IARC

Around the 1800s designers and architects were racing to design different things and explore styles and materials. Two very influential things that were invented were skyscrapers and elevators. These two inventions go hand in hand because they aid each other. Skyscrapers around this time were mainly seen in New York and Chicago. These structures had to be substantial to hold up to the height of the building. The skyscrapers contrasted the different buildings around the city like most cities. Building such as banks wanted a more classical style. At the same time designers were recreating look a likes from the world fairs. Jefferson’s house in Virginia is an example of a recreation of old architecture from ancient times. The columns are a dead giveaway. Looking back at the skyscrapers, many people suggested that they resembled old gothic architecture. I credit this information from observing the tops of the skyscrapers. They are usually pointed with a little ornamentation around it.

While continuing to explore new designs I feel people kept going back to the old habits and designs that were a little familiar whether they did it purposefully or not. Reform, Form, and Context were three principles that were considered greatly in this exploration of new design. The movement of handcrafted vs. machine was debated as to which one was true design and talent. They started to encourage do it yourself arts and crafts. Stickley kind of started the building your house in a kit, which to me is very similar to what we see now on HGTV. Moving along with arts and crafts came the movements of art, art nouveau, art deco, lesperit nouveau, and Bauhaus. The other half of the world was still reviving classism.

The arts and crafts movement was mainly about rejecting the machine and focusing more on hand crafted work. The art movement included many different forms and painters such as Seurat completing post impressionists paintings and Picasso inscribing cubism within his paintings. Art nouveau was more of a different more cutting edge style. Art deco was primarily purchasing objects that could be placed within the design to compliment it. Bauhaus was more of borrowing design, which is something designers have been doing for years. In my interior architecture education the Bauhaus education is very important because it is based off the Bauhaus movement. Some of the important principles they teach are the elements of design and learning how to liberate your mind of things that might restrict your design.

The next movement that can still be seen today is modernism. Modernism around this time(1900s) was considered very machine like and cold. Also more interior decorators like Elisie de Wolfe are emerging during this time, which add more stylized looks to already built structures. The three principles that centered on modernism around this time were hi tech, deconstruction, and regionalism. Hi-tech elements that can be found in the structural design of a building were things like materials that looked very futuristic like steel. A good example of a building influenced solely on technology is the Piano and Roger building. This building has an open plan where all technology is pulled to the outside of the structure rather than the inside. Regionalism focused on post modernism and historic preservation. Geography was also something designers wanted to preserve as well. The Sea Ranch Condominiums used mountains and landscapes within the design to preserve the ground it stood on. Deconstructionism was more of a style of its own. A good example of this principle is the Vietnam Veteran Memorial that contains all the names of all the fallen victims of the Vietnam War. This Memorial wall was more important dealing with its contextual meaning more than its design.

Designers still to this day take their interpretation of modernism and design things that suite their personal design or good design for all. The suburbs that we have today in the 21^st century are a reflection of all explored designs and ancient designs. As more and more people design buildings their styles and principles will also be recorded and used in the future to borrow and be a principle for changing.