Arch In The 20Th Century Essay

Architecture in the 20th century was redefined by modernism and new things that had never been done before. Some of these things included the new use of columns, window size and spacing, a free façade, and a free plan. These things had been emphasized throughout the history of architecture but with the edition of new materials came new ideas began during this time period from visionary architects that wanted to change the way people thought of architecture. One can say that many buildings from this period had never been designed before. But did the modernism of the 20th century have no relationship to historical architecture? I don’t believe so.
Many of the people that designed these buildings were taught under architects who designed buildings of the more classical style in Europe and other areas around the world. Naturally these architects most likely have had some of the classical style in their work. One thing used almost everywhere is columns to help define a building’s façade and separate levels of it, and this didn’t start or stop when the modernist movement arose. An example of the use of columns is in the Empire State Building in New York designed by Richmond Shreve, Thomas Lamb and Arthur Harmon. The building contained columns that spread across the entire building and helped to make it seem even taller than it already was. But this technique had been in use way before the time skyscrapers were built. An example of this is in Francois Mansart’s Chateau de Maisons, Paris, 1642. This Mansion used columns at each level to help make a clear separation of them. Another thing that architects at this time did with their buildings was place them on base and have the building gradually become smaller as it went up towards the sky. This was evident in The Chrysler Building designed by William van Alen, “It stood on a base twenty stories high. Above this was a middle-section shaft rising another 560 feet. Then this too began to step inward,” (224). Although...