1. 6.53
THEORY OF
ARCHITECTURE I
ARCH 4591
Instructor: Lewi
Tsegaye
ADDIS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING

2. CONTENT
2
Bauhaus
 Origin of Bauhaus
 Bauhaus Influence
 Characteristics
 Architects
 Examples
International Style
 Origin of International Style
 Characteristics
 Architects
 Examples

3. BAUHAUS 1919 to
1933 3

4. ORIGIN OF BAUHAUS
• Bauhaus was a school of
design, architecture, and
applied arts that existed in
Germany from 1919 to 1933.
• The Bauhaus school was
formed six months after the
end of World War I by
architect Walter Gropius in
Weimar.
4
The Bauhaus building, Dessau, 1925, Walter Gropius

5. • Architect Walter Gropius was upset by the rapid
industrialization of the era without any thought for
artistic quality or humanity, and the large gap
between the fine arts (like painting and sculpture)
and the applied arts (like furniture design,
graphic design, and architecture).
• A merger of two Grand-Ducal Saxon Academy of
Fine Art and the Grand Ducal Saxon School of
Arts and Crafts resulted in the birth of the
architecture school, with Gropius leading as
director.
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6. ORIGIN OF BAUHAUS
• The school existed in three German cities:
• Weimar, from 1919 to 1925;
• Dessau, from 1925 to 1932; and
• Berlin, from 1932 to 1933
• Under three different architect-directors:
• Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1928;
• Hannes Meyer from 1928 to 1930; and
• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 until 1933.
• Finally, it was shut down by the Nazis in 1933, by labeling the
Bauhaus under the umbrella of “degenerative art,” and calling its
progressive ideas and internationalism “un-German.”
6

7. • Gropius and other prominent
members of the movement left
Germany, spreading the ideas
of the Bauhaus from Western
Europe to the U.S. and
Canada to Israel, and turning it
into an international
movement.
7
ORIGIN OF BAUHAUS

8. ORIGIN OF BAUHAUS
• Famous for its design approach,
which attempted to unify the
principles of mass production
with individual artistic vision and
tried to combine aesthetics with
everyday function.
• In the school’s founding manifesto,
Gropius wrote that building is
“the ultimate aim of all artistic
activity” and that “the ultimate, if
distant, aim of the Bauhaus is
the unified work of art.”
8

9. ORIGIN OF BAUHAUS
• He aspired to the German concept of
Gesamtkunstwerk, or the “total
work of art” that synthesizes
multiple art forms into one.
• Thus, Bauhaus was grounded in the
idea of creating a "comprehensive
artwork" in which all the arts would
eventually be brought together.
9

10. BAUHAUS INFLUENCE
• One of the largest collections of Bauhaus-
style architecture is in Tel Aviv, Israel, a
UNESCO-recognized site named white
city, consisting more than 4,000 Bauhaus
buildings.
• Built between 1920 and 1940, White City
brought a lot of German design and
construction expertise.
• Many were designed by German Jews
who fled the Nazis in the 1930s.
10

11. BAUHAUS INFLUENCE
• Bauhaus influence still lives on even to this day. Design standard
books such as Neufert Architect’s Data are presently used in the
field.
11

12. BAUHAUS INFLUENCE
12
Wassily Chair (1925–1926),
Dessau, Germany, Marcel Breuer
Brno Chair (1929 -1930),
Mies van der Rohe
Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe
and Lilly Reich

13. BAUHAUS INFLUENCE
13
Baby Cradle,1923, Weimar,
Germany, Peter Keler
Nesting Tables (1926 – 1927), Josef Albers
Cesca chair (Breuer chair)
1928, Marcel Breuer

14. CHARACTERISTICS
• The Bauhaus movement is
characterized by economic
sensibility, simplicity and a
focus on mass production.
• Shaped by harmoniously
balanced geometric shapes
and an emphasis on function.
• Features open plans and lots
of glass.
• Synergy between art and
technology.
14

15. CHARACTERISTICS
• Functional shapes,
• Abstract shapes used
cautiously for décor
• Simple color schemes
• Holistic design
• Balanced Asymmetry
• Basic industrial materials like
concrete, steel, and glass.
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16. ARCHITECTS OF BAUHAUS
16
Barcelona Pavilion 945 Madison Avenue
(Breuer Building)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Marcel Breuer
Walter Gropius
Dessau Bauhaus

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EXAMPLES OF BAUHAUS
Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois 1889, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

18. 18
• It is a historical house
designed and
constructed by Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe
between 1945 and
1951 for wealthy client
named Dr. Edith
Farnsworth.
• The house was
constructed as a one-
room weekend retreat
in a rural setting in
Plano, Illinois.

19. 19
• The Farnsworth House is devoid of
ornamentation. Even the entry stair
does not have a handrail, and not a
bolt or weld can be seen.

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By using a meticulous method called plug welding, seams were
erased, resulting in what appears to be an effortless dialogue between
positive and negative space.

21. 21
• Materials: Farnsworth House
was very much built with nature
and terrain taken into
consideration.
• The principal materials used in
this house are glass and steel.
• The walls are formed using clear
plate glass (glass sheet) and
steel pillars are used to create
the supporting frame of the
building.

22. 22
• The roof panels and flooring are made using steel.
• The steps porch and terrace are all paved with travertine (white or
light-coloured calcareous rock), which naturally comes with an earthy
tone to complement the relationship the house has with nature.
• Alongside this, all exposed steel is painted white.
• Within the interior, primavera wood is used to build the service core
and teak wood for the wardrobe.
• The ceilings are plaster and shantung silk is used for the drapery.

23. 23
• Extensive use of clear floor-to-ceiling glass opens
and connects the interior to its natural surroundings.

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25. 25

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• The house is elevated 1.60 m above a flood plain by eight wide flange steel
columns which are attached to the sides of the floor and ceiling slabs.
• The total cost of the house was $74,000 in 1951 ($734,635 in 2020 dollars).

28. 28

29. INTERNATIONAL STYLE 1920S to 1970S 29

30. ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE
• International Style emerged in
Germany, France, and
Netherlands (Holland) after
World War I and spread
throughout the world.
• It started in the 1920s and
became a dominant architectural
style until the 1970s.
30

31. ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE
• Became the dominant style
in Western architecture
during the middle decades
of the 20th century.
• The term International Style
was first used in 1932 by
Henry-Russell Hitchcock
and Philip Johnson in their
essay titled “The
International Style:
Architecture Since 1922”
31

32. CHARACTERISTICS
• Rectilinear forms
• Plane surfaces without
decoration
• Open interior spaces
• Visually weightless quality
created using cantilever
construction.
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33. CHARACTERISTICS
• Emphasis on volume over mass
• Repetitive modular forms
• Glass and steel
• Less visible reinforced concrete
33
Villa Savoy Seagram Building

34. ARCHITECTS OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE
34
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Le Corbusier
Villa Savoye
Seagram Building
Philip Johnson
The Glass
House

35. EXAMPLES OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE
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PSFS building
Arada building Mcgraw-hill-42nd-st building

36. EXAMPLES OF INTERNATIONAL STYLE
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United Nations Secretariat Building, New York

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United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis
Ababa

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Ethiopian Mapping Agency, Addis
Ababa

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Ethiopian Post Office HQ, Addis Ababa

40. THANK YOU