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Stuart Jacome Arch 211- M11 Prof. Khorsandi Blog Post Villa Muller The Villa Muller was designed by famous architect Adolf Loos. The architect was commissioned to do this project by civil engineer and building contractor, Frantisek Muller.  The Villa was built in Prague, in Czech Republic 1928-30. This house is a prime example of early modern architecture and the use of raumplan. Raumplan is a planning method which is based on isolated rooms that are dynamic in section. The method emphasizes the scale each room and often times they are at different levels, therefore steps are required to access them.  The concept of the villa was to express Loos’ ideas of economy and functionality. Raumplan is spatial and clearly shown in Villa Muller through multi-level parts of each room; which hit at their importance, functionality, and symbolism. In contrast to Wright, Loos wanted to keep the public outside and private inside completely separate. Loos believed that the bui...

Stuart Jacome Arch 221- M11 Prof. Khorsandi Blog Post TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center is located in Jamaica, Queens, USA; Part of John F. Kennedy international airport. Designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962; this building has a futurist, modern style. Originally commissioned in 1956, this structure is meant to “capture the spirit of flight”. To capture this concept, Saarinen uses curves along the edges of the building which connect in the middle. From a bird's eye view the terminal appears to have two massive wings; imitating wings of a jet plane or a bird in flight. The exterior facade of the building has continuous curvature elements which move inward. So that the ceiling turns into a wall and the wall becomes the ground. There are four volumes which extrude outward from the center creating the wings. The spaces inside the terminal are open; all of the walls and elements are organic with different shapes and curves so that individuals could experienc...

   Bass Residence       The Bass Residence was located in Fort Worth Texas, and commissioned to be designed by Paul Rudolph in 1970. Construction was completed in 1976, and this structure was said to be one of Rudolph’s most ambitious residential projects based on size and scope. The Bass Residence is an example of his experimental ideas, attempting to bridge the styles of new and old architectural styles “whose richness came not from applied ornament but from spatial complexities developed from structure and the three dimensional elaboration of the program”. This is similar to the manifesto of Adolf Loos, “Ornament and Crime”, although this particular project was said to be heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters, as well as Mies van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. The spatial diversity and complexity of the Bass Residence surpasses that of the aforementioned projects, however. The layout of t...

Arial View In 1962 Eero Saarinen was commissioned to design the new Airport Terminal. Before this time, flying was mainly for rich people; the same thing could be said about architecture. The airlines began discounting tickets and including payment plans so that "common people" could afford their services. For this terminal they wanted the idea of the “spirit of flight.” He created a design that was made up of four symmetrical curved concrete shells that came together in middle. Many said the building looked like a bird about to take flight; Saarinen said this was only a coincidence because he got his inspiration from a hollow grapefruit peel, which, he pushed the middle down. Interior Space Whichever the inspiration, the TWA is a milestone achievement. Before then, many architects were not worried of the person’s personal use or experience, but Saarinen wanted to change that. “We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed env...

A MODERN CLASSROOM The S. R. crown hall located in chicago was built in 1956 by Mies Van Der Rohe. The building was designed to be a school for architecture. The interior of the building was designated a landmark by 2001. The building accurately shows the style of architecture that Mies Van Der Rohe practiced.  “One of Mies van der Rohe’s last buildings erected on the Illinois institute of technology campus is Crown Hall, a Superb example of his clear span designs”. The building is said to be a masterpiece of modern architecture. It shows the construction and materiality that is modern architecture. The structure transcends itself and becomes art, it is the perfect representation of Mies Van Der Rohe’s ideas. There are no columns on the floor plan which further shows the idea of universal space. “In this manner, with steel and glass, a dramatic, single space measuring 120 by 220 feet and 18 feet high is created”. The architect want...

Rear Façade Front Façade Villa Tugendhat The Villa Tugendhat was built in 1930, and designed by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. It is a three floor Villa situated on a slope, with a concrete wall supporting the street side.   It is made of  steel frame construction, a concrete foundation, reinforced concrete ceilings and floors, and a stucco façade and brick masonry. Steel frame construction was not common for homes at the time, but it allowed for the development of a free plan layout, and varying floor plans for each individual level. The cross-shape profile of the columns were subtle in appearance, placed five meters apart, but held up all the upper levels, by being anchored into the concrete floor and ceiling slabs. Meis’ functionalist concept of iron framework enabled the structure  to be built without load bearing walls,  creating more open and light spaces. Grete & Fritz Tugenhat met Mies in Berlin in 1927, and were a...

The Avery Coonley house, also referred to as the Coonley House, or the Coonley Estate is located on a small peninsula surrounded by the Des Plaines River in Chicago, and of the few architecture pieces that Frank Lloyd Wright created, it is one of the largest prairie school styled homes that he ever developed; while also being the first of his work with a zoned residential plan. The other prairie school styled buildings that he created were the Dana-Thomas house and the Darwin D. Martin house. The house created a new layout, laid out in five separate, yet united property structures. He placed the public space, the bedroom wing, and the kitchen along with the servant areas on the second floor, creating three separate private spaces which had the best view of the surrounding landscapes. The bottom, however, had a direct relationship to the landscape around it, and included the entrances, the playroom, and the sewing room which were activities done in the public area during ...