Saturday, 20 March 2010

Lecture Notes - Modernity & Modernism

Era of modernism / 1760 - 1960
'modern' automatically improve - adapt
Tate Modern and New Labour - Improving or attempting to

William Holman Hunt - The Hireling shepherd - 1852
One of the pioneers of the pre-raphelite movement
Modern but not modernist / amazing attention to detail / lifelike strokes

1900's Paris

the original modern city / 1st of its kind
most advanced city at that time
L'exposion 1889 - erected the eiffel tower
Gallerie De Machines - society culture


Urbanisation

Country to town / working class
Factories replaced farms
new methods of transport
1912 invention of the rail network
more structure leads to more efficiency
Process of rationality and reasoning
Secularisation

Impressionist paintings were of the urban experience


HAUSSMANISATION

Paris 1850s on = a New Paris

Old Paris architecture of narrow streets demolished

Haussman redesigns Paris

Large Boulevards in favour of narrow streets easier to police - Social Control

also the dangerous elements of the working class moved outside the city centre – city centre - expensive middle and Upper class zone


Edgar Degas - L'absinthe
Is a painting of a girl, outside of society, getting drunk because her work is depressing & sub-standard - serve and entertain
At the time of this painting photography was being painted

Kaiserpanorama

-1885. People would pay to sit in seats around one circular object images of the city would be shown. erotic material shown
Technology replaces our own experience


New york city

Quintessentially modern
Built around a system of grids like milton keynes

Alfred Stiegletz - Flatiron Building
Tree vs Building
man made vs natural

Paul Citroen - Metropolis 1923

Multiplicity of perspectives




Modernism in Design

Truth to materials
Eiffel tower, great example of modernity


Form Following Function (FFF)

Classic modernist dogma ,Form precedes function
Skyscrapers council estates


The Bauhaus
Bauhaus college building. Made out of concrete
Font on School 'Futura' which was created in the Bauhaus
Font was Sans-Serif

Technology
New technologies & inventions
Concrete,Plastic,Aluminium
Mass production
Steel Chairs no comfort just functional
vertical buildings could fit more people in



Le Corbiuser
Plan Voisn 1927
sketches and designs of a typical modern city


Harry Beck - London Underground Map
great example of Form Following Function.

Herbert Bayer

important influence in the developent & design of Bauhaus,and san serif
argued that all type should be lower case


Stanley Morrison
Invented the Times New Roman typeface
Challenged modernity and reverted to an archaeic style of typography.

Nazi's took power and shut down the Bauhaus building in belief it was too progressive.

Conclusion
The word 'modern' suggest novelty & improvement
Mid 1700's - 1960 seen as social/cultural experience

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