Le Corbusier-
Looking to the past for inspiration to create the future, Le Corbusier fell in love with the ‘masculine’ nature of the classicism works of ancient Greece. This was then embodied in his perception of the spirit of Modern Rationalism. Throughout his life, Le Corbusier was taking the styles of the past forms and interpreting them with modern materials to create his ideal of modern architecture. One of his first structures took a dom-ino floor plan utilized reinforced concrete, referring to it as a means to industrialization of the buildings. A similarity between majority of his houses and even large-scale buildings was the focus on abstracted cubism and the extent to which the structures embodied this idea. On structure, which is a good example of this, is Citrohan House built from 1925 -7. Even if the structural system of a projects exterior wall was comprised of columns with infill in-between, the columns and infill formed a single surface formed by an even layer of plaster to hide the discrepancies. The Citrohan house also exemplifies Le Corbusier’s design concepts within the Five Points of Architecture. These concepts included pilotis, the roof garden, the free plan, the horizontal window and the free façade. These were created from classical ideas but made modern by the idea of freedom and the ability to modify spaces. This idea ended up carrying him in most projects till the end of his life. Other works that exemplifies his modernist work and the five points of architecture are, Villa Savoye 1929-31.
Alvar Aalto-
Finding his way into the spotlight of architecture through winning several high profile design competitions, he used a combination of a variety of styles to create his sense of modernism. His entry for the Viipuri Libray started off as a neoclassical designed but founds it way to be a Constructivist modern design containing hints to the original neoclassical design, such as the silhouette of the original floor plan. In this design he also utilized the one of the classic describers of the international Modernist movement, smooth white walls. Alvar Aalto main contribution in terms of design comes from his preference of Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art, where he as his wife would design the entire building from the footings to the ceilings and everything in-between such as the furniture and fixtures. One excellent example of this type of project was the Town Hall in Saynatsalo where he and his wife designed everything from the roofing system to chairs and desks to the door handles. Another example of his modernist forms is portrayed in the
Villa Mairea built from 1937-9.
 |
| Town Hall in Saynatsalo |
Mies Van der Rohe-
Almost as a counterpart to Walter Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe was known for his attention to aesthetic qualities. Taking the focus of many aspects of a problem down to a simple strong contradiction between two very opposite ideas and forms to create one aesthetically pleasing space. These two contradictions that he built around was the enclosure without fully committing to a set of functions and his ‘response to the fluidity of life’. Similar yet different to Le Corbusier, Van der Rohe although designing from his interpretation of previous neoclassical designs, and continued to design within this style for about 20 years where as Le Corbusier only designed a handful. Many of his structures focused on different materials instead of the international modernist design with the white plaster. One structure in particular did however use the stark white plaster and paint , The Tugendhat House 1928-30, which was set against the steep sloped hill focused on the volume in which expanded out of the ground. The main public space of the structure is framed by floor to ceiling glass panels allowing for a completely unobstructed view of the exterior bringing the exterior spaces on the individual and created an inflected space. To Mies it was important that the spiritual aspect of the work came from the ability of the structure to be auto-referentiated. Other works that use the same style type in reference to glass façade making the structure an inflected space and utilization of materials of reflective origin such as polished granite or reflective metal creating his modernist ideal, are Hubbe House 1935, and the Barcelona Pavilion.
 |
| Interior View of the Tugendhat House |
