PRECISION OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE
ELIZABETH STOGANENKO ARCH 211 002 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE II SPRING 2022
Architecture is used as a way to demonstrate the state of a community or city and its embodied values. Humans want to demonstrate how successful they are and what they can achieve, in addi�on to incorpora�ng their social and programma�c needs. Therefore, they need to be as precise and advanced as possible through developments in technology and knowledge. The idea of precision has transformed throughout the years, star�ng from the classical period to the period discussed in the next four pages: the modernist period. Rather than crea�ng precision through the careful details of ornamenta�on, impressive feats of perfect domes, or precise measurements, modernist design is much more simple but s�ll elegant. Architects used ideas such as De S�jl and geometric architecture to emphasize a focus on the horizontal and ver�cal. Materials that helped achieve this was reinforced concrete. The Robie House not only used concrete to create thin horizontal elements, but also brick. The Bauhaus u�lized concrete to create forms that precisely adhered to the program and u�lized the glass curtain for addi�onal horizont a l e m p h a s i s . L e C o r b u s i e r w a s a l a r g e p i o n e e r i n m o d e r n i s m b y i n t r o d u c i n g t h e F i v e P o i n t s To w a r d s a N e w A r c h i t e c t u r e . U s i n g t h e s e e x a c t r u l e s , h e a p p l i e d t h e m to two known buildings. The Villa Savoye was a pre World War II work, u�lizing these points and precise, machine-like white concrete. The Unité D’Habita�on foll o w e d t h e m , a s w e l l a s L e C o r b u s i e r ’s D o m - I n o S y s t e m , w h i c h i s a s t a n d a r d i ze d r e i n fo r c e d c o n c r e t e p r o t o t y p e a l l o w i n g h i m t o c r e a t e d w e l l i n g t y p o l o g i e s . H e d i d , h o w e v e r, s t r a y a w a y f r o m p r e c i s i o n i n t e r m s o f t h e c o n c r e t e f a c a d e b y c r e a � n g a m o r e c r u d e a n d r o u g h a e s t h e � c . O n e c a n a r g u e t h o u g h , t h a t h e s � l l a d h e r e d t o t h e i d e a o f p r e c i s i o n b y u s i n g t h i s a e s t h e � c t o p r e c i s e l y m i r r o r F r a n c e ’s v a l u e s a t t h e � m e .