Ivan Sutherland

In this post modernism age, one of the most influential inventions in the design and art world would be the autoCAD program and the different variances with it. The man behind this invention was an American Electronics Engineer/Computer Scientist named Ivan Edward Sutherland. Sutherland was one of the first people to write a computer program, although it was 12 bits of memory, it was the first step to success. While obtaining his Ph.D. he developed his thesis, "Sketchpad: A Man-made Graphical Communications Systems.", the first graphical user interface. He imagined that people should be able to draw precise lines on the computer. Not only did he do this he also made it so you could zoom in and out. Unlike designs or art from the era before everything had to be done by hand. With the computer you could make perfect, straight lines in a blink of an eye and you could manipulate that line in ways you couldn't do with the hand. And if you messed up you wouldn't have to start over or erase you could simply undo the process. Thanks to Ivan Sutherland's "Sketchpad" technology, the CAD program and photoshop programs have enabled us to design unimaginable things to the past designers and who knows where this will take us 

Sources:

Rheingold, H.  Virtual reality. Harvill Secker, 1991

Markoff, J. Computing pioneer challenges the clock. Computing, 2001

Le Corbusier

One of the most well known architects from the Modernist age would have to be Le Corbusier. He was a French architect who designed: Villa Fallet, Villa Schwab, Villa Plesch, Pavillon de l'Esprit, Villa Meyer,, Maison Cook, Maison Pllaneix, Villa Church, Villa Stein-de Monzie, Salon d'Automme, Villa Baizeauz, and many more buildings. Le Corbusier came into the spotlight because of his Plan Libre concept. His plan had faith in the industry, remember he was around during the time of the industrial revolution. Because of the industrial revolution he believed that items and frame work should be industrialized. He also believed that architecture, in contrast to the production of utilitarian household goods, belongs to the realm of art. He rejected decoration in the applied arts and like Loos, Corbusier placed  utilitarian objects outside the sphere of art, in the realm governed by the laws of technical and commercial evolution. Le Corbusier was also known for his theory of 5 points and form. The 5 points of would be concentrated on column, roof garden, free plan, ribbon window, and free facade. The theme was very abstract and had a strong horizontal influence. The buildings he designed were very square like todays office buildings and stretched horizontal. He was the first real successful person to incorporate this.

sources:

Risselada, Max. Raumplan Versus Plan Libre: Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. 010 Publishers, Rotterdamn, 2008.

Blake, P.  Le Corbusier, architecture and form. Penguin Books. 1964

Adolf Loos

One of the most influential architects that isn't as well known as Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright would have to be Adolf Loos. He is considered a Modernist architect because he was from the Modernism age. Some of his most recognized works would be: Steiner House, Stroessel House, Horner House, Scheu House, Strasser House, Villa Konstandt, Rufer House, Chicago Tribune Tower, Villa Stross, Villa Moissis, Villa Plesch, Tzara House, Moller House, Wurfel House, Moller House, just to name a few. I'd like to talk about the Moller House. The house looks like a box from the outside but the inside is flawless. Loos used his concept of raumplan in this house. Raumplan was his style of design where the co-ordination of interior space and external form has a dialect quality. Comfort in space is related in both intimacy and control. Loos was designing in a time of radical change. The industrial revolution was taking place and the life of the average man or woman was changing. Loos wanted to show this radical difference between the inside and outside or exterior social life and interior realm of inalienable. The form of Loos was the connection of vertical and horizontal aspects. Material usage set the environment and how these aspects were ordered was very unique, especially for the time period. Loos wrote an essay about the ornamentation of this form. In the essay, Ornament and Crime, Loos's "passion for smooth and precious surfaces" informs his expressed philosophy that ornamentation can have the effect of causing objects to go out of style and thus become obsolete. It struck him that this was a crime to waste the effort needed to add ornamentation, when the ornamentation would cause the object to soon go out of style. Loos introduced a sense of the "immorality" of ornament, describing it as "degenerate", its suppression as necessary for regulating modern society. Yet despite the striking simplicity of his exteriors, Loos' interiors were decorated comfortably, using beautiful materials and elegant details. The "Raumplan" concept, designing continuous spaces for living rather than regularly divided floors with limited flexibility. 

 This picture is one of the interior spaces in the Moller House. It shows how Loos intertwined the vertical and horizontal aspects. It also shows you the difference in floor height. Loos's "Raumplan" was known for that.

 Loos used the simplicity of the exterior to create an added effect to the interior. The exterior was just a solid block with not many windows and this created a mood in the interior environment.

 This photo is the front of the Moller House. For the time period this house was made this was very unique and still is. Simple exterior, innovative interior.

This is another interior photo of the Moller House. He utilized the differentiating floor for chairs or book cases. It also creates this ornament that connects the horizontal and vertical aspects of the interior.

Sources:

Risselada, Max. Raumplan Versus Plan Libre: Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier. 010 Publishers, Rotterdamn, 2008.

Loos, A. (1908). Ornament and Crime. Innsbruck, reprint Vienna, 1930.