The International Style | Modernist Architecture
Architect Walter Gropius established an architectural school in Germany called the Bauhaus School in 1919. His school would help to repair Germany from damages incurred during World War I. The Bauhuas had to employ a new style of architecture for reconstruction of Germany. However, at the start of World War II, Gropius and his associates fled to the United States as the Bauhaus school was disbanded.
The American form of Bauhaus architecture became the International Style when distinguished architects like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe came to the United States and continued to practice architectural design. This style suggests that classical architecture be applied purely. There would be no extras - no decoration or any other adornments. In other words the architecture would be strictly professional - strictly business.
To an extent it was strictly business. Due to the rigid principles of the International Style concerning no ornamentation, it became the favored styles of growing American businesses. Most office buildings found this to be a great professional design and gradually became a part of corporate America. Many believe it now reflects Capitalism. These same styles can now be found in the office buildings in China, Japan, and Europe. It had achieved international fame as global business rose.
Not only did the style gain fame, but its
principal contributors such as Mies van der Rohe and Philip
Johnson. Both had designed wondrous buildings. Most the these buildings still exist today.
A famous example is the
Seagram Building built in 1957 in New York City. Both Mies van der Rohe and
Philip Johnson had designed this building together. Therefore,
the Seagram Building is a result of the most skilled architects
practicing the International Style.
The greatest modernist architect is I.M. Pei. Modernist architecture focuses on function. Modernists architects have little use for ornamentation or nature as what most architects at the time tended to be moving towards. Instead, Modernist architects believed that many modern buildings did not fit the needs of society to the fullest. Do you think perhaps this began the movement to upgrade many buildings so that they are handicapped accessible?