The doctrine of western architecture

Eclectic architecture is a popular architectural style in some European and American countries from the first half of 19 century to the beginning of the 20 th century. Eclectic architects imitate various architectural styles in history at will, or freely combine various architectural forms. They don't emphasize the fixed French style, but only the proportional balance and pure formal beauty.

With the development of society, various buildings are needed to meet various requirements. /kloc-in the 0/9th century, the convenience of transportation, the progress of archaeology, the development of publishing industry and the invention of photography technology all helped people to understand and master the architectural heritage of previous times and regions. As a result, many cities have seen buildings with Greek, Roman, Byzantine, medieval, Renaissance and oriental sentiments.

/kloc-in the middle of the 0/9th century, eclectic architecture was the most typical in France, and the Paris Academy of Fine Arts was the center for spreading eclectic art and architecture at that time. 1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was the most prominent. Generally speaking, the eclectic architectural trend of thought is relatively conservative, and new architectural forms are not created according to the emerging new building materials and new building technologies at that time.

The representative works of eclectic architecture are: Paris Opera House, which is an important monument of the Second Empire of France. The facade of the theater imitates the late Baroque architectural style of Italy, mixed with complex carvings, which has a great influence on European architecture. Functionalist architecture is an architectural school, which believes that the form of architecture should obey its function. Since ancient times, many buildings have paid attention to function. However, in the late19th century, some architects in Europe and America opposed the academic design idea of pursuing form and neglecting function, explored the road of new architecture and highlighted the function of architecture.

With the development of modernist architectural movement, functionalism was all the rage in the 1920s and 1930s. Originally, emphasizing the function of architecture was one of the important viewpoints of modernist architectural movement, but later some people regarded it as an absolute creed and called it "functionalism". They believe that not only the architectural form must reflect the function and express the function, but also the architectural plane layout and spatial combination must be based on the function, and all components with different functions should be displayed separately.

In the 1920s and 1930s, another functionalist appeared, mainly some builders and engineers. They think that economically "affordable" buildings are functional buildings, which will automatically produce beautiful forms. These extreme ideas rule out the artistic laws of architecture itself and will only cause confusion to functionalism itself.

After 1950s, functionalism gradually disappeared, and even le corbusier, who emphasized the architectural function, parted ways with functionalists. But there is no doubt that functionalism has played an important role in promoting the development of modern architecture from the beginning. Modernist architecture refers to an architectural trend of thought that dominated the western architectural world in the middle of the twentieth century. The representative of this kind of architecture advocates that architects should get rid of the shackles of traditional architectural forms and boldly create brand-new buildings that meet the conditions and requirements of industrialized society. Therefore, it has distinct rationalism and radicalism, and is also called modernist architecture.

Modernist architectural thoughts came into being in the late19th century, matured in the 1920s, and swept the world in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the 1960s, some people think that modernist architecture is out of date, and some people think that the basic principles of modernist architecture are still correct, but they need to be revised and supplemented. Since 1970s, when referring to modernist architecture, some documents have been labeled as "1920s" or "orthodox".

19 19, German architect Gropius was the principal of Bauhaus. Under his leadership, Bauhaus became one of the most radical art and architectural centers in Europe in the 1920s, which promoted the architectural innovation movement. Mies van der Rohe, a German architect, also published a series of articles in the early 1920s, expounding new ideas and showing the features of future buildings with schematic diagrams.

In the mid-1920s, Gropius, le corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and others designed and built some buildings with novel styles. Among them, the Bauhaus School building in Gropius, the Savoi Villa in le corbusier, the Swiss Student Dormitory in Paris, the Geneva International union buildings Scheme designed by him, and the German Pavilion of the Barcelona World Expo in ludwig mies van der rohe have great influence. Under the influence of these three architects, some young European architects, such as Finnish architect Aalto, also designed some excellent new buildings in the late 1920s.

Different from academic architects, Gropius and others are concerned about the housing that ordinary residents need in large quantities, and some people have made scientific research on it.

During the period of 1927, a residential exhibition was held in Stuttgart, Germany under the auspices of Mies van der Rohe, which had a great influence on the research work of residential buildings and the formation of new architectural styles. In 1928, 42 representatives of innovative architects from 12 countries gathered in Switzerland and established the International Association of Modern Architecture. One by one, "modernist architecture" also spread everywhere.

From the speeches and practical works of Gropius, le corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and others, we can see that the "Modernist Architecture" advocated by them emphasizes that architecture should keep pace with the times and modern architecture should adapt to the industrialized society. Emphasize that architects should study and solve the practical function and economic problems of buildings; Advocate the active adoption of new materials and structures, and give play to the characteristics of new materials and structures in architectural design; Advocate resolutely getting rid of the shackles of outdated architectural styles and creating new architectural styles; Advocate the development of new architectural aesthetics and create new architectural styles.

The representative figures of modernist architecture advocate new architectural aesthetic principles. Including the unity of expression and construction means; Coordination between architectural form and internal function; The logic of architectural image; Flexible and balanced asymmetric composition; Simple manipulation and pure body shape; Absorb the new achievements of visual art in architectural art.

Some people call these architectural views "functionalism", others "rationalism", but more people call them "modernism".

In the 1920s-1930s, the architectural works designed by architects with modernist architectural ideas had some similar formal features, such as flat roofs, asymmetrical layout, smooth white walls, simple eaves treatment, glass windows of different sizes, and little or no decorative molding. Such an architectural image appeared in many countries for a time, so someone named it "International Architecture". Of course, the name is in some superficial forms.

In 1930s, modernist architectural thought spread rapidly from Western Europe to all parts of the world. Due to the hostility of the German fascist regime to the new architectural concept, Gropius and Mies van der Rohe were forced to emigrate to the United States. Bauhaus school was closed. However, Bauhaus's teaching content and design ideas have had a far-reaching impact on architectural education all over the world.

Modernist architectural thought is first implemented in practical building types such as factory buildings, primary and secondary schools, hospitals, libraries and a large number of residential buildings. In 1950s, it was also realized in memorial and national buildings, such as the United Nations Headquarters Building and the Parliament Building. By the middle of the twentieth century, modernism occupied a dominant position in the world architectural trend. Since the 1960s, there has been an ideological trend in the United States and Western Europe to oppose or amend modernist architecture. After World War II, modernist architecture became the dominant architectural trend in many parts of the world. However, differences quickly emerged within the modernist architectural camp, and some people questioned and criticized the views and styles of modernist architecture.

1966, in the book Complexity and Contradiction of Architecture, American architect Venturi put forward a set of architectural theories and propositions that were in sharp opposition to modernist architecture, which caused shock and repercussions in the field of architecture, especially among young architects and architectural students. In 1970s, the trend of opposing and deviating from architectural modernism became more intense. This tendency has been called by different names, such as "anti-modernism", "post-modernism" and "post-modernism", and the latter is widely used.

People have different views on what postmodernism is and what are the main features of postmodern architecture. American architect Stern proposed that postmodern architecture has three characteristics: decorative; Symbolic or metaphorical; Integration with existing environment.

At present, it is generally believed that Venturi did put forward a relatively complete guiding ideology for postmodernism. Although he himself does not want to be regarded as a post-modernist, his remarks have played an extremely important role in inspiring and promoting the post-modernist movement.

Venturi criticized modernist architects for being keen on innovation and forgetting that they should be "experts in keeping tradition". Venturi's traditional practice is to "use traditional ingredients and introduce new ingredients appropriately to form a unique whole" and "combine traditional ingredients through unconventional methods". He advocated drawing lessons from folk architecture, especially appreciating the spontaneously formed architectural environment in American commercial streets. Venturi concluded: "For artists, innovation may mean choosing and choosing from old and existing things." In fact, this is the basic creative method of post-modern architects.

Western architectural magazines promoted post-modernist architectural works in the 1970s, but in fact, until the mid-1980s, there were few representative post-modernist buildings in Western Europe or the United States. Typical examples are the expansion of Allen Art Museum of Oberlin College, Portland Municipal Building, AT&T Building, Philadelphia Apartment for the Aged, etc.

From 65438 to 0976, the extension of Allen Art Museum of Oberlin College, which was built in Ohio, USA, was connected with the old museum, and the colors and patterns of the walls echoed the original building. In a corner, a wooden and deformed Ionia pillar was placed in isolation, short, thick and funny, and got the nickname "Ione Mickey Mouse". This treatment embodies the technique advocated by Venturi: it is a fragment, a decoration, a symbol and an example of "combining traditional ingredients in an unconventional way".

The AT&T Building was completed in 1984, and the architect was Johnson. The building is located in the bustling Madison Avenue in Manhattan, new york. Johnson made the exterior of this tall building look like a stone building. At the bottom of the building, there is a tall colonnade; A circular arch in the middle is 33 meters high; The top of the building is made into a gable shape with a circular gap. Some people describe the roof as an old wooden clock from a distance. Johnson explained that he intended to inherit the style of new york's old skyscrapers at the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

Smith, an American architect, is regarded as the best among American postmodern architects. The houses he designed in Tuscany and Laurensen include two small houses, one in Spanish style and the other in classical style, that is, three orange classical columns are asymmetrically attached to the facade.

1980, the architectural exhibition of Venice Biennale Art Festival is considered as a worldwide exhibition of post-modern architecture. The exhibition is located in an arsenal left over from the16th century in Venice, Italy. Twenty architects from all over the world were invited to design the temporary building facade and form a 70-meter-long street in the factory. The theme of the exhibition is "Presentation of History".

Invited architects include Venturi, Seymour, Stern, Graves, Smith, Isozaki of Japan, Portoghesi of Italy, Bofil of Spain, etc. These post-modernist or quasi-post-modernist architects express fragments of historical architectural forms in their works in an unconventional way.

People's views on postmodernism are quite different, which is often related to their views on modernist architecture. Some people think that modernism only pays attention to the influence of function, technology and economy, ignoring and cutting off the connection between new buildings and traditional buildings, so it can't meet the requirements of ordinary people for architecture. In particular, they accused the international architecture associated with modernism of being out of harmony with the original architectural culture of various ethnic groups and regions, which destroyed the original architectural environment.

In addition, after the energy crisis in the 1970s, many people thought that modernist architecture was not more economical than traditional architecture and needed to change their attitude towards traditional architecture. Some people think that modernism reflects the requirements of the industrial revolution and industrialization period, and some developed countries have passed that period, so modernism is no longer suitable for the new situation. Those who hold the above views pin their hopes on postmodernism.

Those who oppose postmodernism believe that modernist architecture will develop with the times and should not deny the basic principles of modernism. They believe that it is correct for modernism to combine architectural design and artistic creation with social material production conditions, and it is also correct for architects to care about social problems. On the contrary, postmodernists mainly focus on decoration, symbol, metaphorical tradition and history, while ignoring many practical problems.

On the issue of form, postmodernists engage in new eclecticism and technicalism, which are superficial things. Therefore, those who oppose postmodernism believe that modernism is an all-round revolution in architectural thought, while postmodernism is only a popular style in architecture and cannot last long. The social and historical significance of the two cannot be compared.

Others think that it is reasonable for postmodernists to point out the shortcomings of modernism, but the prescription is not desirable. People think that the actual works produced by postmodernists so far are clumsy and mediocre in form and cannot be elegant. Some people think that postmodernists have not put forward any serious theories, but they have broken through the convention in architectural form and their works are enlightening.