Toward a New Architecture, by Le Corbusier & Play time, by Jacques Tati

According from the reading of Toward a New Architecture from Le Corbusier , the standard of the living place was created within the aesthetic and also functional. The standard that he created leads to the easier way of measuring and the simple way of the calculate these simple geometric structural forms. So, on this standard form of living, people seems to be more equally to each other and it is just like a new world with less complicated.

Furthermore in the Play time movie, this movie show the living of the same standard which everything in this world seem to have no different starting from the people’s out fit , the working space and lastly the living space. This leads to no envy and no jealousy to each other, because there is no need to be. Before I watched this movie, I used to think that the world with the no different would be so peaceful because it means that there are not going to be any thief because there have no reason to steal things when they are also have it. But my thought is kind of changed after seeing this movie. This world without different is totally boring. This world need to have some thing identical and iconic to give life more colorful, but to be different and standout need not only the creativity but it also require a willingness and the courage to get this such a thing done.

This movie of Tati will never ever come true because it is source of against the human nature. We as a human never stop developing thing, not only for the architecture but also every kind of study.

Mies van der Rohe and Ornamentation

 Mies van der Rohe is a master of the modern architecture. He likes simple, plain and makes everything minimal just like what he says “Less is more”.  Most of his building is as simple as a glass box and this is what makes him became famous. In his architectural work, he always uses an honest material, which means that you can see every single detail in his architecture.  He normally put in every piece of construction material together without any painted or covered on. The purpose of doing this is because he wants his building to be as a book, which people can come and learned from it. Mies’s building looked so stunning by itself, so there is no need for any ornament involved. The more decoration will take people’s attention away, which lead to the failure of the architecture. Beside this people will only care about the ornament and forget about the function of the building.

However, Mies seems not interested in any house decoration. But, in fact, he also uses it unclearly. The decoration is carefully camouflaged along with the building, so that the building still looks modern. In this case, I feel like Mies just had broken his own rule because the main thing about being a modernist is to make everything functional and turn back against every kind of the ornament. But maybe this is an exception for those rules, which the main purpose of the rule anti-decoration is that it will take the attention away. For Mies, his decoration is become one part of the architecture and it’s enhance the aesthetic of the building itself.

In the conclusion, the ornament is acceptable as long as it not takes attention away from the building. Otherwise the design of the building will not significant any more.

Ornament and Crime Response

From the ornament and crime by Adolf Loos, It is obvious that the author claimed for modern architecture. He said the ornament is a crime because it is obsolete and an old fashion which it is going to restrain the development of the new design.

From the story I agree that ornament is sometimes unnecessary and sometimes can distort the purpose of the architecture itself. On the other hand, these ornaments can give us a feeling of home. For me, the modern architecture itself cannot perfectly complete the ‘home’ feeling because it is too plane and too simple. And it will take just only awhile then the owner will get bored and start to find the ornament to add in.

However, it is something personally, no one can really judge what is necessary or unnecessary. It is the same like when the author said the front row culture develop man can eat a bland food all the time, which is completely not true. Some of that people might not eat it or prefer something better. Because we are human and it is a fact that we never satisfy with what we have, we want more and more. The more ornament in the house can show the owner’s wealth, this maybe another reason of the need of the decorations. Nevertheless, too much decoration will became a mess in the house and worse than that, it will consume the living space in the house.

In conclusion, I think the best way is to have balance between the ornaments and the architectural space to avoid too much decorations and too much plain. 

Response1 : From Bauhaus to Our house

The book "From Bauhaus to our house" by Tom Wolfe is quite hard for me to read and understand. The story in the book was going on and on rapidly which makes me confused in some part. But when I have done reading this entire book I feel like I have known so many things that goes on in the history of architecture from the narrator's perceptions.  

For me it is quite surprise to know that the modernism that is popular in nowadays was derived from just a small group of people whom have very strong concepts. The concept "non-bourgeois" and "starting from zero" of Gropius go against the German civilian. I personally praise this group of men that they can win over the boring house style, which is popular back then. So they success with modern style by making it bourgeois. After the success in Germany comes the WWI, so these Bauhaus artist and architect move to America and got to be professors in the universities such as Yale and Harvard. The modernism now spread trough out America too. They are really White Gods; it is so incredible how they did this kind of revolution to two big powerful countries such as Germany and America, only god can do such a thing. 

I am so glad to know how the modernism was originated from; it makes me feel more deeply about this style of building. Before I read this book, modernism was just a box or something simple. But now, it is something that was already revolution our world, imagine how important is that. Modernism is a new and chic house style by the purity of the materials and without any detail or decoration. For me modernism is not comfortable enough to live in but its because its clean and weird appearance attract people to look at and interested in them.