ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

NEW FORMALISM

New Formalism developed in the mid-1950s and continued into the early 1970s. It was a reaction against the rigid formulae of the American version of the International Style. Its three main architects – Edward Durrell Stone, Philip Johnson, and Minoru Yamasaki – had all achieved prominence working within the International Style but wanted to try new styles and materials. New Formalism architecture combines decorative elements and established design concepts of classicism with the new materials and technologies incorporated in the International style. Edward Durrell Stone’s New Delhi American Embassy (1954), which blended the architecture of the east with modern western concepts, is considered to be the start of New Formalism architecture.

Common features of the New Formalism style, which was quite often expensive to build, include:

Use of traditionally rich materials, such as travertine, marble, and granite or man-made materials that mimic their luxurious qualities
Buildings usually set on a podium
Designed to achieve modern monumentality
Embraces classical precedents, such as arches, colonnades, classical columns and entablatures
Smooth wall surfaces
Delicacy of details
Formal landscape; use of pools, fountains, sculpture within a central plaza

The style was used primarily for high profile cultural, institutional and civic buildings, including the Los Angeles Music Center and the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and Edward Durrell Stone’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In Southern California, the style was applied mainly to museums, auditoriums, and college campuses. The University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology, and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont all have significant buildings of the New Formalism style, designed by different architectural firms. Other local examples of New Formalism include the Ahmanson Center in Los Angeles and the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena.

Read More about New Formalism Architecture:

“Edward Durell Stone.” Architects on Architecture. New York: Walker and Company, 1966: 173-183.
Fox, Stephen. The Architecture of Philip Johnson. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 2002.
Jacobus, John M. Philip Johnson. New York: Braziller, 1962.
Stone, Edward Durell. Recent & Future Architecture. New York: Horizon Press, 1967.
Yamasaki, Minoru. A Life in Architecture.New York: Weatherhill, 1979

(Source: http://www.fullertonheritage.org)

INTERNATIONAL STYLE

The International Style in architecture developed the same time as Art Deco. The style emerged in western Europe in the 1920s and was introduced into the United States by several distinguished practitioners including Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van de Rohe, Richard Neutra, and Rudolf Schindler, all of whom emigrated from Europe to escape persecution and war. The term came from an experimental 1932 exhibition (International Style: Architecture in 1932) held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and from the title of the seminal exhibition catalog ( International Style: Architecture Since 1922 ) written by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Americans preferred period or “revival” styles that reflected an eclectic mix of past traditions. Architects of the International Style promoted an anti-style: a new universal architecture molded from modern materials – concrete, glass, and steel – that was characterized by an absence of decoration. The style was “international” in that it could be applied to any location, site, or climate as it made no reference to local history or national vernacular. From 1930 to 1940, Los Angeles was center stage for early practitioners of the International Style in the United States.

At its best, the International Style strives for precision, simplicity, and clarity. The style embraced machinery and industrialized mass-production techniques, relying on the use of iron and steel, reinforced concrete, and glass. Above all, the buildings were utilitarian, with every part of the design having a function. Defining features of the style are:

Primarily glass (green, blue, black, and bronze) and steel, in combination with reinforced concrete
Unadorned, smooth wall surfaces, typically of glass, steel, or stucco painted white
Complete absence of decoration and ornamentation
Simple geometric forms, often rectilinear
Corner windows
Flat roofs, without ledges, eaves, or coping
Metal windows set flush with exterior walls, often in horizontal bands
Windows usually large and rectangular, displaying a regular pattern
Large areas of floor-to-ceiling glass or curtain walls of glass
Use of thin metal mullions and smooth spandrel panels
Plain doorway entrances set flush to the wall
Open interior spaces; modular furniture

Although seldom used for residential construction, the International Style dominated commercial and institutional American architecture from the 1950s through the late 1970s. The style’s “anonymous glass boxes” (glass-covered office towers) – now the image of capitalism and corporate America – were particularly popular in large cities from the 1950s to the 1970s and are still being constructed today. Well-known examples of the International Style include the United Nations Headquarters, the Seagram Building and the Lever Brothers Building, all in New York City.

The International style lent itself to urban planning and any large-scale building that involved standardized units of construction. It was also very popular as corporate architecture where the building provided an image for a company. However, the formulaic and cheapness of construction led to a plethora of poor imitations during the 1960s and 1970s; as a reaction against the sameness of the International Style, several different architectural styles evolved after the 1960s, and eventually, they were given labels such as New Formalism, Brutalism, and Post-Modernism.

Read More about the International Style:

Coleman, Brian D. “International Style.” Old House Interiors January 2001: 58-65.
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, and Philip Johnson. The International Style. Collingale, PA: DIANE Publishing, 2000. First published in 1932 under the title: The International Style: Architecture since 1922.
Khan, Hasan-Uddin. International Style: Modernist Architecture from 1925 to 1965.New York: Taschen, 2001.
Wodehouse, Lawrence. The Roots of International Style Architecture. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, 1991.

(Source: www.fullertonheritage.org)

GOOGIE ARCHITECTURE

Exaggerated Modern architecture — also known as Googie architecture — began in Southern California, then fanned out to other areas of the nation, with amazing popularity in Las Vegas and Miami. This architectural style was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s.

Today, the term “Exaggerated Modern” is being used to describe this style of architecture. The term “Googie”, which was initially used to identify this style, is traced back to restaurants designed by John Lautner in the early 1940s. In 1949, Lautner designed Googie’s coffee shop (next to the famous Schwab’s drug store) at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights in Los Angeles. When Professor Douglas Haskell of Yale spotted the coffee shop, he coined its style as “Googie architecture.” The label stuck when Haskell wrote an influential article on the style in House and Home magazine. The name suits the exotic and playful style that was once used on thousands of buildings — coffee shops, restaurants, motels, car washes, bowling alleys, car dealerships — throughout Southern California.

The Exaggerated Modern (or Googie) style took its cues from Streamline Moderne and commercial vernacular architecture of the 1930s and 1940s. It began as a way to make the most of strip malls and other roadside locations and to catch the eye of passing motorists. The style reflected the exuberance, enthusiasm, optimism, and faith in the future and technology prevalent in the 1950s. It borrowed heavily from popular culture and the Space Age, and is often described as a combination of the Flintstones and the Jetsons.

Common features of Exaggerated Modern architecture include:

Roofs slopping at an upward angle, giving the appearance that they could take off in flight
Large sheet glass windows
Exposed steel beams and trusses
Design elements having curvaceous, geometric, and unusual shapes: domes, boomerangs, starbursts, cutouts, flying saucers, amoebas, etc.
Flamboyant colors
A building design relating to a theme, such as the Space Age or Atomic Age
Bold use of old and new materials, including sheet glass, steel, neon, plastic, plywood, rock and fake rock (permacrete)

The ultramodern Bob’s Big Boy restaurants, early McDonald’s restaurants, Disneyland’s Tomorrowland and Monsanto House of the Future, Seattle’s Space Needle, and the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood are all well-known examples of Exaggerated Modern architecture.

Because of its association with Disneyland, Anaheim became the ideal city for Exaggerated Modern architecture. Hundreds of buildings designed in this style dotted Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, especially around the theme park, in the 1960s and 1970s; gradually, most of them have disappeared, as Anaheim has adopted stricter building design and sign standards in the area around Disneyland.

Exaggerated Modern architecture was out of favor by the mid-1960s. Historical and cultural events — the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War, social unrest — combined to temper the optimistic attitudes of the 1950s. Many “serious” architects also criticized the style as frivolous, crass, and kitschy. It was very much architecture appropriate for the times and needs of the day. Examples of Exaggerated Modern architecture in Los Angeles and Orange County can be found on the Internet at Googie Architecture Online (http://www.spaceagecity.com/googie/).

Read More about Exaggerated Modern (Googie) Architecture:

Haskell, Douglas. “Googie Architecture.”House and Home February 1952: 86-88.
Hess, Alan. Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop
Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1986.
Hess, Alan. Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2004. (Revised version of 1986 work.) Includes a guided tour of Googie buildings in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Palm Springs.
King, Barbara. “So Goofy, So Giddy, So Googie.” Los Angeles Times October 20, 2005: F2.

(Source: http://www.fullertonheritage.org)

BRUTALISM

Brutalism (or New Brutalism) was a popular architectural style from the 1950s through the mid-1970s that evolved from the work of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. It is uncompromising in its approach, believing that practicality and user-friendliness should be the first and foremost aims of architectural design. Materials such as steel and concrete are favored.

Although the word Brutalism comes from the French word for rough concrete ( beton brut), a sense of brutality is also suggested by this style. Buildings designed in this style are usually formed with striking blockish, geometric, and repetitive shapes. The structure is typically heavy and unrefined with coarsely molded surfaces — usually exposed concrete. The smooth texture of glass for windows and doors forms an attractive contrast. Most windows do not open, and the building is thoroughly climate-controlled. The design of the building is largely dependant on the shape and placement of the various room masses. Outlines are quite intricate and exterior walkways are emphasized.

Typical features of Brutalism include:

An exterior façade composed with a variety of geometric forms and contradicting shapes
Volumes that project horizontally and vertically
Walls and structure made of concrete with rough concrete surfaces left exposed inside as well as on the exterior
Windows that are recessed; the use of glass is minimized, especially at ground level
Interiors that leave ducts, pipes, and other mechanical devises exposed

Relatively easy to construct and easy to maintain, these new buildings lacked the ‘skeletal’ appearance of early International style buildings. Being forged largely out of raw concrete, they were often seen as a quick and easy way to construct “lasting” buildings in the 1960s and 1970s.

Brutalism was a response to the glass curtain wall that was overtaking institutional and commercial architecture in the 1960s. The style originated in England, but its design quickly spread throughout the world, as it afforded an attractive and relatively inexpensive solution to weather and climate control conditions in large buildings, as well as providing a finish that was less vulnerable to vandalism. The 1960s and 1970s were years of great expansion in universities and public buildings, and this is where the Brutalism style is most often found.

The line between brutalism and ordinary modernism is not always clear since concrete buildings are so common and run the entire spectrum of modern styles. Designs which embrace the roughness of concrete or the heavy simplicity of its natural forms are considered Brutalism. Other materials including brick and glass can be used in Brutalism if they contribute to a block-like effect similar to the strongly articulated concrete forms of early Brutalism.

While the origin of Brutalism is generally ascribed to the architect Le Corbusier, the American architect Paul Rudolph designed some of the most famous buildings of the Brutalism style. This style’s greatest promoter, however, was the firm John Portman & Associates which designed several enormous “atrium hotels” and office clusters known for their spectacular spatial effects, including the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. In Orange County, most of the original buildings constructed in the late 1960s on the UC Irvine campus were designed in the Brutalism style by William Periera.

MODERNIST LA

A visual excursion of everyday modernistic buildings in Los Angeles