Top ten monuments in
modern architecture
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Outline
Introduction
Part I. Modern Architecture
Part II. Top ten
Conclusion
References
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Introduction
As the 20th century began modern architects believed it was
necessary to invent an architecture that expressed the spirit of
a new age and would surpass the styles, materials, and
technologies of earlier architecture
Their aesthetic celebrated function in all forms of design,
household furnishings, ocean liners and new flying machines
Modern architecture also challenged traditional ideas about the
types of structures suitable for architectural design
Important civic buildings, aristocratic palaces, churches, and
public institutions had long been the mainstay of architectural
practices, but modernist designers argued that architects
should design all that was necessary for society, even the most
humble buildings
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Part I. Modern architecture
Modern Architecture, the buildings and building practices of
the late 19th and the 20th centuries
Modern architects reacted against the architecture of the 19th
century, which they felt borrowed too heavily from the past
Italian architect Antonio Sant'Elia resoundingly rejected
traditional architecture in his Futurist Manifesto of 1914
(Futurism)
He called for each generation to build its houses anew and
celebrated glass, steel, and concrete as the materials to make
this possible
In the United States Frank Lloyd Wright also rejected 19thcentury European architecture
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Part I. Modern architecture
Developments in two materials—iron and concrete—formed
the technological basis for much modern architecture
Steel for construction also became abundantly available in the
19th century
In 1892 French engineer François Hennebique combined the
strengths of both in a new system of construction based on
concrete reinforced with steel
His invention made possible previously unimaginable effects:
extremely thin walls with large areas of glass
Architects in Chicago, Illinois, were the first to exploit the
possibilities offered by the elevator in combination with the
new steel and concrete technologies
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Part I. Modern architecture
The collective response of a diverse group of architects to the
reconstruction of the city led to the development of the
skyscraper
Architect William Le Baron Jenney devised a solution to the
problem of fireproof construction for tall buildings by
substituting steel in the structural system for cast iron
Art Nouveau, which flourished in Europe between 1890 and
1910, was one of the earliest (and shortest-lived) efforts to
develop an original style for the modern age
In the three centers of art nouveau—Barcelona, Spain;
Brussels, Belgium; and Paris, France—architects struggled to
define a style with distinctly local characteristics
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Part II. Top ten
Here are presented 10 of the most famous monuments and
buildings of the 20th century in the West
Tower Bridge in London, La Defense and Pompidou
Center in Paris, Sidney Opera House in Australia, the
Golden Gate in San Francisco, the Empire State Building
in New York, the Glass pyramid of the Louvre, the Arch in
Saint Louis, Brasilia and the CN Tower in Toronto
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Tower Bridge
Built between 1886 and 1894, bridge on the Thames River in
London, near the Tower of London, one of the city's principal
landmarks
It was the only movable bridge crossing the Thames when it
was completed in 1894. Sir Horace Jones designed the bridge,
and Sir John Wolfe Barry built it
150,000 vehicles cross it every day. Over 900 times a year the
roadway parts and lifts to let tall ships, cruise liners and other
large craft pass through
t was a hydraulically operated bridge, using steam to power the
enormous pumping engines; since 1976 they have been driven
by oil and electricity rather than steam
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La Défense
Modern architectural development to the west of central Paris,
the largest concentration of tall buildings in Europe
Begun in 1958, the complex consists predominantly of office
buildings
Dominating La Défense is the futuristic Grande Arche,
completed in 1989, by Danish architect Johann Otto von
Spreckelsen
An office tower in the shape of an enormous open cube 105 m
on a side, it echoes in modern language the shape of (and is
exactly the same width as) the famous Arc de Triomphe with
which it is visibly aligned
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The Centre National d'Art Pompidou
Museum located in the Beaubourg district of Paris
President Georges Pompidou conceived (1969) the idea
Completed (1978) by the architects Renzo Piano of Italy and
Richard Rogers of England and by the engineering firm of Ove
Arup and Partners of England
External mechanical systems elevators painted red; escalators
in clear plastic tunnels; and giant tubes for air (painted blue),
water (green), and electricity (yellow)
The Center houses the National Museum of Modern Art,
attracts 25,000 visitors a day and a library
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Sydney Opera House
Major performing arts center on the harbor in Sydney,
Australia, regarded as the finest modern building in the
country; completed 1973
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who won an
international competition for the project in 1956
Distinctive sail-shaped towers were pronounced unbuildable
by a British engineering firm, redesigned at a lower angle
Utzon then resigned from the project, and the building was
completed by the engineering firm in 1973
Concert hall, theater for opera and ballet, smaller theater for
plays, recording hall and rehearsal rooms, and movie theater
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Golden Gate
Strait in western California, at the entrance to San Francisco
Bay, separating the bay from the Pacific Ocean
The strait is 8 km long and narrows to 1 km in width
The bridge crosses the strait to connect San Francisco, on the
south, with Marin County, on the north
The American explorer John Charles Frémont gave the strait
the name Golden Gate in 1846
Bridge conceived by Joseph Strauss, assisted by Irving
morrow; inauguration in 1937; painted in orange international
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, established in
1972 by the National Park Service, extends north and south of
the Golden Gate and also includes Alcatraz
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Empire State Building
New York City, skyscraper located on 5th Avenue
Tallest building in the world when completed in 1931 (381 m)
Because of its elegant stepped design it is often still regarded
as the ultimate American skyscraper
Designed by the American architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb
& Harmon in a streamlined art deco style, the Empire State
Building consists of 102 stories of office space
A radio and television mast that was added in 1951
A model of the building was used in the 1933 version of the
motion picture King Kong, in the sequence in which the giant
ape clings to its upper stories while fighting off squadrons of
fighter planes
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Glass pyramid of the Louvre
The Louvre, until 1682 a residence of the kings of France,
occupies the site of a 13th-century fortress
In 1793 opened as a public museum, and the French painter
David was appointed head of a commission to administer it
Controversial glass pyramid (completed in 1989) at the
entrance to the Louvre, a museum in Paris
New visitor entrance to the Louvre museum complex, built by
Ieoh Ming Pei, born in Canton, China in 1917
Noted for his unique arrangements of geometric shapes, Pei
also earned a reputation for his creative use of space, surfaces,
and materials
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St. Louis
City in eastern Missouri, extending along the west bank of the
Mississippi River
St. Louis is one of the Midwest's principal industrial,
commercial, educational, and cultural centers
St. Louis was established in 1764 by French fur traders and
named in honor of Louis IX, a 13th-century king of France
canonized as a saint
The spectacular Gateway Arch stands at the river's edge on the
site where St. Louis was founded more than two centuries ago
The 192-m (630-ft) high city landmark, completed in 1965
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Brasilia
In the 1950s Brazilian architects had an opportunity to
showcase their designs in an entirely new capital city
Brasília developed as a planned city, constructed (beginning in
1957) on an uninhabited site to replace crowded Rio de Janeiro
as the national capital
Planned by Costa and filled with buildings by Niemeyer, the
city of Brasilia was a lavish testimony to Le Corbusier’s
principles of modern architecture and planning
Costa divided residential zones by class, designated a
monumental government and business center
The Catedral Metropolitana is one of several buildings
designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1960s
for the Brazilian capital
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CN Tower
At a height of 553.33m, it is the World's Tallest Building, an
important telecommunications hub, and the centre of tourism
in Toronto
Each year, approximately 2 million people visit the CN Tower
The CN Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National (CN)
who wanted to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry
by building a tower taller than any other in the world
With its microwave receptors at 338 m and 553.33m antenna,
the CN Tower swiftly solved the communication problems
Dining restaurant is located at 351 m and offers guests a
complete 360 degree view of the city
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Conclusion
Deconstructivist architects in the
1980s applied their
analytical, abstract ideas to the design of buildings
Their work points toward an architecture that focuses less on
debates among competing movements and more on buildings
that are economical, environmentally responsible, and
beautiful
In Asia, new and taller buildings have been built, especially in
Malaysia (the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur) and in China
(Hong Kong and Shanghai)
Completed in 1998, the Petronas Towers, in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, are the world's tallest buildings. Each tower stands
452 m (1,483 ft) tall
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References
http://www.cntower.ca/faqs/l3_faq_coolstuff_photogallery.htm
http://www.webshots.com/search/search.fcgi?words=pompido
u&new=1&source=cotopic
http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=
761595616
http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Tower_Bridge.html
http://www.architectureweek.com/today.html
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