Reading composition 6

[1]
The Art Nouveau stylistic period was about new designers “replicating past styles but incorporate them into a new, young look” (Massey, pg.175). This style brought a sense of fun into the spaces with the sense of movement. This style was also not focused in a specific location it touched all over the world. Two great example of this style are the Casa Batllo by Antonio Gaudi and the Hotel Tassel by Victor Horta.

The Casa Batllo is located in Spain. It is very different from what people are used to seeing at this point. Gaudis design is very different from the past, since he has a fascination with the human body he incorporates it into his design. Due to the fact that he is working with an already existing building he in a way removes the original skins and applies a new, more surrealistic one. This new façade although smooth, still uses the idea of undulating the façade. Columns are used for support and are visible but they are entirely different from what has been seen in the past, these columns mimic human bones. In a way this building is very baroque considering that it is made of concrete around a metal frame as well as the surface material, in this case it is glass but it is basically portraying art for the sake of art.
The Hotel Tassel is located in Belgium. Victor Horta was able to capture the essence of Art Nouveau through the many curvilinear and moving lines which began with the iron columns which led into the ceilings and walls and made its way across the floor. Design in the past has taken characteristic of nature, Horta in a way does the same although he goes in a completely different direction he gains his inspiration from the machine and translates that into the building itself.
As mentioned previously the Art Nouveau style is not at all focused in one area, Spain and Belgium are only two of the many nations that took part in movement to express are within architectural design. Art for the sake of art is the best way to understand what was going on in terms of design at this point.

[2]

            

At this point designers are attempting to design for the good of all…who could afford it. With the people who can afford what is being designed are starting to appreciate the things that facilitate their lives such as the automobile. Le Corbusier takes the modern movement and runs with it, in a way making “machines for living”. This can be seen in the Villa Savoye. This residential building is based off of the automobile and is raised on pilotis in order to allow for the automobile to be part of the house. This is not the only functional space but Le Corbusier made the roof into a flat space in order to replace what the house has taken from the land. This allows for a garden on the roof that is accessible to the people living there. The Villa Savoye is intended to create an experience through progression rather than ornamentation which leads to the dictum “less in more”. Instead of the clutter seen previously the modern movement focuses on flexibility, function, practicality, and efficiency which can be seen in its open spaces with no applied ornamentation (Harwood, pg. 628).

With this being say I believe that design at this point is about creating practical things to enhance life happiness but not in a materialistic way but rather in a way that is simple and functional.

[3]

Pavilion de L'esprit: Le Corbusier

The Gropius Office at Bauhaus

 
Harwood pg  497 and 500
http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/300px-Villa_savoye_avant.jpg
Massey pg 81