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Internatioal and Postmodern Style in Architecture
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Paper Abstract:
This paper provides a comparison and contrast of the International and Postmodern styles in architecture. The design for Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier and the design for the Bilbao Spain Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry are used to compare and contrast the respective architectural style.

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International and Postmodern Style in Architecture Introduction There could be fewer more distinct edifices than the Le Corbusierdesigned Villa Savoye Poissy France and the Guggenheim Museum inBilbao Spain designed by Frank Gehry See Image I Image II The clean simple lines of Corbusier\'s Villa Savoye are characteristic ofthe International Style in architecture versus the whimsical and playfulPostmodern style of Gehry\'s Guggenheim design Though the purity ofCorbusier\'s design is characteristic of the International style of designin architecture Gehry\'s Guggenheim design is much more

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One similarity between Le Corbusier's design and Gehry's is thatthey are both outcomes that reflect the latest technologies of the time.The increased popularity for using preformed concrete during the twentiethcentury in architecture is clearly evident in Le Corbusier's design fromVilla Savoye. Le Corbusier's design for VillaSavoye clearly expresses his view that a house is a "machine for living in"and furniture is "domestic equipment" (Design, 1925 1). 6 May 2 8. In contrast to LeCorbusier's uninviting and alienating designs, Gehry's design for theGuggenheim has attracted millions of visitors to the city and museum inaddition to spawning a wave of creative expression in museum design theworld over (Duffy 95). The designrevolutionized architecture. The titaniumpanels on the outside of the enormous waves reflect and shimmer in the sunin a way that mirrors the scales on the fish that swim nearby. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dsgn2/hd_dsgn2.htm, 1-2."Design, 195 -1975." Metropolitan Museum of Art. In contrast, today's innovative technologies and futuristicconcepts from stem cell technologies to genetic cloning invite the morefuturistic and dramatic flair of Postmodern designs like Gehry'sGuggenheim. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dsgn3/hd_dsgn3.htm, 1-2.Duffy, Robert. This kind ofwhimsy was absent from the design ideology post WWI that influence LeCorbusier, who purposefully strove to eliminate whimsy or decoration fromhis designs. One can see how modern ideology related to limitlesspossibilities wrought by the capabilities of new technologies is exhibitedin Gehry's design that seems to defy traditional rules of architecturaldesign or even the laws of physics. Gehry's design was purposefully constructed to helpencourage visitors via the spectacle of design. Gehry's futuristic design forthe Guggenheim demonstrates this expression and ideology, based on anoptimism that was lacking from the design ideology of Le Corbusier's "LostGeneration" influences. Even Le Corbusier'sdesigns for urban spaces featured few alleys or streets to connect shopsand cafes and other shops that invited socializing were few and farbetween, separated by large, uninviting concrete structures. The rise of themachine age and industry helped pave the way for such expressions inarchitecture, including the advent of large sections of preformed concretethat are characteristic of most designs by Le Corbusier, including VillaSavoye. The simple purity of less is more characteristicin International style has been replaced in Postmodern design by Venturi'spostmodern manifesto that "less is a bore" when it comes to architecturaldesign (Venturi 17). Jencks (327) arguesthat the International style and LeCorbusier's designs were a direct resultof a desire for greater "truth and purity" in society and subsequently,architecture. Thereis something straightforward and plain in Villa Savoye's design that is instark contrast to the flamboyant and whimsical nature of Gehry'sGuggenheim, but modern perspectives on architecture are leaning towardbuildings, especially monumental public works, attracting visitors throughtheir playful or pop-art-like designs. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cambridge2 .com/galler y/images/P4 314378.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cambridge2 .com/gallery/h tml/P4 314378.html&h=1 7&w=143&sz=56&tbnid=XIcgDUFlcGoJ:&tbnh=1 7&tbnw= 143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvilla%2Bsavoye&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum =1&ct=image&cd=2 Ironically, like Le Corbusier, however, Gehryhas been described as "an outsider," but this stems primarily from hisoften over-the-top Postmodern designs (Duffy 96). 6 May 2 8. Monacelli Press, 2 .Richards, Simon. In contrast, modern culture is freer, more expressive on anindividual level, and has shaped a different paradigm of buildings andtheir purpose and design. Conclusion The Villa Savoye and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao are characteristicof the International and Postmodern styles of architecture respectively.However, despite their distinctions in style or design, each of thesearchitectural styles arose from cultural influences and attitudes towardarchitecture and the nature and function of edifices. Richards (51)maintains that the ideology underlying Le Corbusier's use of Internationalstyle was characteristic of a breed of individuals during the era, "LeCorbusier was a deeply unhappy man, a vagabond, rootless, single, andlonely, who as a consequence loathed human society." Surely raising one'shome on stilts and moving the garden to the roof shows this alienation fromothers in design. It would have been impossible for architects of Le Corbusier's erato have executed such computer generated designs. 6 May 2 8. A conclusion will address how culture continues to impactdesign style in architecture. Richards (5 ) maintains that Le Corbusier's antisocialconcept of social planning "condemned any social aspect of architecturalplanning." Instead, the raised columns on Villa Savoye serve more as abarrier to socialization than inducement. His VillaSavoye in Poissy France clearly illustrates the use of these elements, butalso Le Corbusier's typical style. LeCorbusier's reaction against the ornate and complex designs of Art Decohelped shape the International style. As Jencks (328) maintains of LeCorbusier's structure, they stand "awkwardly and heroically apart fromnature much as a Greek temple proclaiming man's loneliness and independencefrom the cosmos." Part of this loneliness stems from the lost generationera after WWI that questioned Godhead and man's relationship to it. TheGuggenheim's whimsical nature includes enormous sculpted curves that showhow seemingly disparate elements fit into a holistic unity. In fact, one of the most characteristic features ofpostmodern architecture is a creative playfulness that often results inwhimsical designs like the Guggenheim. In many ways the International style evolved as a response to theornate and showy designs of Art Deco. According to Duffy (94), "When the exuberant,sensuous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was finished in 1997, itsarchitect ascended like a rocket into international celebrity." However,in contrast to Villa Savoye which stands apart from its environment,Gehry's design for the Guggenheim was to fashion a building that resemblesa ship since it sits in a port city on the Atlantic coast. In thissense, Gehry's design fits in with its environment in an organic way, incontrast to Le Corbusier's standing apart from environment. A response tothe formal design of the International style, the Postmodern style ideologywas shaped by architect Robert Venturi. Venturi (15-19) helped develop themain tenets of postmodern architecture that show it distinctions fromInternational design: 1) complexity and contradiction in architecture ispreferable to oversimplification; 2) buildings are formed of many partswhich seem complex observed individually but actually form a holisticunity; 3) architectural designs that are superficially complex do not work;and, 4) contradiction, two seemingly contradictory properties, make goodarchitecture. "The Antisocial Urbanism of Le Corbusier." Common Knowledge, Winter 2 7, 13(1), 5 -66.Venturi, Robert. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://updatecenter.britannica.com/ eb/image%3FbinaryId%3D72 32%26rendTypeId%3D4&imgrefurl=http://updatecen ter.britannica.com/art%253FassemblyId%253D73 77%26type%253DA&h=87&w=133 &sz=22&tbnid=LnVdAMCCEGYJ:&tbnh=87&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dguggenhe im%2Bmuseum%2Bbilbao&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1Jencks, Charles. According to one art historian, "Oneof the strongest and most influential reactions against the Art Decomovement cam from the Swiss architect Le Corbusier" (Design, 1925 1). As such, this analysis makes clearthat the architectural design of any particular building is often directlyrelated to the values and views of the cultures in which they are created.IMAGES Image I: Villa Savoye, 1929 (Le Corbusier)[pic] Image II: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 1997 (Frank Gehry)[pic]Works Cited"Design, 1925-195 ." Metropolitan Museum of Art. These may stand outsidemost architectural designs in their spectacle but they are anything but theclosed-off and uninviting designs wrought by Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier and the Continual Revolution in American Architecture. In looking at Frank Gehry's design for the Guggenheim Museum,Bilbao, one can see how the element of playfulness reentered architecturaldesign compared to the formal design of Villa Savoye (See Image II). The simplification and purity of designs associated with theInternational style is in contrast to the playful and complexcontradictions often witnessed in Postmodern architecture. In contrast to the alienating style of Le Corbusier, Gehry's designshave been called "quirky, accidental, and absurd" in their effort to "uniteexpressive form and utilitarian function" (Duffy 95). Le Corbusier's works often demonstrateenormous scale, rely on significant use of preformed concrete, and exhibita purity that are all elements of the International style. Costly public works thatrely on visitor fees like the Guggenheim require this aspect of design thatis the antithesis of Le Corbusier's unwelcoming plans. Thisanalysis will compare and contrast the two designs in order to illustratethis argument. In contrast, Gehry's wavy, enormous curves that create theexterior of the Guggenheim show the latest capabilities in computer aideddesign. As Duffy (94)notes, "The architect's daring, outside-the-box buildings have revitalizedurban spaces." Not only does this outside-the-box design attract visitorsto help pay for expensive public works or non-profit organizations like theGuggenheim Museum, but increasing environmental awareness also influencedGehry's fashioning of the building to resemble a huge ship. From the 197 s on, oneart historian notes that a "radically transformed modern design expresseditself through a variety of idioms" based on a new optimism "filled withthe promise of the future" (Design, 195 1). "Frank Gehry." Smithsonian, November 2 5, 36(8), 94-96."Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao" (Image). Because of these distinct ideologies, Le Corbusier's designs wereanti-social in contrast to Gehry's attention-grabbing, invitingplayfulness. Villa Savoye demonstrates LeCorbusier's typical style of raising a building on stilts, add a free-flowing floor plan, create walls independent of the structure, and add ahorizontal strip of windows (Villa 1). Though the purity ofCorbusier's design is characteristic of the International style of designin architecture, Gehry's Guggenheim design is much more characteristic ofmodern perspectives on architecture and its function and purpose. Robert Venturi: Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, (2nd edit.). Body In the works of Charles Edouard Jeanneret (better known as "LeCorbusier"), the elements of what is known as the International style inarchitecture are clearly visible. Instead of a ground floorterrace, the flat roof top serves as the terrace and garden area which oncemore is removed from nature or ready social access. Unlike Le Corbusier's designs which were meant todivide individuals, Gehry's invite individuals to come together in creativeexpression and interaction. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2 2."Villa Savoye," (Image). 6 May 2 8. 81337 International and Postmodern Style in Architecture Introduction There could be fewer more distinct edifices than the Le Corbusierdesigned Villa Savoye (1927), Poissy, France, and the Guggenheim Museum inBilbao, Spain, designed by Frank Gehry (1997) (See Image I & Image II).The clean, simple lines of Corbusier's Villa Savoye are characteristic ofthe International Style in architecture, versus the whimsical and playfulPostmodern style of Gehry's Guggenheim design.

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