Style international | EPFL Graph Search

Le style international est un courant architectural qui s'est épanoui entre les années 1920 et la fin des années 1980 dans le monde entier. Ce style, qui marque l'arrivée des idées du Mouvement moderne aux États-Unis, notamment par l'intermédiaire de Philip Johnson au MoMA à New York et de Ludwig Mies van der Rohe à Chicago, résulte du mariage des idées de l'école du Bauhaus et des techniques de construction en acier et en verre des États-Unis. Il caractérise une grande partie de l'architecture des Trente Glorieuses. Sa caractéristique principale est de construire des bâtiments en rupture totale avec les traditions du passé. Ses architectes décident de mettre en valeur les volumes par des surfaces extérieures lisses et sans ornementation. Ils souhaitent appliquer le principe de régularité et utiliser pour cela toutes les possibilités offertes par le béton, l'acier et le verre. Le style international se présente donc comme une tendance résolument moderniste et recherche le dépouillemen

Erweiterung des Funktionalismus 1930-1950

Christoph Wieser

Functionalism serves as the guiding concept of this piece of work, on the example of which shall be traced the changes that took place in modern architecture between 1930 and 1950. This choice seems appropriate since Functionalism is a particularly relevant yardstick of the state of modern architecture owing to its radical nature. In its generally accepted form, Functionalism embodies the most rigorous stage of a development that in the early 1920s assumed a variety of forms, that became increasingly strongly focussed, and which finally expanded in the early 1930s. On the other hand, a penetration of the core of the concept of Functionalism is an uphill task and demands an investigation into allied concepts such Objectivity, and in particular the New Objectivity, Neues Bauen and Rationalism, as well as a digression into Italian Razionalismo. This exploration is followed by an attempt to define Functionalism, whereby the intention is not to equate it with the status of "dogmatic Functionalism" with which its condition at the end of the 1920s shall be labelled, but to attempt to understand it in a more comprehensive sense. This extended view of Functionalism forms the basis of an analysis of the expansion stage, which can be divided into three parts for which the following concepts stand: "enlightened Functionalism" for the years from 1930 to 1935, "self-evident Functionalism" for the following period up until the end of the war, and "subliminal Functionalism" for the first post-war years until 1950 – concepts that refer to the types of development in which Functionalism continued to forfeit its radicality and mutate into an undogmatic, widely accepted form of modern architecture. Towards 1950, however, functionalistic methods were more and more frequently overlaid by a traditional language of form that increasingly blurred the contours of functionalist aesthetics. This represented the final stage of development, for an invisible functionalism is no longer an "ism" – and thus no longer Functionalism. Buildings from Switzerland and Sweden provide the main source of illustrative material, despite the fact that Functionalism developed in Germany. This is connected with the architectural quality of Swiss and Swedish building at the time, as well as with the changes in the political situation. For although World War II brought about a crucial break in Switzerland and Sweden, it did not call a complete halt to the previous developments as it did in most other European countries.

EPFL2005

On the Symbiosis of People and Building

Sytse de Maat

Controversies continue to exist between architects and the public about what is a good building. High-style modern architecture is often disliked by the public. Moreover, in everyday life people blame the architect for everything they find impractical in a building. The non-operable window is emblematic of this controversy. The kernel of the problem lies in the lack of knowledge about how people relate to their buildings. This thesis investigates the relationship between people and their buildings, a topic that lies on the interface of architecture, psychology, and anthropology. In architecture, many have attempted to create buildings that feel alive, although much of what is built today feels alien to those who inhabit it. Environmental psychology has its focus on perception and meaning, whereas in anthropology, the habitat is often observed in a cultural perspective. This thesis aims at building theory that connects the insights of these disciplines. The importance of the topic lies in the increasing alienation of people from their buildings. Although many architects work on buildings that we can better relate to, alienation and disconnection continue to exist because, to mention one aspect, the built environment is made by more people than only architects. In the multidisciplinary world, improvement of the relationship of people and building would surely benefit from the introduction of a clear focal point and an adequate conceptual framework. From literature, insights were collected that explain the relationship in four perspectives: human aspects, properties of buildings, its relation to society, and abstract systems. Together they form a model that can serve as the focal point. Next, in order to identify what is changing in the relationship, the model was used as research tool in different contexts, ranging from vernacular to modern. Fieldwork research was conducted in traditional habitats, state-of-the-art modern buildings, and settings in between: primitive housing in urban slum or informal settlement. Detailed research methods for the survey of people's interaction with buildings were newly developed in the field and combined with existing sampling and coding techniques. Architects tools like sketches, scale models, and photography were used next to interviews and participatory observation. Results are presented in several reports ranging from slum dwellings to hi-tech. Besides architecture, they describe the practice of everyday life, logic and inconsistencies in building methods, and effects on the people-building relationship. From the findings, we concluded that what happened to the people-building relationship in the transition from vernacular to modern could be described in five trends. These trends explain the current disconnection as well as the difficulties we face in creating live buildings. Thus, together with the focal point, a conceptual framework is created holding the patterns typical of the people-building relationship. This knowledge can be used as both tool and theory by the profession. The research suggests that in order to create a strong people-building relationship, the whole process of building, dwelling, and daily operation must be focused on inclusion of the end-user. Today's technology and regulations favor exclusion and therefore contribute to a built environment that is not humanly sustainable.

EPFL2015

On the Symbiosis of People and Building

Sytse de Maat

EPFL2015

Erweiterung des Funktionalismus 1930-1950

Christoph Wieser

EPFL2005