Overview
Modern architecture is not a new branch of an old tree: it is an altogether new shoot rising beside the old roots. Thus Walter Gropius, one of the pioneers of modern architecture, on the radical departures of the 20th century. In the 1930s, the term International Style came into use to describe a new form of architecture evolved from Bauhaus and its conviction that "form follows function." Until the 1980s, International Style set the standard in modern building, with its rational solutions to construction problems. Combining steel, glass and concrete, it established an aesthetic founded on the sheer thrill of pushing to the limits of technical and economic viability. Hence the exhilarating skylines of metropolises worldwide; but also the desolate anonymity of modern suburban environments. This book traces the exciting evolution of a style while examining the individual and regional forms it took, and analyses the ideals and realities of architectural visions of utopia.
Synopsis
Modern architecture is not a new branch of an old tree: it is an altogether new shoot rising beside the old roots. Thus Walter Gropius, one of the pioneers of modern architecture, on the radical departures of the 20th century. In the 1930s, the term International Style came into use to describe a new form of architecture evolved from Bauhaus and its conviction that "form follows function." Until the 1980s, International Style set the standard in modern building, with its rational solutions to construction problems. Combining steel, glass and concrete, it established an aesthetic founded on the sheer thrill of pushing to the limits of technical and economic viability. Hence the exhilarating skylines of metropolises worldwide; but also the desolate anonymity of modern suburban environments. This book traces the exciting evolution of a style while examining the individual and regional forms it took, and analyses the ideals and realities of architectural visions of utopia.
Library Journal
These titles are part of the new 40-volume "World Architecture" series to be completed over the next five years. Each volume covers a country or period; chief features of the series are the fine illustrations and the clear, concise texts that cover the material in style. A very good value, the books are printed in a large format with many illustrations in sumptuous color, even the maps and plans. Stierlin is best known for his 16-volume Architecture Universelle, published between 1964 and 1972. His text, together with his wife's photographs, brings alive the world of Turkish architecture, centered on the great architect Sinan (1489-1588). Kahn (architecture, MIT) gives a balanced survey of the dominant new styles of 20th-century architecture up to the advent of Postmodernism. For all architecture collections.--Peter S. Kaufman, Boston Architectural Ctr.