Architecture and Avant-garde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Architecture and Avant-garde - Essay Example The notions of avant-garde architecture provided with an underpinning of modern architecture. The avant-garde architecture gave birth to a German association of architects, designers, and industrials Deutscher Werkbund, meaning German Work Federation, which later on proved to be a springboard for modern industrial architectural designs. Moreover, the notions of avant-garde architecture have now raised the bar for modern architecture. The formation of Deutscher Werkbund in 1907 lead the way to the creation of the Bauhaus school, also originated in Germany in 1919, themed on the rejection of history and viewed architecture as a synthesis of art, craft, and technology. The idea behind architectural avant-garde was to abolish the superseded architectural designs of pre-World War I era and espouse the designs which suit the post-war era and new economic order. Avant-garde architecture paradigm has influenced modern architects and their approach to building design. This has propounded arch itectural themes such as structuralism, post-structuralism, rationalism, empiricism, and phenomenology. Avant-garde approach of architecture relies heavily on reducing buildings to pure forms, removing historical references, and ornament in favor of functionalist details. The United States of American has seen one of its greatest modern (avant-garde) architects in the shape of Ieoh Ming Pei. The Chinese-born American architect is regarded as an icon in modern architectural designs. He is the recipient of the AIA Gold Medal.... Ieoh Ming Pei - American Avant-garde Architect The United States of American has seen one of its greatest modern (avant-garde) architects in the shape of Ieoh Ming Pei. The Chinese-born American architect is regarded as an icon in modern architectural designs. He is the recipient of the AIA Gold Medal, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the MIT Traveling Fellowship, and the Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship. Pei is deemed as an expert in the use of steel, grass, concrete, and stone for designing skyscrapers and modern business complexes (I. M. Pei Biography, Bio and Profile from Netglimse.com). The Pritzker Prize-winning (Pritzker Prize: architecture's equivalent of the Pulitzer) architect went to Saint John's University, Shanghai before attending University of Pennsylvania at the age of 18. He completed Bachelor of Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 and was also a member of National Defense Research Committee. He was also trained at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (Official biography from Pei Cobb Freed & Partners website). During the late 1940's Pei joined Webb and Knapp as a Director of Architecture. He worked on many large-scale real estate development projects. Later on, in mid-1950's, Pei started his own real estate development enterprise. Ieoh Pei became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1954. During his more than 60-year long career as a modernist architect, Ieoh Pei designed some of the greatest models of modern architectures. They include: National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado; Government Center Master Plan, Boston, Massachusetts; Society Hill Towers, Philadelphia, PA; 50 FAA air traffic control towers, in various locations throughout the US; National Airlines terminal at JFK