Modern Architecture: Function, Innovation, and Social Change

Introduction

The advent of modernity has wrought massive changes in human society. New forms of transportation and communication, for example, have changed the way people work, learn, conduct business, and organize into communities. Technological advances in medicine have resulted in new forms of treatment for disease and longer life spans. Upheavals such as the women's movement and the civil rights movement have challenged prevailing norms and transformed social relations.

The field of architecture is no exception. The modern architecture movement is also largely a response to the availability of new technologies and changing social needs. The first part of this paper looks at the various definitions of what constitutes "modern" architecture. The next part then examines how the various styles sought to take advantage of new materials and to address changing social needs. The final part considers how modern architecture is responding to new concerns, such as growing environmental awareness and the security questions raised by the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center.

Defining Modern Architecture

The term "modern architecture" encompasses many styles and movements. However, experts generally agree that modern architecture was codified in the "International" style, which resulted from the amalgamation of several design ethics made possible only by the technological advances following the Industrial Revolution. By the 20th century, it had become apparent that technology was blurring traditional cultural boundaries, as commerce, industry, travel, and immigration grew increasingly global.

Modern architecture grew out of a combination of these developments. The needs of industry and a growing population gave rise to architectural forms that could be easily built, assembled, and reproduced. Architects began to use iron, glass, and reinforced concrete—materials that are easier to reproduce and cheaper than traditional materials like marble and stone (Cannon-Brookes).

Architects also moved away from the design flourishes characteristic of Renaissance architecture, in favor of a cleaner style that reflected the world's growing internationalism. Modern architects like Philip Johnson, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe created buildings stripped of cultural symbolism. Instead, they sought to reflect a growing global aesthetic through a unified style that appealed across cultural perspectives.

The main unifying aspect of modern architecture was its emphasis on "the essential functions of a building instead of merely its outer appearance" (Kuipers). While Renaissance and classical architecture relied on recognizable forms or distinctive facades, modern architects turned their attention to a building's function. This in turn led to the development of new designs that expressed a structure's purpose without any cultural or historical references.

Modern architecture is thus characterized by the twin ideas of function and innovation, as brought about by the changing needs of an industrializing and increasingly global world. Some historians, however, also ascribe another human factor to the growth of modern architecture: rebellion. After all, Renaissance architecture was itself largely a reproduction of the classical styles developed in antiquity. With their new creations, modern architects rejected styles that had borrowed too heavily from the past. Instead, they looked to the future, embracing a design ideology that was new in all respects—a response to the needs and changes that had come to fruition in the 20th century.

The new lifestyles and social organization of modern society necessitated new structures, and modern architects rose to that need in a variety of ways.

Modern Architecture and Changing Social Needs

The functionalists of the early 20th century proposed that a building's purpose or function should determine its design. This idea was first popularized in Europe in the 1920s, though it rapidly spread across the United States. Under the leadership of Walter Gropius, the members of the Bauhaus School created new structures to serve Europe's urban needs.

For Europe, the period immediately after World War I was one of rebuilding and recovery. Many cities had to be rebuilt from the ground up, while others had to provide new housing for an influx of refugees and immigrants seeking work. Modern architects like the members of the Bauhaus school responded with new housing schemes such as mass apartment blocks. Their idealism and rationalism led to factories and apartments designed more for comfortable living and working conditions than for purely aesthetic concerns.

For the Bauhaus architects, this translated to structures composed of flat-roofed blocks. Manufacturing industries were ready sources of inexpensive glass, which Bauhaus architects fashioned into curtain glass walls (Kuipers). Elements such as geometric shape and glass walls were often the only adornments, in stark contrast to the elaborate facades of classical architectural structures.

Other inventions and materials further fueled the functionalist ethic. The availability of steel and concrete, combined with the invention of the elevator, led Chicago architects to design taller buildings. The need to reconstruct the city after the devastating fire of 1871 also gave rise to a construction boom, as more office space was needed to reflect Chicago's status as the economic center of the American Midwest. Architects responded with the development of the skyscraper.

In addition to new technologies and changing social needs, many modern architects sought to combine new materials with a love of nature and democratic ideals. Frank Lloyd Wright, for example, believed in using native materials and wanted his buildings to grow naturally from their surroundings—buildings were meant to be in harmony with nature, not massive disturbances. He also believed in designing homes that the growing middle class could afford.

To address this goal, Wright began designing the Usonian houses during the 1930s. He moved away from traditional square spaces by planning the Usonian house around an L-shaped floor plan. This layout separated the living space from the quieter bedroom wing, which was situated at the other leg of the plan. To keep costs down, the floor was constructed from concrete blocks in a square grid of four by four feet for faster construction. Pipes ran below the floor, serving the dual purpose of carrying hot water and providing radiant heat (Larkin 143).

Conclusion

The history of modern architecture is defined by its response to a host of human and social needs. By taking advantage of new materials and technologies, modern architects have created structures to address the commercial demands of an industrializing world as well as the housing needs of a growing middle class. How architecture will respond to new environmental and security concerns, however, remains to be seen.