1. 20th Century Architecture

2. Vladimir Tatlin
Monument to the 3rd International
1919-20
wood, iron and glass
Productivism – developed in Russia
Aimed to design better environments for
human beings
- Utopian thinking, using technology to
benefit humans
- abandoned abstraction for “functional
art”
Commissioned to honor the Russian
Revolution – GOVERNMENTAL BUILDING
- Glass and iron building, taller than Eiffel
Tower
Spiral cage with geometric rotating forms in
center for various gov’t activities
• Chambers decrease in size as the
building ascends
• Reinforces social and political
reality
Never was actually built, only exists in
models

3. Gerrit Thomas Rietveld
Schroder House
Utrecht, the Netherlands
1924
• De Stijl Architecture – inspiration by Mondrian (straight lines, primary colors, primary
values, geometric shapes)
• Living rooms on 2nd floor, private rooms on ground level
• Sliding screens to transform the space
• Shifting quality appears in exterior, almost Cubist, moveable panels
Rietveld’s
philosophy:
homes should be
“machines for living”

4. Schroder House, interior

5. Walter Gropius
Bauhaus
Dessau, Germany
1925-26
• The organic shaping of things in accordance with their own current laws,
avoids embellishment and whimsy
• Restriction of basic forms and colors: emphasis on typical and universally
legible themes
• Simplicity in complexity
• Economy in the use of space, materials, time and money

6. Walter Gropius
Bauhaus
Dessau, Germany
1925-26
Bauhaus: German school of design
• Dismantled by Nazi Regime
• Hitler quickly shut down the institution after 14 years
• Students and professors fled Germany and disseminated Bauhaus aesthetics and ideals
• Inspired curricula for many other art schools

7. Luwig Mies Van Der Rohe
model for a glass skyscraper,
Berlin, Germany
1922
• Took over Bauhaus after Gropius left
• “less is more” “skin and bones”
architecture
• Model for tall glass building (never built)
• Three towers, reveals cantilevered interior
• Illusion of movement  inspired later
architects, especially for skyscrapers
Cantilever = A long
projecting beam or
girder fixed at only
one end

8. Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret)
Villa Savoye
Poissy-sur-Seine, France
1929-30
• Designed functional living spaces, “machines
for living”
• Sun, space, vegetation, controlled temp, quiet,
insulated

9. Le Corbusier
Villa Savoye
Poissy-sur-Seine, France
1929-30
• Located outside Paris
• Living rooms on second floor, bedroom,
storage, garage on first
• Open space, strip windows
• Ramp leads to roof-terrace and garden
• No traditional façade,
must walk around and
through house to
understand it

10. Le Corbusier
Villa Savoye
Poissy-sur-Seine, France
1929-30
• INVERTED typical design practice
• Heavier floor on TOP, negates
solidity
• Made possible with ferroconcrete
(steel enforced concrete)

11. William van Allen
Chrysler Building
New York, New York
1928-30
ART DECO
• In response to Bauhaus
• Favored ornamentation using new materials
• Appealed to all art forms: buildings, furniture,
silverware, etc.
• Very streamlines, geometric, organic, “aerodynamic”
Chrysler Building
Monument of the fabulous 1920s
Celebrated the principles and success of American
business…pre-Depression 

12. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
• “architecture of
democracy”
• Natural, organic, interacts
with natural surrounding
• Free open space for free
individuals to move
through
• Asymmetry
• Use of innovative building
techniques: cantilevers

13. Frank Lloyd Wright
Robie House
Chicago, Illinois
1907-09
• “Prairie style” – long, sweeping, ground-hugging lines 
reflects expansiveness of Midwest flatlands
• No façade
• Extended roof overhangs, conceal entrance, “wandering” plan
• Sense of space and motion
• The interior’s flowing space dictated the placement of external
walls
• Grouped around
giant central
fireplace
• Every little
decorative detail
fits in with
Wright’s design
scheme

14. Robie House, interior

15. Frank Lloyd Wright
Robie House
Chicago, Illinois
1907-09
Long, “prairie style” design

16. Frank Lloyd Wright
Kaufmann House (Fallingwater)
Bear Run, Pennsylvania
1936-39
• Built as country home of dept store magnate Edgar
Kaufmann
• Fluid interplay of interior and exterior
• Placed on top of waterfall, hence fallingwater
• Incorporates building INTO site
• Series of terraces
• Concrete,
painted metal
and natural
stone
• SPACE, not
mass. Created
space for free
movement
• GREATLY
influential on
European
architects