by Maggie Larkin

Created on: December 07, 2009

Modern architecture became a dominant architectural style after the second world war, and remained at the top for several decades. As with other modern movements in literature, art, and music, modern architecture is believed to come from the Enlightenment and new technological abilities developed out of the Industrial Revolution. Modernity is also read as a reaction to eclecticism and the lavish, detail-oriented styles of the Victorian era and later Art Nouveau. Early examples of modern architecture, like Paxton's Crystal Palace in London and Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple in Chicago make use of these new construction materials, respectively iron and concrete.

The Bauhaus School, founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, was a leading voice in early modern styles. The Bauhaus distanced itself from ornamentation and earlier ideas of "beauty", opting for rationalization. "Form follows function" was an architectural battle cry by the 1930s, and althouh many modern buildings do feature lovely ornamentation, it was the goal of the modernists to shift the focal point of architecture from ornamentation and interior design to construction and form. While most modernists did not subscribe to Loos' idea that "ornamentation is crime", they sought to replace the earlier stresses on interior design with feats of construction that were both functional and pleasing to the eye.

Frank Lloyd Wright is likely the most well-known modern architect, if not the most well-known general architect to world audiences. His aesthetic drive was the convergence of humanity and construction, especially apparent in the Prairie Houses of his early period. While many other modernists wanted to shock and were drawn to the extremes as a presentation of their aesthetic, Wright preferred both likability and modernity. Some of Wright's most famous designs include the Chicago Robie House, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, and the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. The Guggenheim was especially influential and controversial. Many modern artists, including Willem de Kooning, objected to the display of their works in an institution that would compete with the art itself. In this way, the design is questioning art at its most basic form: is art that which is hanging on the wall, or the wall itself?

Another pioneer of modern architecture was Mies Van der Rohe (1886-1969). His career was defined by the "less is more" ideology. He called his works "skin and bones" architecture, minimal in design and enhancing

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