ISSUES OF ORNAMENTATION AND AESTHETICSCUBISM,

CONSTRUCTIVISM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ARCHITECTURE,

DESTIJL: IDEAS AND WORKS

CUBISM- 1910 - 1914Cubism was an early 20th century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in Architecture, music and literature.

It was a revolt against the excessively decorative style. World War I affected the development of cubist architecture, we can still find the cubist or cubism-influenced works in the post war years

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CUBISMIt originated from principle that the basic shape is the cube.In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form.The Cubists had technology on their side. Reinforced concrete was making its way into construction, and enabled them to design open floor plans. Cubism can be divided into two phases: Analytical cubism, the earlier phase, continued until 1912, followed by synthetic cubism, which lasted through 1915. Analytical cubism fragments the physical world into intersecting geometric planes and interpenetrating volumes. Synthetic cubism, by contrast, synthesizes (combines) abstract shapes to represent objects in a new way.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CUBISMEvoked feelings of dynamism, achieved by shapes derived from pyramids, cubes and prisms, by arrangements and compositions of oblique surfaces, mostly triangular. Sculpted facades in protruding crystal-like units, reminiscent of the so-called diamond cut, of late Gothic cavern vaults. Cubism can be divided into two phases: Analytical cubism, the earlier phase, continued until 1912, followed by synthetic cubism, which lasted through 1915. Analytical cubism fragments the physical world into intersecting geometric planes and interpenetrating volumes. Synthetic cubism, by contrast, synthesizes (combines) abstract shapes to represent objects in a new way.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CUBISMNew forms of windows and doors (hexagonal windows).

Crystal like forms lead to the crystal cubism, wherever round shapes were found, for instance even in grilles, the term rondo-cubism was used.

Cubist villas were both costly and demanding, given that most of them were made of brick, which is difficult to cut into geometric shapes.

Concrete was far more ideal as a material for Cubist construction, since it could be poured into more dramatic geometric forms.

ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CUBISM

Pavel Jank, Josef Gor, Josef Chochol and Vlastislav Hofman became the creators and propagators of cubism in architecture.Other architects include Kralicek,And the period was very short as many people were against this new style. Some theoreticians said that it was a 'betrayal' of modern architecture. The buildings were expensive as well as 'bizarre' which is also why much of the public was against it.

PAVEL JANK (1882)Pavel Jank became one of the pioneers of cubism in architecture. Created something like a 'crystalline' architecture with many motifs of prisms and pyramids, very dynamic architecture, closer to Expressionism. He was the architect of Prague Castle, proposed numerous alterations to the Old Town Hall and summer star.

JOSEF GORS (1880- 1945)Josef Gor was a Czech architect, one of the founders of modern architecture in Czechoslovakia.

At the age of 23 he went to study under Jan Kotra at the Prague School of Applied Arts. Gor joined Pavel Jank, Josef Chochol and Odoln Grege in founding the Prague Art Workshops in 1912.

After his involvement in cubism, Gor turned to national Czech Rondocubism style in the early 20s. Later on he adopted the Functionalist approach to architecture.

Among his greatest accomplishments are the Czechoslovak Pavilion for the Exposition internatale des art decoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris of 1925; he was awarded the Grand Prize for that design.

IMPORTANT WORKSWenke Department Store, Jarom, (1909-1911)

House of the Black Madonna, Prague's Old Town (1911-1912)

Bauer villa, Libodice near Koln, (1912-1913)

Saint Wenceslas church, Vrovice, Prague, 1929-1930

HOUSE OF THE BLACK MADONNA (1911-1912)

LOCATION- Prague

TIMELINE- 1911-12

CLIENT- Frantisek Josef Herbst

BUILDING TYPE- Department store

BUILDING CONST-SYSTEM reinforced-concrete skeletons

STYLE- language of baroque architecture in the cubist forms modern/Neo vernacular

HOUSE OF THE BLACK MADONNA (1911-1912)

Josef Gocar built this house as the first example of cubist architecture in Prague.

Gocars building was subject to strict harmonization rules that demanded the department store not conflict with its historical setting.

It uses the language of baroque architecture in the cubist forms which exemplifies the contextualization of cubist architecture.

HOUSE OF THE BLACK MADONNA (1911-1912)

Main features include:

Reinforced-concrete skeleton. Angulated bay windows, Iconic capitals between windows, Cubist railing of the balcony.

Reinforced-concrete skeleton allowed for large interior spaces without ceiling support that more complimented cubist aesthetics.Grand Caf Orient, which encompassed the entire fist floor without supporting pillars, was a revolutionary feat of engineering.

HOUSE OF THE BLACK MADONNA (1911-1912)

The faade breaks with the cubist and modern traditions at the third level and incorporated elements to reconcile the cubist building with its surrounds- The roof is a kin to Baroque double roofs.The third story also features flat windows and pilasters with Classical fluting between them.In 1994 - Czech art and culture. Reconstructed in 2003 - Museum of Cubism.

EMIL KRLEK (1877 - 1930)

Krlek was a Czech architect,studied at Prague Industrial Arts School. He began designing in Prague around 1900 in the office of Matj Blecha, and worked in the styles of classicism, Art Nouveau, Czech Cubism and Czech Rondocubism successively. Beginning as draftsman Krlek worked himself into a position of project manager, and developed collaborations with a number of Czech sculptors like Celda Klouek, Antonn Waigant and Karel Pavlk.

Notable Works:

Hotel Zlat Husa, Prague,1909-1910

Adam Pharmacy, 1911-1913

Kovarovic House in Prague, 1912-1913

upich Building, now the Moravian Bank, Wenceslas Square.

Cubist streetlamp by Emil Kralicek

Emil Kralicek's- Kovarovic House & Cubist streetlamp KOVAROVIC HOUSE Otakar Novotny and Emil Kralicek's Kovarovic House in Prague's is a brilliant example of radical Cubism. Also known as Diamond House-diamond-shaped motifs used in the windows and around the roof line.

CUBIST STREETLAMP It was designed by Kralicek in 1912, designed for the back lot of Adam's Pharmacy, stands on Jungmann Square. There was strong criticism of the lamp then by conservatives. Now, it is an icon of sorts for Czech Cubism.

Constructivist architecture

Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Constructivist (Constructivism) is a term used to define a type of totally abstract (non-representational) relief construction.

The principles of constructivism theory are derived from three main movements that evolved in the early part of the 20th century: Suprematism in Russia, De Stijl (Neo Plasticism) in Holland and the Bauhaus in Germany.

Constructivist architecture

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 ,two distinct threads emerged, the first was encapsulated in Antoine Pevsner's and Naum Gabo's Realist manifesto which was concerned with space and rhythm,The second represented a struggle between pure art and the Productivists (Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Vladimir Tatlin, a more socially-oriented group who wanted this art to be absorbed in industrial production). Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced many pioneering projects and finished buildings, before falling out of favour around 1932.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

In 1922, Naum Gabo wrote that constructivists no longer paint pictures or carve sculptures but make construction in space. The distinction between painting and sculpture ceases and becomes architecture. Constructivists reduced all natural forms to simple geometric forms. Geometric form was thus the structural form and this cubism was symbolic of constructivism.Constructivism combined advanced technology and engineering. In architecture, constructivism is a broader movement of functionalism. Thus any object (building) efficiently made for its purpose is ideal to be followed.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

Space organized by means of an open structure, rather than enclosed volumes. The constructivists emphasized and took advantage of the possibilities of new materials. Steel frames were seen supporting the large areas of plate glass.The joints between various parts of a building were exposed rather than concealed. Buildings had balconies and sun-decks, exteriors were painted white. The first Constructivist architectural project was the 1919 proposal for the headquarters of the Communist International in St Petersburg by the Futurist Vladimir Tatlin, often called Tatlin's Tower.

ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTRUCTIVISM

El Lissitzky - (1890-1941)

Moisei Ginzburg, architect (1892-1946)

Ivan Leonidov - architect (1902-1959)

Konstantin Melnikov - architect (1890-1974)

Vladimir Tatlin - (1885-1953)

KONSTANTIN MELNIKOVKonstantin Melnikov was a Russian architect and painter. Melnikov graduated in Arts (1914) and Architecture (1917).Despite Chaplin's calls to concentrate on architecture, Melnikov leaned to painting at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture .During World War I and the first years after Revolution of 1917, Melnikov worked within the Neoclassical tradition.

In 1918-1920, he was employed by the New Moscow planning workshop designed Khodynka and Butyrsky District sectors of the city. His first success in architecture was a 1922 entry to a workers' housing contest. Melnikov's design,The Atom employed the sawtooth arrangement of units that became his trademark in later works.

HIS IMPORTANT PROJECTS

Rusakov Workers' Club, Moscow Melnikov's own residence, Moscow Burevestnik Factory Club, Moscow Svoboda Factory Club,Moscow

Rusakov Workers' Club, MoscowLOCATION- Moscow,Russia

TIMELINE- 1927-28

DESIGNER- Konstantin Melnikov

BUILDING TYPE- Auditorium

CONTEXT- Urban

BUILDING CONST-SYSTEM Brick, Concrete and Glass

STYLE- Russian Constructivist Modern

Rusakov Workers' Club, MoscowThe Rusakov Workers' Club in Moscow is a notable example of constructivist architecture.

The club, according to Melnikov, is not a single fixed theater hall, but a flexible system of different halls that may be united into a single, large volume.

Larger main halls can be divided into three independent halls. In plan, the club resembles a fan; in elevation, it is divided into a base and three cantilevered concrete seating areas.

Rusakov Workers' Club, MoscowThe blocks contain three small auditoriums for 200 people which were used either individually or combined to form a single large space for 1200 people. Three prominent balcony-blocks are cut like wedges into the symmetrical volume of the building. At the rear of the building are more conventional offices with bold use of exterior stairs. The only visible materials used in its construction are concrete, brick and glass. The function of the building is to some extent expressed in the exterior, which Melnikov described as a "tensed muscle".

MELNIKOV HOUSE LOCATION- Moscow,Russia

TIMELINE- 1927-29.

DESIGNER- Konstantin Melnikov

BUILDING TYPE- His own residence

CONTEXT- Suburban Residential

STYLE- Russian Constructivist Modern

KEY POINTS- Interlocking cylindrical plan. Glazing in unusual arrangements

MELNIKOV HOUSE

The design consists of two intersecting cylindrical towers decorated with a pattern of hexagonal windows. Floorplan evolved - plain square to a circle and an egg shape, without much attention to exterior finishes. The finest existing specimen of Melnikov's work is his own residence in Moscow, completed in 1927-1929.Melnikov preferred to work at home, and always wanted a spacious residence that could house his family, architectural and painting workshops

EL LISSITZKY (1890 1941) Lazar Markovich Lissitzky was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich.His work greatly influenced the Bauhaus, and Constructivist movements. In 1925, Lissitzky returned to Moscow and began teaching interior design, metalwork, and architecture at VKhUTEMAS (State Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops).

WOLKENBGEL (CLOUD-IRON) - LISSITZKY LOCATION- Moscow,Russia

TIMELINE- Designed in 1926

DESIGNER- EL LISSITZKY & Mart Stam

BUILDING TYPE- Skyscraper, never built

CONTEXT- Urban

BUILDING CONST-SYSTEM

STYLE- Russian Constructivist Modern

WOLKENBGEL (CLOUD-IRON) - LISSITZKY In 1926, he and architect Mart Stam designed the Wolkenbgel (Cloud-iron), a unique skyscraper on 3 posts.

Although never built, the building was a vivid contradiction to America's vertical building style.

The building only rose upto a relatively modest height then expanded horizontally over an intersection --better use of space.

WOLKENBGEL (CLOUD-IRON) - LISSITZKY Its three posts were on three different street corners, canvassing the intersection.

Lissitzky wrote about the building as being a proposal for a new, "rational architecture," as opposed to the trend towards massive skyscrapers going on at the time, mostly in the United States.

VLADIMIR TATLIN (1885 1953) Vladimir Tatlin worked as a painter and architect. He was one of the important figures in the Russian avant-garde art movement of the 1920s. He became the most important artist in the Constructivist movement. He began his art career as an icon painter in Moscow, and attended the Moscow School of Painting Sculpture and Architecture. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed the huge Monument to the Third International, also known as Tatlin's Tower.

TATLIN'S TOWER LOCATION- Moscow,Russia

TIMELINE- Designed in 1920.

DESIGNER- Vladimir Tatlin

BUILDING TYPE- Tall tower

CONTEXT- Urban

BUILDING CONST-SYSTEM-Iron, glass and steel.STYLE- Russian Constructivist Modern

TATLIN'S TOWER

TATLIN'S TOWERTatlin designed the huge Monument to the Third International, also known as Tatlin's Tower in1920.

The monument was to be a tall tower in iron, glass and steel which would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

This Monument to the Third International was a third taller at 1,300 feet high.

TATLIN'S TOWERInside the iron-and-steel structure of twin spirals, the design envisaged three building blocks, covered with glass windows, which would rotate at different speeds.

The first one, a cube, once a year; the second one, a pyramid, once a month; the third one, a cylinder, once a day.

High prices prevented Tatlin from executing the plan, and no building such as this was erected in his day.

DE STIJL"De Stijl" is a Dutch phrase meaning "the style." The deStijl arts movement was centerd in Amsterdam during 1917-1932, also called Neoplasticism.

The leaders of the movement were the artists Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. Their austerity of expression influenced architects, principally J.J.P.Oud and Gerrit Rietveld.

The movement lasted until 1931; in architecture a few de Stijl principles are still applied. The works of De Stijl influenced the Bauhaus style and the international style of architecture and interior design.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF DESTIJLDe Stijl proposed ultimate simplicity and abstraction, both in architecture and painting, by using only straight (horizontal and vertical) lines and rectangular forms.The movement focused on pure and simple elements of artistic expression, including straight lines, right angles, basic geometric shapes and primary colors like red, yellow and blue. Black, white and grey were used as well. The works avoided symmetry and attained aesthetic balance by the use of opposition.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF DESTIJLIn many of the group's three-dimensional works, vertical and horizontal lines are positioned in layers or planes that do not intersect, thereby allowing each element to exist independently and unobstructed by other elements. This feature can be found in the Rietveld Schrder House and the Red and blue chair.They advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour.This element of the movement embodies the second meaning of stijl: a post, jamb or support; this is best exemplified by the construction of crossing joints, most commonly seen in carpentry.

ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATED WITH De StijlThe leaders of the movement were the artists Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian.

Next toVan Doesburg, the group's principal members were: The painters Piet Mondrian and Bart van der Leck, The architects Gerrit Rietveld, Robert Van t Hoff and J.J.P. Oud.

GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and an architect.Rietveld was born in Utrecht in 1888, the son of a cabinetmaker. He attended architectural drawing classes given by P.J.C. Klaarhamer. In 1918, Rietveld became one of the first members of the De Stijl movement. His celebrated "Red and Blue" chair design was first published in "De Stijl" magazine. Rietveld completed his most important architectural commission for the Schroeder House in 1924. He started to design experimental fiberboard and plywood furniture in 1927.He designed low-cost furniture constructed from packing-crated components. Rietveld started designing with alternative materials, making a line of chairs using bent metal components in 1957.

GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD Red and Blue Chair (1917).Schrder House (1924)Functional ceiling lamp, consisted of three white soffits arranged at right angles(1922). "Zig-Zag" chair(1932-34).Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, completed nine years after his death in 1964.

The Rietveld Schrder House

The Rietveld Schrder HouseLOCATION- Utrecht,Netherlands.

TIMELINE- 1924-25

ARCHITECT- Gerrit Rietveld

BUILDING TYPE-Residence

CONTEXT- Suburban

BUILDING CONST.SYSTEM- steel beams and columns, wood & conc. STYLE- DE STIJL

The Rietveld Schrder HouseThe Schroder House was considered to be the only building created completely from deStijl principles of design. Rietvelds concepts are always clear and functionally presented through use of economical and modest materials. The two-story house is built onto the end of a terrace, but it makes no attempt to relate to its neighbouring buildings.

The Rietveld Schrder HouseInside there is no static accumulation of rooms, but a dynamic, changeable open zone.

The ground floor can still be termed traditional; ranged around a central staircase are kitchen and three sit/bedrooms.

The Rietveld Schrder HouseThe living area upstairs is a large open zone except for a separate toilet and a bathroom. With a system of sliding and revolving panels living space -open or subdivided. When entirely partitioned in, the living level comprises three bedrooms, bathroom and living room.

The Rietveld Schrder HouseThe facades are a collage of planes and lines. External surfaces are in white and shades of grey with black window and doorframes, and a number of linear elements in primary colors.The architecture is not an expression of the materials used, but of the space itself. The interior is a reflection of the orderliness of the modernistic town.

The Rietveld Schrder HousePronounced lines which navigate across color surfaces, alongside and around pieces of furniture, which in turn comprise permanent features on the interior landscape. And just as each architectural element of a modernist town reflects a particular function, there are separate areas for movement, storage, sitting, sleeping and working. Did not imitate nature through decoration but instead allowed nature through windows and glass skylight.

The Rietveld Schrder House

RED AND BLUE CHAIR

RED AND BLUE CHAIRArchitect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld scientifically designed a chair in 1918 using formulas and calculations, to keep one both alert yet comfortable. His work was part of the deStijl arts movement which focused on the essentials of form and design. Rietveld's multi-colored chair was originally created for the Schroder house, also designed by Rietveld. It has geometric lines and bold colors that were born of the deStijl arts movement.

RED AND BLUE CHAIR

The chair, with its simple planes of primary colors was set against a lattice of interlocking black bars.

Followed the Bauhaus ideology of producing modern furniture simply, cheaply, and efficiently.

RED AND BLUE CHAIRRietveld- Furnitures

JACOBUS JOHANNES PIETER OUD (1890 - 1963) Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud was a Dutch architect. His fame began as a follower of the De Stijl movement. As a young architect, he was influenced by Berlage ,Frank Lloyd Wright and studied under Theodor Fischer in Munich. In 1917 Oud joined Theo van Doesburg and became involved with the movement De Stijl

JACOBUS JOHANNES PIETER OUD (1890 - 1963) Design Features :Oud attempted to reconcile strict, rational, 'scientific' cost-effective construction technique against the psychological needs and aesthetic expectations of the users. Oud's work assumed- the bleached, cubical forms, characteristic of the new architecture of the 1920s (design for row houses, Scheveningen, 1917). Oud became a leader in the European architecture of the International Style.

JACOBUS JOHANNES PIETER OUDBetween 1918 and 1933, Oud became Municipal Housing Architect for Rotterdam. During this period he mostly worked on socially progressive residential projects (mass housing). Oud contributed a group of low-cost row houses (1927) to the exhibition of the Werkbund, at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart. This exhibition marked the maturation of the International Style.

IMPORTANT BUILDINGS1922 Garden Village in Rotterdam at Oud-Mathenesse. 1925 Caf de Unie in Rotterdam. 1926 - 1927 Worker's Houses -Holland. 1927 Row of 5 houses, Weissenhof Housing Exposition, Stuttgart. 1928 - 1930 Keifhoek Housing Development in Rotterdam. 1956, National Monument (with sculptor John Raedecker), Dam Square, Amsterdam

ROW OF 5 HOUSES- WEISSENHOF HOUSING EXPOSITION, STUTTGART (1927) The Weissenhof Estate is an estate of working class housing which was built in Stuttgart in 1927.The estate was built for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition of 1927, and included twenty-one buildings comprising sixty dwellings, designed by sixteen European architects. Out of 21 dwellings, J. Oud designed five Gallery houses at Weissenhof Estate.

JACOBUS JOHANNES PIETER OUDThe twenty-one buildings vary only slightly in form, consisting of terraced and detached houses and apartment buildings, and display a strong consistency of design. All the twenty-one buildings have simplified facades, flat roofs used as terraces, window bands, open plan interiors, and the high level of prefabrication which permitted their erection in just five months. ROW OF 5 HOUSES- WEISSENHOF HOUSING EXPOSITION, STUTTGART (1927)

KEIFHOEK HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN ROTTERDAM (1928 - 1930)Keifhoek housing development comprises approximately 300 homes, shops, a church and two children's playgrounds.

Features include :2 storeyed terrace housing, flat roof, horizontal articulated facades with band of fenestration, use of red grey and yellow colors, white stucco, rounded corners with shops below.

ROW OF 5 HOUSES- WEISSENHOF HOUSING EXPOSITION, STUTTGART (1927)

PIET MONDRIANMondrian was born on March 7, 1872 in Netherlands. He studied in the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts from1892 to 1895 and then began to paint on his own. In 1911 Mondrian saw, for the first time, the Cubist works of Georges Braque and Pable Picasso in Amsterdam. He was so deeply amazed by their works, moved towards increased abstraction, which led him to a style of only vertical and horizontal brushstrokes.

PIET MONDRIANMondrian was born on March 7, 1872 in Netherlands. He studied in the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts from1892 to 1895 and then began to paint on his own. In 1911 Mondrian saw, for the first time, the Cubist works of Georges Braque and Pable Picasso in Amsterdam. He was so deeply amazed by their works, moved towards increased abstraction, which led him to a style of only vertical and horizontal brushstrokes.

PIET MONDRIANPiet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, van der Leck, and Vilmos Huszar together founded the art magazine and movement of De Stijl (the style) in 1917. Through De Stijl, Mondrian developed his own theories of a new art form called neplasticism. He believed that art should not concern itself with reproducing images of real objects but instead focus on their underlying nature. He maintained the belief that a canvas should contain only basic elements such as primary colors, straight lines, and right angles. His Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue was composed solely of a few black lines and a well-balanced block of color. This gave his painting a sense of proportionality like no other and created a prodigious effect with its limitations.

Piet Mondrian's paintings Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and BlackComposition 2 Composition with Red, Yellow and BlueComposition with two lines Composition with Blue

PIET MONDRIAN-Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue

PIET MONDRIAN- Composition with Red, Blue and White

PIET MONDRIAN- Composition II