main source wrien by henry russell hitchcock and philip johnson … · main source wrien by henry...

Mainsourcewri-enbyHenryRussellHitchcockandPhilipJohnsonin1932called“TheInternaAonalStyle”BeganwithPeterBehrensinGermanybeforeWorldWar1withhisIndustrialArchitecturelikethe1922AEGIndustrialBuilding.Evenearlierin1913O-oWagnerwasworkingonusesofplanesurfaceswiththeWagnerVilla.AndfinallytheBelgianHenryVandeVeldewaslookingatconAnuoussurfacesandcurveslikeinhismainbauhausuniversitybuildingin1905.ThestylebeganinFrance,HollandandGermanybeforebecomingtrulyinternaAonalwiththehelpofLeCorbusier,PhilipJohnsonandHenryHitchcock.

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Therearethreemainprinciplesofthestyle.Theseareanemphasisonvolume,regularityoversymmetry,anddependenceonintrinsiceleganceofmaterials,technicalperfecAonandfineproporAons.ThebuildingmenAonedin“TheInternaAonalStyle”tobestexepmlifyall3a-ributesisthePavilionbyEricAsplundatthe1930StockholmExposiAon.

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TheemphasisonvolumemeansthatmassandstaAcsolidityareremovedandreplaceswithplanesboundingavolume.Flatroofs,largerwindowareasandgreatersimplicityalladdtotheemphasisonvolume.WithnewtechnologiessuchassteelthereisnolongeraneedforsupporAngwallsandthereforcanhavemoreopeningsanduselightermaterialsthataremoreplanelike.Inlinewiththestylethereare3typesofinteriors:theenArevolumeofabuilding,interiorsthatopentooneanotherwithoutdefiniteparAAonsandtheordinaryenclosedroom.IntheInternaAonalstyleinteriorsthatopentooneanotherwithoutdefiniteparAAonsarefrequentlyused.

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Allbuildingshaveanunderlyingregularrhythmduetotheequallyspacedskeletalsupports.Regularitydoesnotmeansymmetry.TheInternaAonalstyledoesnota-empttoforceirregularfuncAonsintoasymmetricalforms,butitdoesa-empttoraAonallyadjustirregularfuncAonstoregularstructureandtoexpressthatadjustmentinacleardesign.TheoriginalGreekmeaningofsymmetrystatesthatsymmetryisthedueproporAonofseveralpartsisalmostequivalenttotheinternaAonalstyle’smeaningofregularity.TheVanNelletobacco,teaandcoffeefactoryinRoderdambuildbyBrinkmanandVanderVlugtin1930usesthreesecAonseachdevotedtoadifferentfuncAonbutusingthesamestructuralregularity.TheFillingstaAoninClevelandbuiltbyClaussandDaubin1931featuresasymmetricalplacementofthedoorandshopwindowsgivingitwhatHitchcockandJohnsonrefertoas“superiorarrangement.”

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TheInternaAonalstyledependsonalternateformsofornamentbecauseitisbelievedthatappliedornamentshouldnotbeneededongoodarchitecturewiththeonlyexcepAonbeingforclearandcrisple-eringtonamethebuilding.TheideaofthelackofornamentcarriesovertothesiteinthatmanshouldnottrytocopynatureincreaAngsitelandscapingandgardens.TheinternaAonalstyleavoidsappliedornamentbecausethebuildingsdesignedinthestylehaveanemphasizedspecificfuncAon.TheFinnishpavilionattheAntwerpexposiAonbyErikBryggmanin1930givesgoodexapmlesofmaterialityandle-eringusedasdecoraAon.Thevarnishedplywoodneedsnoextraappliedornamentandthele-eringisusedeffecAvelyinsilhoue-eAnotherexampleofle-eringassimpledecoraAonisintheKunstvereinremodledhousebyKarlSchneiderin1930inGermany.

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TheInternaAonalstyleprinciplepointssomewhatincorporatethesecondarycomponentshowevertheyarenotspecificallymenAoned.WindowsarethemostconspicuousfeaturesofmodernexteriordesignsandhorizontalityisthemostconspicuouscharacterisAcofthestylethereforeitisfibngthathorizontalwindowsareusedmostcommonly.ThestylealsospecifiesthatthewallplaneshouldnotbebrokenwithawindowattheinneredgesandthatallopeningsareintenAonallyordered.TheTugendhathousebyMiesVanderRoheinCzechoslovakiaexhibitsthehorizontalwindowsandunbrokenwallpanes.TheProfessionalwomen’sresidenceinSwitzerlandbyArtariaandSchmidtarrangedthedoorsandwindowswellsoastouserhythm.

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ThethreecomponentsoftheinternaAonalstylebestalignwithLaugier’striadofbiensceance,soliditeandconvenience.BiensceancetoLaugiermeanstheappropriatenessofdesignwhichlinesupwiththedependenceonintrinsicelegance.SoliditetoLaugiermeanstheproperuseofandchoiceofmaterialwhichtotheinternaAonalstylemeanstheplanarconstrucAonandunbrokensurfaces.ConveniencetoLaugiermeansthesite,planningandinternatcommunicaAonwhichallignsperfectlywiththeideaofregularity.ItisratherconvenientthattheInternaAonalstylehas3mainpointsallofwhichmatchLaugier’striad.

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