ISTITUTO DI ISTRUZIONE SECONDARIA SUPERIORE MARIE CURIE – SAVIGNANO SUL RUBICONELICEO SCIENTIFICO - ANNO SCOLASTICO 2019-2020

Materia: STORIA DELL’ARTE

Docente: prof. Alessandro Tricoli

DESIGNING  FOR  A  NEW  LIFESTYLE.  MODERNISM  IN  ARCHITECTURE  

PART  II:  AMERICA

CHICAGO AND THE BIRTH OF SKYSCRAPERS

Chicago  has  played  a  central  role  in  American  economic,  cultural  and  political  history.    Since  the  1850s  Chicago  has  been  one  of  the  dominant  metropolises  in  the  Midwestern  United  States,  and  has  been  the  largest  city  in  the  Midwest  since  the  1880  census.    The  area’s  recorded  history  begins  with  the  arrival  of  French  explorers,  missionaries  and  fur  traders  in  the  late  17th  century  and  their  interaction  with  the  local  Native  Americans.

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1870.

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1918.

Chicago  in  1820

Chicago  in  1830

Chicago  in  1853

Chicago  at  the  end  of  the  1850s

Chicago  in  1868

Chicago,    October  8-­‐10,    1871

In  1871,  the  city  of  Chicago  was  devastated  by  a  fire  that  destroyed  buildings  and  homes  that  were  made  of  wood  and  cast  iron.  However,  the  disaster  occurred  during  a  period  of  great  economic  expansion  for  the  city.  The  fire  made  it  necessary  to  rebuild  quickly  and  allowed  for  major  redevelopment.  This  need  to  concentrate  building  and  offices  in  a  limited  space  led  to  the  emergence  of  a  new  type  of  building:  the  skyscraper.

1869  map  of  Chicago,  altered  to  show  the  area  destroyed  by  the  fire.

STEEL  FRAME

Chicago,    October  8-­‐10,    1871

The  skyscraper  exploited  the  latest  technological  innovations,   such   as   the   electric   lift   as   well   as  new  materials  and  building  techniques.    The   use   of   a   steel   frame   almost   completely  replaced   the   masonry   structure   and   balloon  frame  technique.

BALLON  FRAME

MASONRY  STRUCTURE

R.  Morris  Hunt,    Tribune  Building,  New  York,  1873-­‐1875.

NEW  YORK

The  New  York  Tribune  Building  was  a  

building  built  by  Richard  Morris  Hunt  

in  1875  in  New  York  City.  The  designer  

was   fresh   from   the   École   des   Beaux-­‐

Arts   in   Paris   and   in   the   front   rank  of  

American  architects.    

It  was  built  as  the  headquarters  of  the  

New  York  Tribune  and  was  a  brick  and  

masonry   structure   topped  by   a   Clock  

Tower.  It  was  79  m.  tall.    

It  was  demolished  in  1966.  

The  pioneering  1875  Tribune  Building  was  flanked  by  the  New  York  World  building,  

left,  of  1890,  and  the  New  York  Times  building  of  1889,  which  alone  still  stands.

NEW  YORK

CHICAGO  BEFORE  1871

CHICAGO  BEFORE  1871

Chicago  was  the  second  most  populated  city  in  the  United  States.    

Its  architecture  resembled  the  “European  Style”.    

There  wasn’t  really  a  “American  Style”  of  Architecture.

The  Chicago  School  promoted  a  new  architecture,  using  technologies  

 of  steel-­‐frame  construction  in  commercial  buildings  and  developing  a  

spatial  aesthetic  which  co-­‐evolved  with,  and  then  came  to  influence,  

parallel  developments  in  European  Modernism.

THE CHICAGO SCHOOL

Louis Sullivan & Dankmar Adler

William Le Baron Jenney

Frank Lloyd Wright

Daniel Burnham & John Wellborn Root

W.  Le  Baron  Jenney,  First  Leiter  Building,  Chicago,  1879.

Burnham  &  Root,    Monadnock  Building,  Chicago,  1891.

Burnham  &  Root,  Reliance  Building,  Chicago,  1891.

Adler  &  Sullivan,    Auditorium  Building,  Chicago,  1889.

Adler  &  Sullivan,    

The  Carson  Pirie  and  Scott  Department  Store,    

Chicago,  1903.

THE REVIVAL OF THE SCHOOL

L.  Mies  Van  der  Rohe,Lake  Shore  Drive  Apartments,  Chicago,  1951.

Skidmore,  Owings  &  Merrill,    John  Hancock  Center,  Chicago,  1970,  344  m.

Skidmore,  Owings  &  Merrill,  Sears  Tower,  Chicago,  1974,  520  m.

Skidmore,  Owings  &  Merrill,    Sears  Tower,  Chicago,  1974,  520  m.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (1867-1959) AND THE ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

Frank  Lloyd  Wright  was  an  architect  and  writer  whose  distinct  style  helped  him  become  one  of  the  biggest  forces  in  American  architecture.    

After   college,   he   became   chief   assistant   to  architect  Louis  Sullivan  in  Chicago.    

Wright  worked  for  Sullivan  until  1893,  when  he  breached   their   contract   by   accepting   private  commissions   to   design   homes   and   the   two  parted  ways.  

Over  the  next  several  years,  Wright  designed  a  series   of   residences   and   public   buildings   that  became  known  as  the  leading  examples  of  the  “Prairie  School”  of  architecture.    

These   were   single-­‐story   homes   with   low,  pitched   roofs   and   long   rows   of   casement  windows,   employing   only   locally   available  materials  and  wood  that  was  always  unstained  and  unpainted,  emphasizing  its  natural  beauty.

Frank Lloyd Wright

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  ORGANIC  ARCHITECTURE

ROBIE  HOUSE,  OAK  PARK  (ILL.),  1906

Designed  as   two   large   rectangles   that   seem   to   slide  past  one  another,  the   long,   horizontal   residence   that   Wright   created   for   28-­‐year-­‐old  Frederick  Robie,  boldly  established  a  new  form  of  domestic  design:  the  Prairie  Houses.   These  were   single-­‐story  homes  with   low,  pitched   roofs  and   long   rows   of   casement  windows,   employing   only   locally   available  materials  and  wood.

ROBIE  HOUSE,  OAK  PARK  (ILL.),  1906

ROBIE  HOUSE,  OAK  PARK  (ILL.),  1906

FALLINGWATER,  BEAR  RUN  (PENN.),  1935

FALLINGWATER,  BEAR  RUN  (PENN.),  1935

Inspired   by   the   architect’s   desire   to   integrate   human-­‐made   structures  into  the  natural  world,  Fallingwater  typifies  organic  architecture.  Wright  coined  the  term  “organic  architecture”  in  the  early  20th  century.  Deeply  rooted   in  his   love  of  nature,  organic  architecture’s  primary   intention   is  to   unify   buildings   with   their   environments   and   visually   blur   the   line  between  built  structures  and  natural  habitats.

FALLINGWATER,  BEAR  RUN  (PENN.),  1935

FALLINGWATER,  BEAR  RUN  (PENN.),  1935

GUGGENHEIM  MUSEUM,  NEW  YORK,  1959

GUGGENHEIM  MUSEUM,  NEW  YORK,  1959

In   1943,  Wright  began  a  project   that   consumed   the   last   16   years  of  his  life:  designing   the  Guggenheim  Museum  of  modern  and  contemporary  art   in   New   York   City.   An   enormous  white   cylindrical   building   spiraling  upward  into  a  glass  dome,  the  museum  consists  of  a  single  gallery  along  a  ramp  that  coils  up  from  the  ground  floor.  While  Wright’s  design  was  highly   controversial   at   the   time,   it   is  now  revered  as  one  of  New  York  City’s  finest  buildings.

GUGGENHEIM  MUSEUM,  NEW  YORK,  1959