MINIMALISM

minimalism 2

What is Minimalism?
How did it come about?
How has it impacted art and architecture?

minimalism 3

Early Modernism
Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885-1940, Sweden)
Was originally known as a neoclassical architect but adopted
Modernist design sensibilities during the period between world wars.
Frequently collaborated with Sigurd Lewerentz, and Alvar Aalto
considered him to be a major influence.

Minimalism
Donald Judd (1928-1994, America)
Studied philosophy and acquired a masters degree in Art History.
Sustained himself by writing art criticisms for magazines and
maintained working friendships with artists such as Dan Flavin and
John Chamberlain.

Contemporary Minimalism
Peter Zumthor (1943-, Switzerland)
Apprenticed as a carpenter, attended an Arts Academy in Switzerland
and completed his architectural training at the Pratt Institute.

minimalism 4

Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Post World War I:
Disgusted with Nationalist views
that contributed to the initiation of
World War I, some architects began
rejecting the old cultural forms and
developed an internationalist world
view. Their designs embraced
modern technology, new materials
and a functionalist outlook on living.

El Lissitzky, Lenin Tribute, 1922

Swedish Exhibition Signage

In 1928, Asplund was sent on a tour

of Europe by the Swedish Exposition
Committee for inspiration for his
pavilion designs.
When he returned his designs
demonstrated his new interest in
Functionalism,
Constructivism,
Industrialism and the reductive
aesthetic being
developed in
greater Europe.
He recognized the efficiency and
brilliance in the new materials for his
termporary and quickly-constructed
exhibition projects.

To a new architecture and a

new life - Gunnar Asplund

minimalism 5

Donald Judd
The 1960s:
During a time of social revolution,
including the Civil Rights Movement,
Vietnam war protests and the
beginning of the Gay Rights
Movement, Donald Judd rejected
the usual way of composing nonrepresentational art by adding
his own kind of clarity to art
making. Judd had a difficult time
understanding
and
producing
abstract expressionism which gave
way to believing that art did not need
to be representational.

"The Essence of Abstract Expressionism "

The art of the time was composed by

mixing, balancing, and harmonizing
the various parts in order to create
a whole greater then the sum of its
parts. Judds sculptures are simply
wholes - no more, no less. Each
piece has clearly defined parts, and
the parts are either separated or
attached to fill out these limits.
Donald Judd fought against artistic
conventions and constraints. He
actively questioned the nature of art,
the job of the artist and the methods
of galleries.

minimalism 6

Peter Zumthor
Contemporary Society:
Technology has helped to create
a world where people move too
quickly through space and are
disconnected from physical reality.
Peter Zumthor wants people to slow
down, and rejects the virtual world
as he designs for an architecture
that needs to be experienced in
person.
He comes from a hands-on
background of carpentry and
woodworking, refuses to have a
website showcasing his works, and
writes very little about his projects.

minimalism 7

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : MASS

minimalism 8

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: MASS

STOCKHOLM CITY LIBRARY

The library is a simple prismatic mass,
easily comprehended as a cylinder resting
on a square base

minimalism 9

Donald Judd

Design Principles: MASS

15 WORKS IN CONCRETE
The works are comprised of pure geometries
resting on the floor or cantilevered from
the wall. Vibrant primary colours and
manufactured materials clearly define the
edges.
I was surprised when I made those first two
freestanding pieces, to have something set
out into the middle of the room. It puzzled
me. On the one hand, I didnt quite know
what to make of it, and on the other, they
suddenly seemed to have an enormous
number of possibilities.
-Donald Judd
minimalism 10

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: MASS

VALS THERMAL BATHS

An interplay between stone and water; a
juxtaposition between solid and void. The
diagram to the right is the initial conception
of Boulders standing in water. The play
of interior masses on the floor plan directly translates into the final Thermal Baths
building.
minimalism 11

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : LIGHT

minimalism 12

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: LIGHT

SKOGSKAPELLET
Deliberate preservation and addition
of trees exaggerate the contrast
between the rough and dark texture
of the forest and the geometric purity
of the chapel and its brightly lit interior

minimalism 13

Erik Gunnar Asplund

SKOGSKAPELLET
A central skylight illuminates the
white painted interior of the chapel

Design Principles: LIGHT

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: LIGHT

VALS THERMAL BATHS

The collection of interior spaces of the thermal baths
engage the user, through a variety of sensory experiences. Light acts as a procession through the
collection of spaces. Movement is not directed or
controlled but the user is free to be draw to certain
light sources, with blue and red lights indicating the
temperature of pools in each chamber. A stip lighting
detail is used in the ceilings, to allow the natural light
to penetrate the spaces and act as a guide along
corridors and around corners.

minimalism 15

Donald Judd

Design Principles: LIGHT

LIGHT
Towards the end of his career, Judd became
interested in materiality and light. His works
developed a sensitivity to natural light, exploring changes in character and solidity at different times of the day. Coloured plexiglass,
relective metals and smooth painted surfaces
allowed him to create complexity with simple
surfaces.

minimalism 16

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : STRUCTURE

minimalism 17

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: STRUCTURE

WOODLAND CEMETERY
A three dimensional grid system utilizes
abstract walls and columns to arrange
and compose the built forms.

minimalism 18

Donald Judd

Design Principles: STRUCTURE

CHAIR
The concept of structure coexists with
the overall shape of the object. Object
and structure become one and the
same, without an indication of structural hierarchy. Judd attempts to blur
componential aspects into one primary object, emphasizing its wholeness
and simplicity.

minimalism 19

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: STRUCTURE

CHAPEL OF ST. BENEDICT

Wood from the surrounding environment
forms the primary structural building material, and amplifies its beauty through simple
and clean detailing. The interior structure of
the chapel becomes the defining element of
the space. He gently pulls away the structure
from the exterior wall, allowing it to elegantly
hold up the roof and draw diffuse light into the
chapel.
minimalism 20

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : RITUAL

minimalism 21

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: STRUCTURE

VALS THERMAL BATHS

Zumthor creates a ritual of the bath. He
heightens a simple human activity into
a multi-faceted phenomenological experience. He engages the user through
light, touch, smell, and sound. He creates an internal spatial experience
through harmonizing the senses, to create an unprecedented sensory engagement.
minimalism 22

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : LANDSCAPE

minimalism 23

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: LANDSCAPE

SKOGSKYRKOGARDEN
The extent of the Woodland Crematorium is defined by a wall. The buildings appear to dissolve
into the forest behind like a ruined, ancient city
while the low wall provides a hard edge to the
rest of the open, manicured site

minimalism 24

Donald Judd

Design Principles: LANDSCAPE

15 WORKS IN CONCRETE
The natural landscape is just another plane
for the art object to rest upon. The art creates an internal atmospsphere negating external relationships.

minimalism 25

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: LANDSCAPE

VALS THERMAL BATHS

Zumthor elegantly respects the surrounding
context by enhancing site characteristics. The
Thermal Baths masterfully sit into the hillside of
Vals, acting as a natural rock form in the landscape. The stone that makes up the floor and
walls surfaces of the baths is quarried from the
local hills. He frequently employs local materials,
like the wood in the Chapel of St. Benedict.
minimalism 26

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : ORDER

minimalism 27

Donald Judd

Design Principles: ORDER

ORDER
Judd insists on the independance of things - a
commitment fundamental to his art and life.
Modular objects at regular intervals reinforces
a lack of hierarchy, and the equal status of
each element.

minimalism 28

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: ORDER

VALS THERMAL
BATHS
An early diagram of the Thermal Baths demonstrates that
rom inception the project is
crafted by how one moves
through a series of interior
spaces. The diagram demonstrates the ideology of
how the user engages the
building. The experience of
spaces are key in the amplification of the sensory experience one has as they move
through the baths.

minimalism 29

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : CONTAINMENT

minimalism 30

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: CONTAINMENT

GOTHENBURG LAW COURTS

There is a sense of openness to the atrium extension as skylights flood the space
with natural light, curving wood walls
provide smooth edges and warmth, and
openings in the upper floor plates extend
space vertically. The atrium is intended to
ease the tension of visitors facing the law
by feeling un-enclosed and un-opressive.
minimalism 31

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: CONTAINMENT

GOTHENBURG LAW COURTS

The exterior courtyard and the new atrium
appear to be one bright, continuous space
with the use of a full-height glass wall.

minimalism 32

Donald Judd

Design Principles: CONTAINMENT

CONTAINMENT
Judd experimented with room-sized
installations where the experience became the entire facilitation, not just
the art. Using contemporary material,
Judd uses expansion and contraction
of space around the enclosure to define atmpsphere. He then moved onto
works about openess and defined the
space.
minimalism 33

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: CONTAINMENT

KUNSTHAUS BREGENS GALLERY

Through detailing and natural lighting, the ceiling plane dissolves and walls feel like the only
enclosure forming the room. The subtle material
palette forms a subtle backdrop to enhance the
power of the artwork.

minimalism 34

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : REPETITION

minimalism 35

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: REPETITION

GOTHENBURG LAW COURTS

The modern facade of the extension to the
law courts pays homage to the heritage
building with careful mimicry of horizontal
and vertical elements, and adds a playful
edge with the asymmetrical positioning of
the windows
minimalism 36

Donald Judd

Design Principles: REPETITION

REPETITION
Repetition allows for multiple points of view of the
same object at once. Variations of form occuring
at regular intervals have no sense of hierarchy; all
parts are equally valued providing a sense of unity. Together simple elements become complex.
minimalism 37

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: REPETITION

KUNSTHAUS BREGENS GALLERY

Simplicity is beauty. Here the repetition of a unitized space frame facade system creates a image
of a unified whole. Zumthors aim is the engagement within the building, through the repetition of a
mystifying facade system, a dialogue is created to
draw the user into the interior and main attraction the art - rather than the architecture.
minimalism 38

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : VOLUME

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: VOLUME

GOTHENBURG LAW COURTS

The interior stair with clock tower and
the exposed elevator shaft reinforce the
sense of the atrium space as an interior
piazza, encircled by open balconies.
minimalism 40

Donald Judd

Design Principles: VOLUME

VOLUME
Judd was fascinated with working with real
space - not the illusion of depth created by
paintings on a flat canvas. He defined volumes
with the edges of forms (ex. in between repeated elements, space between disconected
objects, and negative spaces), and through
subtraction. from pure geometries.

PRINCIPLES

minimalism 41

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: VOLUME

KUNSTHAUS BREGENS GALLERY

Peter Zumthors architecture is ideology is the
creation of an architecture that enhances the
image of the surrounding fabric. His volumetric forms, are traditionally geometric always
elegantly fitting into the context. The volumetric
form, is the housing of the interior, and interior
that must ultimately enhance the functions of
a project. His volumetric manifestations are
resultants of the needs and uses of the interior
spaces.

minimalism 42

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : ESSENCE

minimalism 43

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: ESSENCE

THE STOCKHOLM EXHIBITION, 1930

The Exhibition was a marvelous and strange construction in
which the Russian-Constructivist idiom was commercialized and
capitalized on; the political turned into commercial advertising
-Marc Treib

minimalism 44

Donald Judd

Design Principles: ESSENCE

ESSENCE
He believed that art did not need to represent
anything, not figure, gesture or movement that it could be understood simply as art - and
that materials, colour and volume could have
power in themselves.
minimalism 45

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: ESSENCE

KUNSTHAUS BREGENS GALLERY

Zumthor wants his buildings to allow the user to
experience themselves - through emotional response and physical sensations - and connect
to a place. He believes that architecture does
not need an underlying meaning to be powerful.
Architecture is not a vehicle or a symbol for
things that do not belong to its essence. In a
society which celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the
waste of forms and meanings, and speak its
own language.
-Peter Zumthor from Ruby, Sachs and Ursprung, Minimal Architecture, 2003, p18.
minimalism 46

DESIGN PRINCIPLES : EXPRESSION

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: EXPRESSION

SKOGSKYRKOGARDEN
Asplund employs many means to
reinforce the themes of aging, death
and birth at the Crematorium.The
railroad station clock is bent over as
if exhausted.
minimalism 48

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: EXPRESSION

SKOGSKYRKOGARDEN
The lamps in the forecourts of the
chapels are in the form of candle
snuffers and the entrances to the
cremation ovens in the shape of
caskets

minimalism 49

Erik Gunnar Asplund

Design Principles: EXPRESSION

The full forms of the great grass

covered knolls and tree-lined meditation grove suggest the opposing
theme of birth through reference to
the fertile female form.

minimalism 50

Donald Judd

Design Principles: EXPRESSION

EXPRESSION
Judd did not grasp Abstract Expressionism - the prevalent art force in New York
during the 1950s. Instead, he outsourced
the manufacture of his pieces, denying the
need to demonstrate the artist and human
emotion in his work. He embraced machine-made materials so that the art could
speak for itself.
minimalism 51

Peter Zumthor

Design Principles: EXPRESSION

BRUDER KLASS CHAPEL

The expression of Peter Zumthors
work can be largely seen in his core principle of engaging sensory experience. This
interior perspective, looking upward within
the chapel, is a defining image. The user
is invoked by light penetrating an oculus,
and surrounded by walls cast out of forms
of burnt out trees. The mastery of Peter
Zumthors expression is summarized in this
image. The expression of the interior, is to
ultimately enhance the uses of the space
through engaging sensory experience.
minimalism 52

MINIMALISM

Minimalism

Develops as a reaction and rebellion against disputed contextual ideologies and institutions, such as
nationalism, expressionism, excess and detachment from the physical world.
Works are stripped down to their most fundamental features, but find complexity in the study of light,
materiality, structure and volume.
Power and meaning is to be found in the work itself. Historical and expressive content is reduced to a
minimum, if not non-existent.
Detailing is careful and essential to achieving the reductionist aesthetic.
Geometric forms, equality of parts, repetition of elements, neutral suraces and industrial materials are
common characteristics of minimalist works.

minimalism 54

Resources
Batchelor, David. Minimalism, Cambridge University Press,1997.
B. Jones, Peter. Modern Architecture Through Case Studies. Architectural Press. Oxford. 2002. p. 161-176
Cantz, Hatje, Donald Judd: Architecture, MAK Applied Arts, Germany, 2003.
Donald Judd, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1978.
Donald Judd, Waddington Galleries, London, 1986.
Paavilainen, Simo. Hundred Years from the birth of Asplund. Arkkitehti, 1986. No.4. p. 52-59
Plummer, Henry. The Architecture of Natural Light, The Monacelli Press, China, 2009.
Ruby, Sachs and Ursprung, Minimal Architecture, Prestel, Munich, 2003.
Treib, Marc. A Reconciliation with History: Gunnar Asplund and an Architecture of the past. Architecture and Urbanism, April 1991. p. 38-65
Wrede, Stuart. The Architecture of Erik Gunnar Asplund. MIT Press. 1980
www.installationart.net
www.juddfoundation.org
www.moma.org
Images:
Corbusier image:
www.worldarchitecturenews.com
Thermal Baths:

Plummer, Henry. The Architecture of Natural Light, The Monacelli Press, China, 2009.

Blue wall curved art:

www.artreview.com
Judd Copper Box:

Batchelor, David. Minimalism, Cambridge University Press,1997.

minimalism 55

Resources continued...
15 Works in Concrete:

Ruby, Sachs and Ursprung, Minimal Architecture, Prestel, Munich, 2003.
www.chinati.org
www.unc.edu
Steel boxes in Mafta, Texas gallery space:

Cantz, Hatje, Donald Judd: Architecture, MAK Applied Arts, Germany, 2003.
Ville Snellman Elevations:
http://diffusive.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/gunnar-asplund-villa-snellman-1917-18/
Gothenburg Law Courts Interior Piazza

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Asplund_R%C3%A5dhusannexet_G%C3%B6teborg_06_(pho

to_by_Seier_on_flickr).jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pg/2362888941/
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Asplund_R%C3%A5dhusannexet_G%C3%B6teborg_04_(phot

o_by_Seier_on_flickr).jpg
Skogskapellet Interior
http://www.skogskyrkogarden.se/en/media/
Skogskapellet Exterior

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pg/2814171363/
Skogskapellet Sections and Elevations

Treib, Marc. A Reconciliation with History: Gunnar Asplund and an Architecture of the past. Architecture and Urban

ism, April 1991. p. 38-65
Stockholm City Library Exterior
http://cavin2009.com/japan/sweden/stockholm
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/33316
Gothenburg Law Courts Exterior

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pg/2362865621/
Woodland Cemetary

Wrede, Stuart. The Architecture of Erik Gunnar Asplund. MIT Press. 1980
Stockholm Exhibition
http://www.arkitekturmuseet.se/ung/utstallning/modernismen/english/default.html
http://www.aggregat456.com/2010/06/impure-opticality-or-when-urban-screens.html

minimalism 56