

The Glass House, Philip C. Johnson

 Farnsworth House, Mies van der Rohe

The Glass house by Philip C. Johnson is heavily influenced by the Farnsworth House, which was built by Mies van der Rohe. Both houses are located in an open rural area, feature an interior which is completely exposed and have a simplistic yet very appealing design (Perez, 2017).

Johnson’s Glass house on the other hand can be considered as an updated version of the Farnsworth House. The Glass panels at the side are an important component to the house as they create beautiful reflections. The refractive and reflective nature of the glass creates layers upon layers of reflected images, including the surrounding trees and the people both inside and outside of the structure. It’s as if Johnson is telling us that humanity belongs in the natural environment (Perez, 2017)

Lake Shore Drive Apartments (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)

"I had no conventional architectural education. I worked under a few good architects; I read a few good books—and that's about it."

Mies van der Rohe

Lake Shore Drive Apartments, 
1951, Illionis (Chicago)

Mies’s architecture was influenced by the old medieval buildings of his hometown, Aachen. Although these buildings are over a thousand years old and very simple, they were clear in their function and impressed Mies by the strength which they portrayed. All the great styles had passed over these buildings, but these old buildings remained as intact as the day they were built (GreatBuildings, 2017).

Although the Lake Shore Drive Apartments (constructed started in 1948 and finished in 1951) look nowhere as near any medieval building, the same principles still apply. Mies wanted to create a structure that was simple but effective. The two buildings are set perpendicular to each other and the repetitious square windows create that rigorous consistency of design. Even though these apartments are built on the crowded lake shore drive of Illinois (Chicago) they still stand out from the rest of the other towering giants of metal and glass (GreatBuildings, 2017).

Villa Savoye (Le Corbusier)

"The house is a box in the air..."

      

   Le Corbusier, Précisions

Parthenon, Athens

When he was building Villa Savoye (finished in 1931), Le Corbusier was influenced and inspired by the rising importance of machinery thanks to the new machine age. In his books and journals, Le Corbusier honours science, technology and reason, although he insists that beauty is not only found in the new technology, but also in the ancient works of the Archaic period, namely the Parthenon (Simon, 2017).

Villa Savoye, 1931,  Le Corbusier

Villa Savoye is an escape from the crowded city and is found in a large unrestricted site. Modulor design was developed by Le Corbusier and is featured extensively in the architecture of the villa. In fact, Modulor design was influence by Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. The corridors inside the building are very narrow, but it is proportionally wide enough for a the average human to pass through. This would be enough to serve its function as well as being economical. These geometric spaces embody his concept of timeless classicism through the language of architecture.

Conclusion

In my opinion, International style is an interesting form of architecture as it values function much more than style, evident from the lack of any detailed surfaces. Ornaments and decoration are great to look at, but the end of the day the most important factor is the function of the product/building.

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. (1998). International Style | architecture. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/International-Style-architecture [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Gibson, E. (2016). Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye encapsulates the Modernist style. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2016/07/31/villa-savoye-le-corbusier-poissy-france-modernist-style-unesco-world-heritage/ [Accessed 3 Jun. 2017].

GreatBuildings. (2017). Lake Shore Drive Apts by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at GreatBuildings. [online] Available at: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Lake_Shore_Drive_Apts.html [Accessed 3 Jun. 2017].

Perez, A. (2017). AD Classics: The Glass House / Philip Johnson. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/60259/ad-classics-the-glass-house-philip-johnson [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Simon, M. (2017). Khan Academy. [online] Khan Academy. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/corbusier-savoye [Accessed 3 Jun. 2017].