Architecture & Design: A Course Cycle with Words and Arts at MK2, Paris
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The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes in the way we produce an object.Today, architecture has become all about reinventing a city, not building it. The 20th century began its mad rush for great and sustainable inventions. Art historian and jourArchitecture & Design: A Course Cycle with Words and Arts at MK2, Paris
The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes in the way we produce an object.Today, architecture has become all about reinventing a city, not building it. The 20th century began its mad rush for great and sustainable inventions. Art historian and journalist Stefan Cornic invites you to discover these developments at MK2. Cornic has chosen an array of subjects related to the field and then starts a discourse that helps one understand the operating principles of modern architecture.Modern architecture emerged at the end of the 19th century from the massive revolutions that came in technology, engineering and building materials. So, it became a desire to break away from historical architectural conventions and styles to try and invent something that was purely functional and new.Then came a huge change in the materials that were being used. The use of plate glass and cast iron made it possible to build structures that were comparatively stronger, lighter as well as taller. Invented in 1948, the cast plate glass process facilitated the manufacture of very large windows. Joseph Paxton’s The Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an early example of iron and plate glass construction that was followed by the first glass and metal curtain wall in 1864. These were the salient developments that together led to the creation of the first steel-framed skyscraper.French industrialist Francois Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete, which was concrete strengthened with iron bars and this went on to become a new technique for constructing buildings. Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure in 1853, which was a four-storey house in the suburbs of Paris. Another groundbreaking technology for the new architecture was electric light, which significantly reduced the danger of fires caused by gas in the 19th century.The initiation of new materials and techniques paved a new way for architects who began to break away from the neoclassical and diverse models which dominated European and American architecture during the late 19th century. This break with the old architectural practice was particularly advocated by the architectural theorist and historian Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. In his 1872 book “Entretiens sur L’Architecture,” he urged: “Use the means and knowledge given to us by our times, without the intervening traditions which are no longer viable today, and in that way we can inaugurate a new architecture. For each function its material; for each material its form and its ornament.” This book went on to influence a generation of architects, who included Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, and Antoni Gaudi.This discussion dwells upon many topics that are of great benefit to aspiring architects and material developers.The program will be go on through June 21, 2018, at MK2 Headquarters, 55 Rue Traversiere, 75012 Paris, FranceFor details, visit https://www.mk2.comClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at some modern architecture.http://www.blouinartinfo.com Founder: Louise Blouin Read more