1. Modernism from Europe and the International Style
Art Deco
Art Moderne
International Style

2. Art Deco, 1925-40 Eliel Saarinen
Named for the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs and Industrials Moderne, 1925
Eliel Saarinen
“Break with the past; look to the future”
A mixture of science and art

3. Art Deco characteristics
Linear and angular compositions
Use of set backs and vertical emphasis
Common decorative motifs
Chevrons, zigzags
Colored tiles
Use of exotic themes and décor
Background: Art Deco takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs and industriels Mondernes, held in Paris in However, the first building designed in this style was a submission for a new Chicago Tribune Building in 1922, by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. The exposition emphasized the future, not the past [hence the break with Beaux Arts]

4. McGraw-Hill Building New York, 1929-30

5. Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio 1929-33, Fellheimer & Wagner

6. Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio 1929-33, Fellheimer & Wagner

7. Paramount Theater, Oakland, Calif. 1931

8. Lynchburg News & Daily Advance Building

9. Chrysler Building, Wm Van Alen, New York, 1926-30

10. Chrysler Building, New York, 1926-30

11. Chrysler Building, New York, 1926-30

12. Empire State Building NYC, 1931
World’s tallest building when built at 1,239 feet

13. Niagara Mohawk Electric Building, Syracuse, NY

15. Miami, Florida Art Deco District

17. Kimo Theater, Albuquerque, NM

18. Art Moderne, 1930-45 Streamlined Emphasis on the horizontal
Smooth finishes and curves
Curved windows of modern glass
Flat roofs
Modern materials

19. W.P. Story Building Gate, Los Angeles, CA, 1934

20. Coca Cola Bottling Company Los Angeles, Calif., 1937

21. Greyhound Bus Terminal Washington, DC, 1938

22. Johnson Wax Research Tower Racine, WI, 1936 Frank Lloyd Wright

23. Reception area

24. Greyhound Bus Terminal Columbia, SC, 1938

25. Salem Oak Diner, Salem, NJ, 1954

27. Thomas Jefferson High School Los Angeles, Calif., 1936

28. Butler House, Des Moines, Iowa, 1937

29. Rockafeller Center, New York City
Reinhard & Hofmeister,
The construction of this complex was a preview of the rejection of decoration as criteria of design

30. International Style,
Massing most important, undecorated, uniform treatments
Concrete, metal, glass
Flat roofs, smooth walls
Large expanses of glass
Emphasis on the horizontal
Cantilevered balconies

31. European Context
Bauhaus School: Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Intentionally futuristic
Modern technology and democracy
The architectural machine
Form follows function
Functional simplicity
“Less is More”
Architecture’s social and political context
Honesty vs. decorative trappings

32. Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, Philadelphia, Penn., 1929-32
12th & Market Sts., Philadelphia, PA, George Howe and William Lescaze

33. The term "International Style" began at the Metropolitan Art Museum in 1932 in which fifteen current architects' works were grouped as an international style. The Catalog of that exhibit was also termed, The International Style since While most work in the United States embraced revival styles, Europeans were the principal practitioners of this work without precedent. Art Deco and especially Art Moderne embraced transportation metaphors for decoration, International Style viewed buildings as factories for living and sought to emulate the extreme functionality and modularity of those spaces. Rejection of "unessential" decoration is the one characteristic that separates International style from Deco, or Art Moderne.

34. International Style, 1920-45 International in impact
Developed by European architects
Walter Gropius, Ludwig Meis van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, and LeCorbusier, among others used this style in their early careers. The Bauhaus School was particularly influential.
Purposeful critique of and break from the past
Modular, uniform architecture for the masses
Architecture for industry, business, and institutions

35. European Context
Bauhaus School: Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Intentionally futuristic
Modern technology and democracy
The architectural machine
Form follows function
Functional simplicity
“Less is More”
Architecture’s social and political context
Honesty vs. decorative trappings

36. Tension between formal and functional elements
Assertion of Function
Windows should show pattern of use. (Functional)
Assertion of Form
Windows should emphasize rightness of relationships. (Formalist)

37. International Style characteristics
Simple, undecorated, uniform
Concrete, metal, glass
Flat roofs, smooth walls
Large expanses of glass
Emphasis on the horizontal
Cantilevered balconies

38. Gropius House Lincoln, Mass., 1937

39. Gropius House Lincoln, Mass., 1937

40. Fagus Shoe Factory, Alfeld-an-der-Leine, 1911-13

41. Dessau, Germany, 1925-26, Walter Gropius

42. Poissy-sur-Seine, France, 1928-29, Le Corbusier.

43. Seagram Building
New York, NY, , L. Mies van der Rohe & P. Johnson
Lake Shore Apartments
Chicago, , Meis Van Der Rohe.

44. Illinois Institute of Technology, 1946, Mies van der Rohe

45. Lovell House Los Angeles, Calif., 1926

46. Lovell House, Newport Beach, CA. 1926. R. M. Schindler.

47. Entrance Platform

48. Fallingwater Bear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

49. Fallingwater Bear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

50. Fallingwater Bear Run, Pa., 1936 (Wright)

51. Farnsworth House Plano, Ill., 1949-51
Meis Van Der Rohe, Plano, IL,

52. Pope-Leighey House. Falls Church 1940
Pope-Leighey House. Falls Church Frank Lloyd Wright (Usonian house). Moved in 1965

53. Broad Margin, Greenville, SC Frank Lloyd Wright (usonian) 1954