As history began to approach the 19th century, cities began
to change its way of life in regards to organization, jobs, materials, and
goods which called for a new style of art and architecture to define and record
their new era. Industrialization was on the rise, causing an influx of people
from rural areas moving to the city, unhealthy and unorganized cities, and new
materials and goods unable to produce by hand. New social problems, machines, and
building materials called for a new ideology and form of architecture, “modern
architecture,” given by these following men: Viollet le Duc, a theorist and writer, John Ruskin, and Gottfried Semper, both architects and writers, in order to solve these problems and record these significant
inventions.
Arts & Crafts Style
John Ruskin theories on
architecture kind of took the Traditionalist approach, degenerating ideas from
the past styles and continue to use them in modern architecture, but they also
offered new ideas for the future of architecture (Colquhoun, 2002, p. 10). Ruskin believed that the new
architecture should focus on the arts and crafts of previous styles. He was
fascinated with high Gothic architecture (Pevsner). He did not like the idea of industrialization;
he felt that industries were taking away the craftsmanship of architecture and
making it immoral, requiring less labor, appearing less significant, and needing
less time (Summerson, p. 656).
Ruskin also believed in
seven values of architecture, referred to as “The Seven Lamps of Architecture”,
sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life, memory, and obedience. Instead of restoring old historic
buildings he thought they should preserve its ruins, because history was
encoded in its decay. Restoring these buildings normally meant the use of
another material would be involved to mimic the form of the original material,
due to the age of the building. Ruskin believed in the truth of materials;
therefore, he disagreed with the idea of restoration.
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| Detailed Literary Works |
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| Detailed Border of a Page in a Literary Work |
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| Interior of a Residential Home during the Arts and Crafts Movement |
Art Nouveau Style
Viollet-le-Duc theories on architecture mostly
disagreed with Ruskins; Le Duc took on a more Progressivist approach to
architecture, wanting a style which reflected there age like the eras before
them (Colquhoun, 2002, p. 10). He believed that “architects
should find resources furnished by manufacturing skills and making use of these
means with a view to the adoption of architectural forms adapted to our times”(Summerson, p. 656).
Like Ruskin, Le Duc was also interested in
gothic architecture (Pevsner). He was so fascinated that he analyzed how each
gothic feature functioned by itself and as a whole in the structure and
developed a dictionary and other literary works, Entretiens sur l’Architecture
and the Dictionnaire Raisonne de l’Architecture Francaise, descriptively
telling his readers how gothic buildings are made and how each component up to
furniture function within the building. Through understanding the tectonics of
gothic architecture, le Duc develops new ways to use the gothic style of
architecture. In his later works and projects, he begins integrating steel and
other metal materials into this archaic style of architecture.
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| Steel Structure Design done by Ville le Duc |
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| Art Nouveau Interior Design |
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| Many of the designs during this movement uphold this design to some certain extent |
Der Still Style
Gottfried Semper shared values of both Ruskin and le
Duc, but also brings some new ideologies of architecture to the forefront. Like
Ruskin, He was interested in the ornamentation of a building, not so much of
the craftsmanship but the meaning and symbolism of this detailed art, and like
le Duc, he was interested in the industrial production architecture could
utilize in the future. Semper focused on how architecture styles could be
compared in scientific and mathematical form, the taxonomy of architecture
styles and form. He achieved this understanding by tracing back the history of individual
art works and other influences, whether they were historical, material, or
spiritual, that guided the birth and development of art. He was interested in
the “formal laws and logic noticeable in the creation of architecture. “(Hvattum, Mar
2006, p. 136).
With this
idea, In 1851, He wrote The Four Elements of Architecture, which divided built
forms into the following four categories: hearth, where elements of
architecture group themselves like the residence flock around the fire of a
house, platform, the basic level of a structure like living above ground,
enclosure, the walls of a building like a fortress for protection, and the
roof, which protects the unity of the elements like the roof protects the
hearth from the rain.
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| the "Primitive Hut" or the "Four Elements of Architecture" described by Semper |
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| Semper Speaks on Textiles and Weaving in his Literary Work "Der Still" |
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| A painting done by Piet Mondrian during the De Stijl Movement |
Conclusion
Each of the previous writers and designers, Ruskin,
le Duc, and Semper, influenced the future artistic and architecture styles of
Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and De Stijl, taking with them the following
characteristics to develop art and architecture. Ruskin’s ideas founded the
Arts and Crafts Movement where designers were interested in the
handcraftsmanship of artworks and individuality of the craftsman and not
machines. Le Duc designs inspired the Art Nouveau artist to leave materials and
framework of a building exposed, organize spaces according to form vs function,
design organic forms, and study vernacular domestic architecture (Colquhoun, 2002, p. 15). Semper wrote a literary work
called Der Still which was written to understand and clarify process, but many
misinterpreted his message about art for materialism and functionalism,
inspiring many De Stijl artists to focus on simplicity of forms, abstraction,
and use of color (History).
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