Chicago School of Architecture (1880-
1910)
The groundbreaking Chicago school of
architecture was founded by William Le
Baron Jenney (1832-1907), along with a
number of other innovative American
architects. A centre of high-rise
development rather than a school per
se, it had no unified set of
principles, and buildings created by
the members of the school employed
many different designs, construction
techniques and materials. Some key
characteristics of Chicago
architecture during this period
included: new foundation techniques
pioneered by Dankmar Adler; metal
skeleton frames - first used in
Jenney's Home Insurance Building
(1884); the use of steel and iron,
first highlighted by the French
architect Viollet-le-Duc, and used by
Louis Sullivan and others.
Famous Chicago School Firms of
Architects
• William Holabird (1854-1923) and
Martin Roche (1853-1927)
Buildings designed by Holabird & Roche
included:
- Marquette Building, Chicago (1895)
- Gage Group Buildings at S. Michigan
Avenue, Chicago (1899)
- Chicago Building (Chicago Savings
Bank Building) (1904-5)
- Brooks Building, Chicago (1909-10)
• Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912)
and John Wellborn Root (1850-91)
Buildings designed by Burnham & Root,
or Burnham and Co, included:
- Fisher Building, Chicago (1895-6)
- Flatiron Building, New York (1901-3)
- Heyworth Building, Chicago (1904)
• Dankmar Adler (1844-1900) and Louis
Sullivan (1856-1924)
Buildings designed by firm Adler and
Sullivan, included:
- Chicago Stock Exchange Building
(1893-94)
- Prudential Building (Guaranty
Building) Buffalo (1894)
Art Nouveau Architecture (1890-1920)
A decorative style of architecture
characterized by flowing lines, and
abstract floral motifs, which was
closely associated with the Arts and
Crafts movement championed by William
Morris (1834-96). Known in Germany
asJugendstil - it was applied to both
the exterior and interior design of
buildings. Interiors were often
lavishly decorated with various types
of applied art - including stained
glass and ceramics.
Famous Art Nouveau Architects
• Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)
Designer of the Casa Mila (La Pedrera)
(1906-10) in Barcelona.
• Victor Horta (1861-1947)
Designed Hotel Tassel (1892-3),
and Maison du Peuple (1896-9) in
Brussels.
• Hector Guimard (1867-1942)
Famous for his entrances to the Paris
Metro.
• Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908)
Founder of the Vienna Seccession,
designer of its headquarters.
• Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-
1928)
Designer of the Glasgow School of Art
(1907).
• Giuseppe Brega (1877-1960)
Stile Liberty architect of Villa
Ruggeri, Pesaro (1902).
Revivalist Architecture (1900-2000)
Ever since Italian Renaissance
architects revived the proportions and
orders of Roman architecture,
designers have turned to the past for
inspiration. Such revivalism reached
its apogee in 19th century
architecture, in
numerous Romanesque (1000-
1150), Gothic (1150-1300) and Beaux-
Arts structures in Britain - see for
instance Victorian architecture -
Europe and the United States, but the
process continued into the 20th
century.
Famous 20th Century Revivalist
Buildings
• "Gothic" Sagrada Familia (1883-1926)
by Antoni Guardi.
• "Classical" AEG Turbine Factory,
Berlin (1909) by Peter Behrens.
• "Classical" Pennsylvania Railway
Station (1910) by McKim, Meade &
White.
• "Classical" Lincoln Memorial,
Washington DC (1922) by Henry Bacon.
• "Medieval" Stockholm City Hall
(1923) by Ragnar Ostberg.
• "Romanesque" Stuttgart Train Station
(1928) by Paul Bonatz.
• "Ziggurat" 55 Broadway, London
(1929) by Charles Holden.
• "Classical"/"Mughal" Viceroy's
Palace, India (1930) by Edwin Lutyens.
• "Roman" Milan Train Station (1931)
by Ulisse Stacchini.
• "Classical" City University, Rome
(1935) by Marcello Piacentini.
• "Classical" German Pavilion, World
Exhibition, Paris (1937) by Albert
Speer.
• "Greek"/"Moorish" San Simeon Hearst
Castle (1939) by Julia Morgan.
• "Egyptian" Louvre Pyramid (1998) by
I.M.Pei.
Note: For biographies of 19th century
architects associated with Revivalist
architecture, see:
• James Renwick (1818-95) - Neo-Gothic
architect.
• Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-86) -
Neo-Romanesque designer.
New York School of Skyscraper
Architecture (1900-30)
Steel-frame high-rise architecture was
pioneered in the 19th century
by American architects in New York and
Chicago: two cities which were
experiencing rapid development but
whose available space was limited.
With the fall in the price of steel -
a major construction material for
high-rise structures - building
upwards suddenly became much more
economically attractive. During the
first three decades of the 20th
century, New York took the lead with a
number of cutting-edge skyscrapers.
Famous New York Skyscrapers
- Park Row Building NYC, (1899–1901)
by Robert Henderson Robertson.
- Flat-iron Building NYC, (1902) by
Daniel H. Burnham & Company.
- Philadelphia City Hall (1908) by
John McArthur, Thomas U.Walter.
- Singer Building NYC, (1908) by
Ernest Flagg.
- Metropolitan Tower NYC, (1909) by
Napoleon Le Brun & Sons.
- Woolworth Building NYC, (1913)
by Cass Gilbert.
- Empire State Building NYC, (1929) by
Shreve, Lamb & Harmon.
- Daily News Building NYC, (1929) by
Howells & Hood.
- Chanin Building NYC, (1929) by Sloan
& Robertson.
- Lincoln Building NYC, (1930) by J.E.
Carpenter & Associates.
- Bank of Manhattan Trust Building
NYC, (1930) by Craig Severance.
- Chrysler Building NYC, (1931) by
William Van Alen.
- Rockefeller Center NYC, (1940) by
Hofmeister, Hood, Godley, Fouilhoux.
Early Modernist Architecture (1900-30)
"Modernist architecture", the first
real example of 20th century
architecture, was designed for "modern
man". It was relatively, if not
wholly, devoid of historical
associations, and made full use of the
latest building techniques and
materials, including iron, steel,
glass and concrete. Functionality was
a key aspect of the modernist style.
The format was later fully realized in
the United States: see, for instance,
Henry Ford's assembly plant at Rouge
River, south of Detroit - then the
largest manufacturing plant in the
world.
Famous Early Modernist Architects
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Designed Robie House, Chicago (1910);
Fallingwater, Bear Run, PA (1937).
• Peter Behrens (1868-1940)
Built the AEG Turbine Factory, Berlin
(1909).
• Adolf Loos (1870-1933)
Designed Steiner House, Vienna (1910);
Moller House, Vienna (1928).
• Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950)
Designed Helsinki Train Station (1904-
14).
• Walter Gropius (1883-1969)
Designed Fagus Factory, Alfeld-an-der-
Leine (1911).
• Le Corbusier (1887-1965) (Charles-
Edouard Jeanneret)
Designed Villa Savoye (1931); Unite
d'Habitation, Marseille (1952).
Expressionist Architecture (1910-25)
This architectural style emerged in
Germany and the Low Countries.
Expressionist architects rebelled
against the functionalist industrial-
style structures of modernist
architecture, preferring more sinuous
or highly articulated forms. These
included curves, spirals and non-
symmetrical elements, as well as
structures in which the expressive
values of certain materials are
emphasized. A contemporary example of
expressionist architecture is the
Sydney Opera House (1973), designed by
Jorn Utzon (1918-2008).
Famous Expressionist Architects
• Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
Famous for his Goetheanum, Dornach
(1914).
• Hans Poelzig (1869-1936)
Designed Grosses Schauspielhaus,
Berlin (1919).
• Max Berg (1870-1947)
Designer of the Centenary Hall,
Beslau-Scheitnig (1913).
• Bruno Taut (1880-1938)
Designed the Glass Pavilion (1914) at
the Cologne Deutsche Werkbund
Exposition.
• Michel de Klerk (1884-1923)
Co-designed the Scheepvaarthuis,
Amsterdam (1918).
• Johannes Friedrich (Fritz)
Hoger (1887-1949)
Designed Chilehaus, Hamburg (1921-4).
• Erich Mendelsohn (1887-1953)
Designer of Einstein Tower, Potsdam
(1924).
De Stijl Avant-Garde Architecture
(1917-1930)
One of the European avant-garde
art groups that had a significant
influence on the development of
modernist architecture, was the Dutch-
based group known as De Stijl, founded
in Leiden in 1917 by Theo van
Doesburg(1883-1931), its active
members included the abstract painter
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), as well as
a number of architects, designers,
painters and sculptors. Influenced
by Concrete art and Cubism, as well as
radical left-wing politics, its main
objective was to establish a
compositional methodology applicable
to both fine and decorative art. De
Stijl designs are characterized by
austere geometrical shapes, right-
angles, and primary colours.
Famous De Stijl Architects
• Robert van 't Hoff (1887-1979)
Preoccupied during his De Stijl period
with Communist politics and designs
for prefabricated mass housing, worked
out in collaboration with the Utrecht
architect P.J.C.Klaarhamer (1874-
1954).
• Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964)
His most famous designs included his
Rietveld Schroder House, Utrecht
(1924), now a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, and his Red and Blue
Chair (1917).
• J.J.P. Oud (1890–1963)
Highly influential, the Municipal
Housing Architect for Rotterdam, JJP
Oud was a key participant in the
influential modernist Weissenhof
Estate Exhibition (1927).
Social Housing Architecture (1918-30)
One response to the European post-war
housing crisis in the 1920s was a
series of minimal cost social housing
projects developed in several major
urban centres. On the Continent, these
took the form of large-scale apartment
blocks.
Famous Examples of Social Housing
• Eigen Haard Estate, Amsterdam (1920)
designed by Michel de Klerk (1884-
1923).
• Works Housing Estate, Hoek van
Holland (1924) designed by JPP Oud
(1890–1963).
• Britz Horseshoe Estate, Berlin
(1925-33) designed by Bruno Taut
(1880-1938).
• Pessac Housing Estate, Bordeaux
(1926) designed by Le Corbusier (1887-
1965).
• Bruchfeldstrasse Estate, Frankfurt
am Main (1927) designed by Ernst May
(1886-1970).
• Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart (1927)
designed by Mies van der Rohe.
• Siemensstadt, Berlin (1929) designed
by Hans Scharoun (1893-1972) and
others.
• Karl Marx Hof, Vienna (1930)
designed by Karl Ehn (1884–1957).
Bauhaus Design School (1919-1933)
The Bauhaus design school was a hugely
influential centre of inter-war
modernist architecture. Its design
ethos was propagated by several key
members of its teaching staff who
emigrated to the United States during
the 1930s. Combining ideas from
Russian Constructivism movement, the
Dutch De Stijl group, and the American
architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-
1959), as well as an attitude
to crafts modelled on the Arts &
Crafts movement and the Deutscher
Werkbund, Bauhaus design - with its
clean lines and deliberate absence of
ornamentation - eventually developed
into the International Style of modern
architecture, and later spread to the
United States, where it was developed
by Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe,
and other European emigrants like
Richard Neutra.
Bauhaus Style Architects
• Walter Gropius (1883-1969)
Designed Bauhaus Complex, Desau
(1925); MetLife Building, NYC (1963).
• Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Taught the Bauhaus's vorkurs; director
of New Bauhaus (1937-8), Chicago.
• Hannes Meyer (1889-1954)
Swiss Marxist Professor of
architecture, later director, at the
Bauhaus.
• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)
Succeeded Meyer as director of the
Bauhaus in 1930.
Art Deco Architecture (1925-1940)
Art Deco was influenced by a
combination of sources, including the
geometrics of Cubism, the "movement"
ofFuturism, as well as elements
of ancient art, such as Pre-
Columbian and Egyptian art. Its
architecture was also inspired by the
ziggurat designs of Mesopotamian art.
Art Deco, like Art Nouveau, embraced
all types of art, but unlike its
predecessor, it was purely decorative,
with no theoretical or political
agenda.
Art Deco Buildings
- Chanin Building, NYC (1927-9) by
Sloan and Robertson.
- McGraw-Hill Building, NYC (1929-30)
by Raymond Hood.
- Empire State Building, NYC (1929-31)
by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon.
- Chrysler Building, NYC (1930) by
William van Alen (1883-1954).
- Entrance Foyer, Strand Palace Hotel
(1930) by Oliver Bernhard.
- El Dorado Apartment Building, NYC
(1931) by Emery Roth (1871-1948).
- Entrance Plaza to Rockefeller
Center, NYC (1932-9) by various.
Totalitarian Architecture (1933-60)
Architectural design under dictators
like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and
Chairman Mao was designed to awe their
political subjects and impress foreign
vistors. Buildings therefore had to be
conceived and built on a gargantuan
scale, and often incorporated elements
of Greek architecture. Above all,
Totalitarian architecture embodied the
fantasies and megalomania of the
political leader.
Examples of Totalitarian Architectural
Design
• City University, Rome (1935) by
Marcello Piacentini.
• Olympic Stadium, Berlin (1934-6) by
Werner March.
• New Reich Chancellery, Berlin (1938-
9) by Albert Speer - see Nazi
art (1933-45).
• Moscow State University (1953)
designed by Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev.
• Great Hall of the People, Beijing
(1959) by Zhang Bo.
International Style of Modern
Architecture (1940-70)
The International Style first appeared
in Germany, Holland and France, during
the 1920s, before being introduced
into American architecture in the
1930s, where it became the dominant
fashion during the major post-war
urban development phase (1955-1970).
Predominantly used for "corporate
office blocks" - despite the efforts
of Richard Neutra, William Lescaze,
Edward Durrell Stone and others, to
apply it to residential buildings - it
was ideal for skyscraper architecture,
because of its sleek "modern" look,
and use of steel and glass. The
International style was championed by
American designers like Philip Johnson
(1906-2005) and, in particular, by
the Second Chicago School of
Architecture, led by the dynamic
emigrant ex-Bauhaus architectLudwig
Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969).
Famous International Style Buildings
- Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago
(1948-51) by Mies van der Rohe.
- The Graduate Center, Harvard
University (1950) by Walter Gropius.
- Seagram Building, New York (1954-58)
by Mies van der Rohe and Philip
Johnson.
- Inland Steel Building, Chicago
(1957) by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
High-Tech Architecture (1970 onwards)
Rooted in the avant-garde structures
of the 19th century, like the Eiffel
Tower and Cystal Palace, hi-tech
architecture is based on the
expressive qualities of cutting-edge
technologies and materials. As
demonstrated by James Stirling (1926-
92) - see his glass structure of the
Engineering Faculty, Leceister
University (1959-63) - traditional
construction methods (like brickwork)
are abandoned in favour of new
materials and techniques, such as
steel, light metal panels, glass, and
plastic derivatives. New building
shapes are determined by the shape of
the components used. An important
exhibition which affirmed this new
approach was Expo 67, held in
Montreal. Hi-tech architecture is
symbolized by the Pompidou Centre in
Paris, designed by Renzo Piano and
Richard Rogers in collaboration with
engineers Ove Arup & Partners.
Famous High-Tech Buildings
• USA Pavilion (Expo 67, Montreal) by
Buckminster Fuller.
• Olympiapark, Munich (1968-72) by
Gunter Behnisch and Frei Otto.
• Pompidou Centre, Paris (1971-78) by
Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.
• Lloyds of London (1978-86) by
Richard Rogers.
• Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Hong
Kong (1979-86) by Foster & Partners.
• Channel Tunnel Waterloo Terminal,
London (1993) by Nicholas Grimshaw
• Kansai Airport Terminal, Osaka
(1994) by Renzo Piano.
• Allianz Arena, Munich (2005) by
Herzog & de Meuron.
Deconstructivism (1980-200)
An iconic style of three-
dimensional postmodernist art, opposed
to the ordered rationality of modern
design, Deconstructivism emerged in
the 1980s, notably in Los Angeles
California, but also in Europe.
Characterized by non-rectilinear
shapes which distort the geometry of
the structure, the finished appearance
of deconstructivist buildings is
typically unpredictable and even
shocking. These unusual shapes have
been facilitated by the use of design
software developed from the aerospace
industry. The exhibition which first
introduced this new approach to the
public was the Deconstructivist
Architecture exhibition, curated by
Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley, and
held at the Museum of Modern Art, New
York, in 1988. the most famous
deconstructivist designer in America
is probably Frank O. Gehry (b.1929);
in Europe the top architects are
probably Daniel Libeskind (b.1946),
and the firm Coop Himmelblau, founded
by Wolf Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky and
Michael Holzer.
Famous Examples of Deconstructivism
- Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los
Angeles (1988-2003) by Frank O Gehry.
- Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (1991-97)
by Frank O Gehry.
- Multiplex Cinema, Dresden (1993-8)
by Coop Himmelblau.
- Nationale Nederlanden Building,
Prague (1992-97) by Frank O Gehry.
- UFA-Kristall Filmpalast, Dresden
(1998) by Coop Himmelblau.
- Seattle Central Library, Seattle
(2004) by "Rem" Koolhaas.
- Imperial War Museum North,
Manchester (2002) by Daniel Libeskind.
- Royal Ontario Museum (extension),
Toronto (2007) by Daniel Libeskind.
Blobitecture (1990s)
A style of postmodernist architecture
characterized by organic, rounded,
bulging shapes, Blobitecture (aka
blobism or blobismus) was first
christened by William Safire in the
New York Times in 2002 (although
architect Greg Lynn used the term
"blob architecture" in 1995) the style
first appeared in the early 1990s.
Developed bypostmodernist artists on
both sides of the Atlantic, the
construction of blobitecture's non-
geometric structures is heavily
dependent on the use of CATID software
(Computer Aided Three-dimensional
Interactive Application).
(4) One World Trade Center, NYC (1974)
(destroyed) (417m/ 1,368 feet)
(5) CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou (1997)
(391m/ 1,283 feet)
(6) Shun Hing Square, Shenzhen (1996)
384m/ 1,260 feet)
(7) Empire State Building, NYC (1931)
(381m/ 1,250 feet)
(8) Tuntex Sky Tower, Kaohsiung,
Taiwan (1997) (378m/ 1,240 feet)
(9) Central Plaza Hong Kong (1992)
(374m/ 1,227 feet)
(10) Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
(1990) (367m/ 1,205 feet)

Famous Examples of Biobitecture

• Water Pavilion (1993–1997) by Lars
Spuybroek and Kas Oosterhuis.
• Experience Music Project, Seattle
(1999-2000) by Frank O Gehry.
• Kunsthaus, Graz (2003) by Peter Cook
and Colin Fournier.
• Bus Station at Spaarne Hospital
(2003) by NIO Architecten.
• The Sage Gateshead (2004) by Norman
Foster.
• Philological Library, Free
University, Berlin (2005) by Norman
Foster.

Late 20th-Century Supertall Towers

Structural techniques developed by US
architects like Fazlur Khan (1929-82)
of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, have
led to the construction of a new
generation of supertall buildings or
'towers'. These new tubular designs,
which have also significantly reduced
the amount of steel required in
skyscrapers, have enabled architects
to break free from the regular "box-
like" design. With modern towers now
regularly exceeding 100 storeys, the
biggest limitation on upward growth
remains safety and the lack of
emergency evacuation procedures.

Tallest Towers Built in the 20th-

Century
(1) Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia (1998) (452m/ 1,483 feet)
(2) Willis Tower, Chicago (1973)
(442m/ 1,450 feet)
(3) Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai (1999)
(421m/ 1,380 feet)