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| Le Corbusier's Domino Frame (1914) |
During a time of strong architectural expression, three designers emerged bringing forth a unique perfection to new styles of residential buildings. The first is the French architect Le Corbusier who is known for his ideas that form follows function. The second architect is Mies van der Rohe, who is known for his use of abstraction within form. The last is Finnish architect Alvar Aalto who was a pioneer in creating architectural atmospheres that played with environment. Their approaches, ideas, and designs gave way to a breakthrough in the idea of “home.”
Le Corbusier saw reinforced concrete as a means towards the industrialization of the building process (Colquhoun 143). These ideas were first portrayed in the domino frame. Le Corbusier uses this model to display architecture as a product. When observing the domino frame, one can see the influence that Le Corbusier drew from Sempre. Sempre was fascinated with the idea of showing how something worked. While Le Corbusier’s domino frame is supposed to minimize the role of tectonics within a building, it in turn shows the user exactly how the building structure works. When looking at this model, one must ask the question, “Is there a simpler way to create building structure?” These principles are shown in many of his works, particularly the Villa Savoye and the Citrohan House.
Mies van der Rohe was an architect known for his ability to reduce every problem to a kind of essential simplicity (Colquhoun 170). His constructivist projects in particular are similar in idea to that of French Le Corbusier. However, German van der Rohe had a unique take on minimal tectonics. He used load-bearing planes mixed with minimalist columns to create a structure. His works are almost translations of the ideas of Violet Le Duc and the art nouveau movement, which gave birth to the idea of ornamentating the structure. However, unlike earlier modern works, Mies accents the structural elements through materiality and not ornament. One could say this is a blend of the ideas of Art Nouveau and Adolf Loos. This can be seen in the Tugendhat House, The Barcelona Pavilion, and the Hubbe House.
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| Alvar Aalto's Experimental House (1953) |
Alvar Aalto’s approach to modern architecture is different than that of Mies and Le Corbusier. Aalto felt that there were almost archetypal building configurations expressing the basic forms of human society (Curtis 456). These ideas are similar to the emphasis on the historic that John Ruskin believed in. Unlike Ruskin, however, Aalto wanted to translate these special principles into modern architecture. For example, Curtis points out Aalto’s emphasis on the courtyard, or “harbour.” This historical idea is translated into his residential work on the Villa Mairea. In this vacation home, Aalto experiments with brick patterns and shows the idea of the “hearth” within a three-sided courtyard.
The three architects created very different approaches to modern housing. Their works express their own individual ideas of what elements of life and architecture are important. These ideas can be found as adoptions to the writings and beliefs of previous modern figures before them. Though controversial at the time, their work still plays a major role in the design of residential environments today.
Sources:http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_ssan/4841412192
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