By Skidmore, Owings And Merill, Sophisticated Skyscraper

Improved Essays
The twentieth century was an exciting period in European architectural history, it was a period of Modernism development. The early part of the period was focused on an approach by a group of architects who desired to reflect historical precedents and develop something completely new during their time. Instead of focusing on the traditional architecture such as ornaments, the architects during that time created a new aesthetic look using new materials and new structural approaches. This time of growth was captured in the 1961 The Harris Trust and
Savings bank, in Chicago, in which the buildings not only showcased the new material and structural methods but also captured the progressive attitudes to design.
The article by Skidmore, Owings and Merill entitled Sophisticated Skyscraper, discusses
…show more content…
Describing the most prominent aspects of the design in relation to modernism. The objective was to create "an impression of elegance and of architectural sophistication"(Skidmore, 1961). The beginning of the article goes on discussing the necessary aspects of the appearance of the facade.

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Art Deco is an influential design style originating in Paris after World War I spanning from 1910 – 1935. It emerged from the interwar period when rapid industrialisation was transforming culture. One of its major attributes is an embrace of technology. Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance and faith in social and technological progress. It is an eclectic style, which rejected traditional classical influences in favour of bold geometric shapes, streamlined forms, rich colours and lavish ornamentation.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When looking at the European Middle Ages, it may be easy to assume it was a “dark” time, due to the many horrors the time period endured. However, this is not enough to label the entire period as the “Dark Ages.” The Middle Ages were more light than dark, because it was a period of religious dedication, intellectual breakthrough, and scientific advancement. While religion has appeared important in almost every culture of every time period, it was very prominent in the Middle Ages. God was viewed even more holy than He is today, not even being spoken of by any earthly name.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Modernism and Cubism European society went through great changes during the last half of 19th Century and the beginning of 20th Century. Industry had a rapid development as the processes started to become more mechanical and machines increased their importance in manufacture processes. As the society entered to a new age known as “Modern”, the artistic approach to life also changed, introducing new artistic currents based on the Modernism. The current essay intends to provide a wider explanation of Modernism and the subsequent avant-gardes focusing on Cubism and why do I consider that it greatly represents the changes of the modern time.…

    • 1935 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Modernism In Australia

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. Modernism: Comparison Europe/Australia Europe was the frontier for Modernism in the art world, with the movement emerging mid nineteenth century from artists like 19th century painter Gustave Courbet . Modernism began during the Industrial Revolution, a period of rapid change in technology which profoundly affected social, economic and cultural life in Europe. Impressionism was most prominent around this time.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the excerpt “the Four Books on Architecture” Palladio develops a numerical and logical system organizing spatial relationships among the elements involved in any building. This system is a guidance for architects when designing such buildings as villas and houses. As well this system includes detailed rules to be considered when an architect arranges building rooms, when he specifies the proportions of spaces, when he makes decisions about the dimensions of halls associating the height of a space with its dimensions and when he specifies the sizes of doors and windows for a room. Also, he sheds light on differences between simple spaces and elegant spaces and criteria to be considered when an architect makes decisions about whether spaces…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mohammed Waseem Chiraagh 1380983 ARCH 6313 - Critical Studies 3 Major Assignment Traditionally as humans, when critiquing a building our thoughts are based on the buildings form as a whole, one defined object or boundary made up of different components which creates the overall look, structure and how it fits into the contextual surroundings. In the text “Why Architecture Matters” Paul Goldberger, shows that not only the outer boundary or façade is important but that there is another dimension which is often open to wider interpretation and often disregarded when thinking about a building. This being the interior space within these boundaries, the interior of the building says a lot more than its exterior, as it defines the space, the light and the mood it creates.…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    ANALYSES OF THE LOVELIEST TREES AND TO AN ATHLETE DYING YOUNG BY HOUSMAN Alfred Edward Housman was an English poet and one of the greatest classical scholars of all time. In this essay, I will analyse two poems “The Loveliest Trees” and “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman from modern era in England. These poems call as modern poems. First of all, I want to mention about modernism, characteristics of modernism and characteristics of modern English poetry. Modernism is a literary movement which associates with the scientific and the artistic changes and it rejected romantic ideas.…

    • 2001 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Additionally, tectonics and material expression are both still very important and relevant in modern day architecture, and there are many buildings that show this. The houses similarly share the concept of being of “skin and bones” design. They are both constructed of steel and glass materials, and…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The opera house is considered complex due to its shape and choice of materiality. You can clearly see that the focus of the building was the form first and then the function. She created a simple program that focused mainly on the main auditorium. She made sure that the central auditorium space was easily accessible from all side. The degree of simplicity that is present in the program of the opera house proves yet again that she focused more on the form and designated more of her time designing the form rather than thinking deeply about the function.…

    • 2172 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peter Keating, with the secret assistance of Roark, enters Cosmo-Slotnick’s “Most Beautiful Building in the World” contest to build a ten million dollar skyscraper for the company. In winning the competition, Keating solidifies his fame in the architecture community, but also seals his fate as a second-hander because he took credit for Roark’s design. The design was classically ornate Renaissance, which Roark cannot stand, but the public adores. Many say that despite the fact that The Fountainhead was set in New York City, Chicago was the basis for the novel, as its architectural history is as unique, various, and beautiful as they come.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Final Exam 1) Pre-modernism, Modernism, and Postmodernism A. Describe the differences among these three worldviews. • Pre-modernism is based on Thomas Aquinas, Plato and Aristotle. People got their knowledge from authoritative sources. Takes place in high point in 13th c. CE. In pre-modernism sources of authority is in the West, the church, being the holders and interpreters of revealed knowledge, were the primary authority source in premodern.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What Is Postmodernism?

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What is Postmodernism? According to Merriam Webster dictionary ,Post-Modernism is “of relating to or being any various movements in reaction to modernism that are typically characterized by a return to traditional materials and forms by ironic self reference and absurdity “ (Webster, Merriam). The very term "postmodern" was, in fact, coined in the forties by the historian, Arnold Toynbee (Felluga).Postmodernism cannot be historically a specific year, and however, its ideas are around the mid-1970. The concepts of postmodernism affected many aspects of art, education, literature, film, sociology, technology, and etc. To begin to understand postmodernism, one must first analyze the two movements in an earlier time which is modernism and the…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Think about modern buildings (built after 1900) you may have seen either in person or in pictures that were designed in a classical style. I decided to describe a Northern California home that I was lucky enough to live in for a couple of years, mainly because it is a modern building (approximately 25 years old) but was designed with a classical style. I wanted to describe a building that I know very well and this particular style of architecture (or at least the front façade and columns) is a popular choice for residents there. Why do you think the architect(s) chose to copy the classical style?…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Avant-Garde Essay

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The word "modernism", derived from the Latin “modo”, to denote the main direction in the art of bourgeois society, the era of its decline. One more terms to express the same concept are "avant-garde", "avant-garde". The main objective of modernism is : the depth of penetration into the conscious and subconscious human transmission of the memory, perception of the features, including, as in "moments of being" refracted past, present and foreseeing the future. The basic techniques in the work of modernists becomes a "stream of consciousness" that allows you to capture the movement of thoughts, impressions, feelings. Every phenomenon of a life, before it reaches a clear and relatively complete form, passes some preliminary…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pierre Francastel and Sigfried Giedion were both analytical in their accounts of industrial revolution’s impact on architecture via the usage of mass-produced material such as iron and glass. However, the two accounts indeed took very different stands on their opinion of the machine and the progression of architecture. Bibliothѐque Sainte-Geneviѐve was indisputably one of the most remarkable examples of iron and glass applications during that era, agreed by both Francastel and Giedion. However, in the eyes of Francastel, the usage of iron and glass to construct classical forms were considered more backward, as he felt the architect did not envision a new style; one that maximised the nature of the newly-popularised materials , hence the lack…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays