5. ARCHITECTURE: THE CHALLENGE AGAINST THE SKY

SKYSCRAPERS, RATIONALISM, DESIGN AND GREEN ARCHITECTURE

1. THE SKYSCRAPER

New York, is the symbol of the twentieth century, it is the city of skyscrapers. The skyscraper is the architectural symbol par excellence of the XX century. The construction of these terrestrial giants, the towers in the sky started in Chicago and continued in New York, where in 1973 the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were built: a symbol of era that ended on the 11 th of September 2001 with their destruction following a terrorist attack. Today the sky is the new limit: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, inaugurated in 2010, is currently the tallest skyscraper in the world considering the highest part of the tower which is the antenna it reaches 828 m, and the height of the roof that reaches 636 metres.

1852: this was the time when, according to statistics “the safest means of transport in the modern world” was created: the elevator. It was the combination between this new technological invention and overcrowding in the big American cities that the modern skyscraper was created. Just for the record the forerunner of the skyscraper was the ten storey tower of the Chicago Home Insurance, built in 1883. It was the first example of the Chicago school and the ancestor of many others that were erected in cities like New York and Dallas, whose profile stretching up to the sky has since characteristically distinguished the appearance of American cities in the XX century.

Woolworth, the king off the supermarkets built a gothic style building in 1913 in New York whose main appeal was its height, until then unrivalled of 241 metres. The building was referred to as the "cathedral of business" and was inaugurated by President Wilson who rather than cutting a ribbon pushed a button and turned on the eight thousand electric lights. The skyscraper became a symbol with which American and European architects understand that they have to get to grips with. In the art world the first to call for its construction were the futurists.

Video. SKYSCRAPERS OF THE FUTURE

2. RATIONALISM

In the XX century there was the split between architecture and visual arts. Architecture went back to being construction, the materials became structures and mixed in with the decor: rationalism was born, which found its main expressiveness in Germany and the United States.

BAUHAUS
Gropius is uniquely considered one of the best architects of the XX century. In fact the Fagus factory and the Bauhaus buildings are both milestones in modern architecture. For Bauhaus, Gropius represented the real inspiration and reference point. It is not a coincidence that even after closure of the schools he continued to work to make sure that the fundamental ideas of the foundation were recognised and appreciated. Gropius’ important contribution to modern architecture on a linguistic level became decisive on a didactic level: in Gropius’ methodical theory there is a precise functional connection to all branches of architecture from design to town planning.

VILLA SAVOYE BY LE CORBUSIER
An example of modern architecture and in particular rationalism, it was designed and built between 1928 and 1931 for Pierre Savoye, the manager of an insurance company and his family. The lack of adequate technological solutions that could guarantee efficiency and conservation of the building over the years is of little importance: it is a manifesto, a symbol and a monument that belongs to the history of modern architecture, or rather to that trend that is identifiable with many great European and non European artists of the twenties and thirties (we can think of Brazil with Oscar Neymeier).

THE SEAGRAM BUILDING BY MIES VAN DER ROHE
Its principle was less is more, or rather take away from the building everything that is superfluous, or decorative to make it architecturally fundamental and above all functional. The Seagram Building is a skyscraper in New York, in Midtown Manhattan, designed by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in collaboration with the American Philip Johnson and was completed in 1958. It is a masterpiece of the XX century and is one of the most splendid examples of Functionalistic aesthetics, founded on the principles of anonymity and non artistic nature, the indispensable components for every display of authentic modernity.

Video. VAN DER ROHE

3. DESIGN

Design or planning is the activity at the base of the construction of every object. It is a process that through norms, calculations and designs allows the creation of objects, interior decorations and even buildings. Sustainable design (also called eco design) today is a fundamental concept in design and is characterised by the design of products that respect the environment, reducing and eliminating the negative effects on the environment through the use of alternative resources and energy, non toxic materials, recycled or recyclable and renewable production processes.

THE URNAN HARBINGERS: ART DECO
Art Deco is an architectural style that evolved from austere shapes from the Bauhaus school and mixed them with aerodynamic lines of modern technology, combining them with models and icons taken from the Far East, Ancient Greece, India and the Maya and Aztec cultures. The cubic shapes are reminiscent of Ziggurat and the pyramids, the decor and the elegant geometric designs full of colour and lines highlight the decorative side of XX century architecture in sharp contrast to the functional austerity of rationalism. The Chrysler Building in New York City, built in 1930, is an example of this style which was used to build entire areas of the United States: one of many is the Art Deco district in Miami.

FOCUS MILAN: ART DECO IN MILAN
A thrilling visit to the city must include a walk around the “Art Deco” buildings from the 20s and 30s, the results of work done by Giovanni Muzio and Gio Ponti, a key figure in the group of XX century Italian architects. In particular the Cà Brutta, finished in 1924, and Palazzo Montecatini, an elegant building also in via della Moscova, completed in the second half of the 30s by the Milanese architect Gio Ponti.

DESIGN IN MILAN?

THE HOUSE ON THE WATERFALL BY LLOYD WRIGHT
The search for simplicity by using materials from nature with a net refusal of decorative devices. This is the concept at the basis of the creation by Lloyd Wright at Mill Run in Pennsylvania. The result of this private house, the architectural lines and innovative spaces, the perfectly integrated design in the natural context was called "organic architecture", a kind of "construction philosophy” that aimed at developing the buildings like an organism, without pre-ordered geometrical designs which ended up being the most perfect architecture for man, made to measure for man, built around man and built with man just as if it were part of his body. It is a type of concept that reflects the individualistic significance of American society.

Video. LLOYD WRIGHT

4. GREEN BUILDING

Sustainable architecture (or bio architecture) is the future of XX century architecture and represents the mandatory and fundamental destiny of this art. More than just a simple school it embodies and represents a cultural approach to design that is connected to organic construction of the 70s (started once again in Germany) that has developed based on the multiple design and structural aspects used depending on the characteristics of the building and the context. Staring with a reduction in energy consumption sustainable architecture keeps in mind a series of factors and technologies that are linked to improved efficiency and performance based on bio climate parameters and the use of renewable energy (geothermic, photovoltaic, solar energy and wind energy). Apart from this the use of bio ecologic materials is the strength of this architecture that has been as an example for future generations since the start of the XXI century.

Video. GREEN ARCHITECTURE

THE AALTO THEATER IN ESSEN
Father of the psycho-ecology applied to architecture the Finn Aalto concentrates on recycling natural materials like wood, stone and brick and the study of details in connection with the psychological needs of man. It is thanks to him that we owe important studies on hospital colours, studied to guarantee ultimate serenity and relax for patients; studies on acoustics in meeting rooms. Architecture and design in Scandinavian countries in many ways have similar roots and destiny as other European countries because even though they have their own peculiarities they are also part of the Modern movement, in other ways they seem to follow objectives that are clearly different. The main differences are: not having followed the conceptual- formal mimesis of the industrialised society like the rationalists; the prevailing use of some materials especially wood which is abundant there and described as the “inspirational form, the profoundly human material”. Aalto believed strongly in a “humanistic” design and it was for this reason that he rejected artificial materials that in his opinion did not harmonise with the human condition and did not answer the psychological needs of the user.

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