The Emergence of Modernism

 This era took design to a whole new direction.  There were four major architects of this "modern movement".  Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Mies Van Der Rohe were the four men who changed how we now look at this modern era. 

Frank Lloyd Wright began his career in 1920 designing over 1000 structures and building 532 works.  His focus was on "Organic Architecture" and in 1893 he started his own practice in Oak Park, Illinois where he studied architecture and design. Throughout his many successes, the Unity Temple in Oak Park Illinois is the only surviving public building from his Prairie period. 



This temple was made of complete concrete and had a cubist theme.  Some of the other residential accomplishments of Wright include, The Rookery in Chicago, the Winslow House in River Forest Illinois and a Prairie House in Kankakee Illinois.  He also did many commercial style buildings.  These include the Larkin Company in New York, Avery Coonley and the Imperial Hotel in Japan. 
Wright first introduced the grid system, that we still use today, to allow him to build and design better. The Imperial Hotel was built so well that it survived a huge earthquake and World War II bombing allowing Wright to have much more respect and authority.















De Stijl was a period of expressing spiritual harmony and order.  The use of vertical and horizontal lines were used a lot more.  The Schroder House is a great example of showing how lines were used during this time. The red-blue chair and Z chair are very famous pieces of art within the De Stijl period.








Walter Gropius established his own architectural in 1911.  He was the director of the schools of fine art and of applied art at Weimer which eventually merged together to form the Bauhaus.  Due to economic and political problems, the Bauhaus close in Weimar and later on a new one was built in Dessau the school was forced to close in 1933.  The F 51 Armchair, Cesca Chair, and Wassily Chair are all famous furniture pieces from this era.
Mies van der Rohe was another influential man of the emergence of modernism.  He believed that "Less is more."

Here is an interesting video of the Gropius House that shows it built in 3D as well as the interior finishing's. Take a look!

Current Applications:

 

 

 

Discussion:

 

I looked at Natalie's blog and she did a good job talking about Frank Lloyd Wright and showing the interior and exterior of the Unity Temple.  I also like her video of Wrights Robie House and how it takes you on a tour.  I also looked at Paige's blog. She was very descriptive introducing the era and talking about each artist in depth.  She used lots of pictures to help the reader understand the style.





Deutscher Werkbund Movement

The Deutscher Movement was founded in Munich, Germany in 1892 by Herman Muthesius. This movement translates to German workshop and is very similar to the Arts and Crafts movement.  Germany wanted civilians to protest against the artistic establishment and set the stage for International style and Art Deco style.  German design needed to become more modernized so there was a collaboration between design professional and product manufactures to improve competitiveness. 

 

 

The workshop provides the opportunity to assess recent scientific advances and exchange ideas on the theory of infinite state systems.  A few year later in 1903, the Vienna workshop was established.  Otherwise known as the Vienna Secession, this workshop partnered with the Werkbund workshop and influenced the Bauhaus Designers. 

 

 

This exhibition building, shown above, designed by Josef Olbrich, was symbolic of a "proto-modern" building.  The style was very geometric with curvilinear artwork.  Speaking of artwork, Gustav Klimt was a famous Austrian painter and made a huge impact during the Vienna Secession.

 

Otto Wagner was an architect who designed furniture to resemble his architecture.  The Austrian Postal Savings Bank was one of his most famous buildings with cube shaped furniture. Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser were three other important designers and architects whose furniture style influenced this movement. 

This video shows some example of Koloman Moser's work as an artist and designer!

 

 

 

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Discussion:

I looked at Sammy's blog and I like how informative she was about this movement and her pictures really went well with her descriptions.  I also looked at Katie K's blog.  She really captured my attention with all of her pictures, especially with her current applications.  She went into depth about this movement starting from the early times and showed how it grew from person to person.

You can view their blogs here:
Sammy: http://history2sev.blogspot.com/
Katie: http://history2krk.blogspot.com/