Notes from an Architect's Desk

Modernism proliferated in Germany and other parts of Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. The advent of the Nazi regime in Germany brought about a sea change in the fields of Art and Architecture. The Nazi aesthetic was deeply rooted in classicism and ornamentation, unlike the utilitarian beliefs of the Modernists. Artists and architects alike had to bear the full brunt of this conflict. Modern architects were not given work commissions. The Bauhaus was shut down. With no other option available, many of the great architects left Europe and immigrated to the United States where the likes of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright had already laid the strong foundations of Modernism. These immigrants greatly influenced generations of American architects, popularizing the European modernist aesthetic.

In 1937, Walter Gropius joined Harvard's Graduate School of Design as Chairman. With the likes of the Hungarian Marcel Breuer (renowned for his furniture designs), Gropius started the Architects Collaborative, which designed the Harvard Graduate Center. Mies joined the the Illinois Institute of Technology at Chicago as Dean in the Department of Architecture in 1938. Richard Neutra established a practice in California. Over the next few decades, Modernism developed and spread all over the world.

Even today, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters at Pennsylvania (built 1936-39) is considered as the most beautiful house ever built. Envisioned as a nature retreat for the owners, the house is picture perfect in its striking natural surroundings. It is built on top of an active waterfall, with walls of locally quarried stone that flows beneath and at places, through the house. The walls and the concrete cantilevers are in a harmonic resemblance to the nearby rock formations. The floor in most places is the original rock ledge.

Almost a decade later, Wright designed the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York. This building, his last major project, changed the perception of museum buildings for ever with curators complaining that the building takes more prominence than the art and artifacts inside.

After the Second World War, big companies in the US adopted Modern Architecture in their prized buildings that more often than not housed their headquarters. On the other hand, newly liberated countries like India also took to Modernism, their economic conditions and aspirations being quite similar to post World War 1 Germany. Among the prominent architects who plied their trade in India are Le Corbusier ( Master Plan of Chandigarh, Punjab & Haryana Secretariats and High Courts), Louis Kahn (IIM Ahmedabad), Joseph Allen Stein (India Habitat Centre & India International Centre) and Otto Koenigsberger (Master Plan of Bhubaneswar). Their works also inspired the new generation of Indian architects like Charles Correa, BV Doshi, AP Kanvinde, Raj Rewal, JK Choudhury, Nari Gandhi and Anant Raje among others. Most of these architects were educated in Europe or the US.

As Modernism developed, architects could delve further into design philosophy. Mies's famous aphorism "Less is more" set the tone for minimalism in architecture. Minimalism is an art movement that started as a reaction to Modernism and is spread over different fields like visual arts, literature, music and even automobile design. In architecture and design, minimalism refers to a trend where the subject is stripped down to its bare necessary elements so as to achieve simplicity. Minimalist architecture would focus on the connection between different planes, joinery details and subdued natural lighting. Materials would have to be minimal and should allow a connectivity between the inside and the outside. Minimalism also draws strong inspirations from the Japanese culture of Zen philosophy.

Minimalist architecture was first popularized in interior design projects of fashion boutiques of famous designers. Here the emphasis was on the design of the clothes and not the quantity or prints as would be in a regular apparel shop. The items on display would be a bare minimum, so that the customer could check each and everything out without any unnecessary distractions. This called for simple, peaceful and orderly spatial arrangements. Walls, floors and even ceilings would be white or light natural stone to achieve simplicity and lights and air-conditioning would be concealed.

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