Cities of Modernity - Research Paper Example

Cities of Modernity Through the twentieth century New York became, in many aspects, the capital of the world. It was well established at the turn of the century, but through its development in architecture, amongst other things, it distinguished its role for the decades to come. It was a pioneer in the expansion of skyscrapers and what represented urbanity as a whole. It is due to these reasons and many more that I wish to focus, in this research file, on the development of architecture in the state from the 1900’s onward till now. I will explore how architecture has evolved in the more urban part of New York and those minds that were behind the development. New York has a very rich and vibrant history making it an extremely interesting topic of discussion. Not only does it hold a special place in the hearts of many due to the culture that the city promotes, it also attracts everyone in one manner or another. New York, today, houses some of the most amazing displays of architectural feats that man has even seen. From the towering twin towers that once stood near one end of the island of Manhattan to the graceful Chrysler building, it can be called as the hub of architectures. Not only does the city support buildings, it has much to offer in terms of the many suspension bridges leading in and out of the city as well as the beautifully designed parks that spot the state. The vast number of skyscrapers in New York allows the city to expand vertically rather than horizontally and increase the population density of the area to one of the largest in the world (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). The development of these skyscrapers also demonstrates the steps towards a truly modern and urban city. I have intended to use books written by architectures on New York itself and their ideas on how the city has developed through time and their own critiques on what should have been done differently. Alongside these I plan to make use of articles, films and written reports done by other theorists. I will make use of reports passed on by critics who focus in the field of urban planning and development and see how they have found the changes that New York has gone through to be. In the beginning of my research I would like to focus on the designs and architectural designs of the twentieth century. This research will attempt to look at how designs have changed from before and how they are now bringing into light the standing point of the city. The beginning of this research will look at the three prominent urban planners of their time, namely Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. For quite some time their ideas and visions of creating a utopian city have been used as a reference point for the designing of urban areas. Though Ebenezer Howard never did see New York, his work has been used in the city. The other two, Wright and Le Corbusier spent time in the great state themselves with the United Nations building and the Guggenheim being two of their more prominent pieces in the city. Le Corbusier used quite a number of variations in his work making his work all the more interesting for research. His designs and drawings for various architectural plans can be found in their thousands (Foundation Le Corbusier, 2010). As this research paper will focus on the idea of the concept of Utopia in relation to both the past and the present, it would be only fitting that the history of the term is understood. Utopia should be understood in the general sense of the word first and then later on this research file will focus the term more in tune with New York. In order to grasp how New York has transcended through time and how the features of the city have transformed over the twentieth century there will be an attempt to highlight the different stages the state went through in terms of architectural features. The effects of not only ideas will be looked at but political motivation and the economy. Lastly, the research will be confined to specific architects and critics of the city. How the various individuals became part of shaping New York and the different means they used in order to achieve the results they wished. Amongst others, this will include Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier, or the New York five as they became known. Lewis Mumford and his writings for the New York Times through the column known as The Sky Line will also be looked at and examined. This paper will attempt to restrict the use of internet, as its resources can vary in terms of liability, but as a way of collecting images of specific plans and building it may be a useful source. When it comes to electronic resources, the availability of useful audio-visual collections will be investigated. Yet, though all the above will be important assets in order to understand the thoughts and ideas of the architects, for the most, written accounts will be most heavily relied upon, as language will be the most useful link to understand the mind of the subjects in question. A general problem for all the mentioned architects in general is that their work can tend to disorganized as they are in general first and foremost not theorists but artists in the field of architectural and urban planning.  Although most who wrote on in relation to New York used English as their main language in some cases the problem of linguistic differences may hinder research. It is vital to use visual resources as the visual aspect of architecture is important for the understanding. Although language is key to understand the arguments and questions raised by the authors, they drawings, plans  or pictures of the results is what will create and understanding and allow us to form a subjective opinion. Furthermore, it is important to vary the research and rely on both primary and secondary resources in order to get a broader field of information. Throughout this paper, New York will refer to the city of New York; also know as New York City, unless otherwise stated. This definition is to avoid confusion with the state of New York, in which this city of the same name is located. Architecture is a word with several meanings but for the purpose of this paper, it will be taken to mean the style and method of the design of the buildings. Design, in turn, refers to both form and function. The form of the building may be such that it serves its function or the function may be secondary to the form, depending on the architect’s philosophy (Arch Careers, 2010). The meaning of the term Utopia must also be established as it will be used often in this paper. Utopia is a philosophical concept, the name of an ideal society with a perfect socio-political-legal system. The term was first coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 in the book called Utopia. Utopia with reference to architecture means a city or building which is perfect in its purpose and ideal for its intended users (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2000). At the turn of the century, New York was already established as a modern city. Immigrants were flowing into the city, especially African Americans and Irish. This inflow of people was spurring growth in the city, as residential sectors began to emerge, distinctly different from the commercial areas. This development continued along with the population boom, which lasted until 1930, slowing down only when New York had become the first megacity in the world, with a population of over 10 million. Stone and brick was the major building material so as to reduce the risks of fire. 1904 saw the opening of the New York underground subway. This was also the time when steel began to enable the construction of high rise buildings. During the early 1930’s, some of the most iconic and famous buildings in world were established in New York. This decade saw the raising of skyscrapers of which the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and GE Building are only a few. However, the Great Depression also took its toll and growth slowed to a snails pace during the mid and late 1930’s. The 1940’s brought with them World War II and the end of the depression. Surprisingly, the war brought economic prosperity to the city as it became a trading hub. However, emphasis on construction and architecture declined during this time. Once the war was over, New York experienced sudden changes and growths, as old, traditional residential blocks were torn down to accommodate new houses. New buildings were erected, most of them following a completely different style than before. This fashion moved on continuously throughout the 50’s. Economic troubles hit New York during the 1960’s and only worsened as the city entered the 1970’s. Construction, though slowing, continued during this time. The 1980’s and 1990’s breathed new life into this city. The economic boom brought wealth into New York and the construction business flourished as more and more buildings were erected. This trend has continued till present day, with a slight slow-down due to the recession. New York City has been the centre of trade, entertainment, fashion and various other aspects of life, yet it is also known for the beauty and unique features and ground breaking designs in the field of architecture. The city was home to the twin towers, once the highest sky scrapers in the world and even now one can see various forms of architectural designs in the city. It can truly be called the cosmopolitan of all forms of art. The planning of New York depended, among others, on the philosophies and architectural ideas of three architects; Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) was a British town planner famous for his book Garden Cities of To-morrow. He envisioned a utopian city where man lived in harmony with nature. Though he did not ever go to New York, his ideas greatly influenced Fredrick Law Olmsted, a landscape designer who was responsible for the New York Central Park and also, the lesser known, Prospect Park. He also designed several other parks in New York City. He believed as Howard did, that parks were public spaces that should be open to all, a fairly new concept at that time that was not readily accepted by all. Central Park was developed during the 1950’s and is one of the most defining features of this city. Hence one can say that Ebenezer Howard’s dream of seeing man live in peace with nature is not a true account that can be related to New York due to the overwhelming structures that the state supports. However, those influenced by him managed to bring his designs to the fore front with masterpieces such as central Park. The American architect and interior designer F. L. Wright (1867-1959) designed over 1000 projects in his lifetime, of which over 500 were completed (Bloomberg Business week, 2004). His vision of utopia consisted of a city that had undergone de-urbanization to become more in touch with nature, a city in which all families had at least one acre of land on which to build their lives and homes. The buildings constructed should also be in harmony with their environment. He also developed the concept of ‘prairie homes’, where the homes were more spacious and interconnected rather than boxlike. He came up with many ideas which would come under the umbrella of modern architecture by forcing people to reinvent their homes and workspaces (Bloomberg Business week, 2004). Wrights ideas greatly influenced the design of residential buildings in the city, in which several parts of the homes formed uninterrupted spaces instead of being in different room’s altogether. His most famous design in New York is the Guggenheim Museum, started in the post-war time in 1943 and finished in 1959. Le Corbusier (1887-1965) was a Swiss architect and urban planner. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of what is called modern architecture and International style, whose influence in New York City can be seen clearly. Unlike the previous two architects just mentioned, he believed that urbanization was the solution to the problem of increasing population. He foresaw the future importance of motor vehicles and believed that in the coming years, cities would consist of housing in large apartment buildings isolated from their settings. Utopia, for Le Corbusier, consisted of cities with freeways and streets connecting a very densely populated city, both in terms of residential and commercial areas. His ideas were adopted by builders of urban planning in the United States (and therefore, New York). Le Corbusier’s most famous work in New York is the United Nations headquarters, finished in 1952. The ideas of Howard and Wright seem to have more similarities than differences, with each of them wishing to incorporate nature into their designs and a wish to give each family unit spacious amount of land. Both discouraged extreme urbanization and areas with high population densities, believing them to reduce living conditions and have high living costs. This is in great contrast to Le Corbusier, who believed in urbanization. Though Le Corbusier’s ideas of the urban utopia were very different from that of Ebenezer Howard’s, Howard’s book Garden Cities of To-morrow had a great influence on Le Corbusier and he developed his version of utopia with the same aim as Howard: to improve the living conditions of the people in the city. The International style introduced by Le Corbusier replaced the old Art Deco style. The Art Deco style was the leading style during the 1930’s, with the Empire State Building and the Chrysler two of its most famous examples. It was a purely decorative design (Victoria and Albert Museum: Art Deco Study Guide, 2010). The International style consisted of a focus on characteristics common to modernism all over the world. It focuses on three main features: volume, balance and lack of decoration. This style has met with a lot of criticism, with critics claiming it to be ugly (The New York Times, 1987). Art Deco had in turn displaced the Beaux-Art style during the mid 1910’s as the most popular architecture style at the time. The Beaux-Art style emphasized the Italian Renaissance and the Imperial British model. The Grand Central Terminal (1871) and New York Public Library (1911) are just two examples of buildings of this style in New York. In 1972, the architectural world experienced an intellectual explosion upon the publication on the book Five Architects by include Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier. This book called for the return to the pure architectural form, putting ideas of technology, society and functionality in the backseat (The New York Times, 1998). This may have been in response to the banality suffered by architecture during the 1960’s and 1970’s, which, in turn, may be due to the economic, political and social decline seen during that time. All five of these architects were based in New York, thus their being led to be called the New York Five. Their efforts led to a more intellectual discourse in architecture, the most interesting of which was the debate between the ‘Grays’ and the ‘Whites’, with the New York Five referred to as the Whites and the a counter group of five architects brought together by Robert A. M. Stern, known as the Grays. A critic who has greatly expressed the need to involve greater use of machines in architecture is Lewis Mumford. However, as a New Yorker himself, Mumford believed that the quick building of sky scrapers which attempted to rise higher and higher was decaying modern architecture. To him the streets of Manhattan were turning into sunless areas where wind swept through columns of steel and cement. He lamented the entire concept of rising higher though many charged him of being too critical of all forms of skyscrapers, which was not the true scenario. Mumford found certain designs to be within the acceptable limit as long as the designs did not overwhelm a man too much. His ideas were more in tune with those of Le Corbusier though he and Wright shared the same ideas of an organic city (Donald L. Miller, 1989). Ralph Walker, a New York architect, argued that there were no other means by which people could live in the modern age without creating skyscrapers. They were, as he thought, the only means by which humans could appreciate art in the age of machines (Kate Holliday, 2009). Mumford was of the opinion that there should be a limit set on the number of people allowed to reside in a city so that there was more efficiency and as such he was a promoter of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City. The New York five were more in line with the ideas of Mumford due to their desire to shadow technology and concentrate more on the harmony with nature. This research file has outlined the basic architects who presented their ides on urban planning to the world. How those who came later into the urban planning field worked with the ideas of the masters of the past and tried to implement them in the world of today. An Introduction to Architecture [online]. (2010) [Accessed 2 June 2010]. Available from: . Belden, E. (2006). New-York: Past, Present and Future. 1st. ed. New York: G. P. Putnam. Bloomberg Businessweek [online]. (2004) [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: . Columbia University (2000). The Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth. ed. New York: Columbia University Press. Donald L. Miller (1989). Lewis Mumford: A Life. New York: Weiderfeld . [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=AtBfyg_Vj7gC. Fishman, R. (1977). Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century: Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier. 1st. ed. New York: Basic Books Inc. Foundation Le Corbusier [online]. (2010) [Accessed 3 June 2010]. . Foundation Le Corbusier [online]. (2010) [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: . Goldberger, P. A Little Book That Led Five Men to Fame. (1998). The New York Times, 11 February, p.5. Kate Holliday. Walls as Curtains: Architecture and Humanism in Ralph Walkers Skyscrapers of the 1920s. (2009). Studies in the Decorative Arts, Spring, p.39. Macaulay University [online]. (2010) [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: . Shorto, R. (2005). The Island at the Center of the World. 1st. ed. New York: Doubleday Publishing. Sir Ebenezer Howard (1902). Garden Cities for Tomorrow by Sir Ebenezer Howard. London: S. Sonnenschein . [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=ujzvUyqvGCoC. U.S Census Bureau [online]. (2006) [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: . Victoria and Albert Museum: Art Deco Study Guide [online]. (2010) [Accessed 4 June 2010]. Available from: . Read More