Sometimes in order
to explore new possibilities one must first examine the steps that brought them
to your current position before they can look forward. After fixing your eyes
forward you can then explore more thoroughly what the future will look like.
The World’s fair of 1893 was held in Chicago,
IL to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus
discovering North America. Structures were built using classical architecture.
“The White City” was constructed in the middle of a city that was changing,
growing and exploring building with new materials. It would be the last time a
World’s Fair looked to the past for a foundation on which to build. This fair
celebrated not only an anniversary but also many cultures coming together. In
the city that surrounded the fair were buildings that reached to the sky rather
than the past. Architects were searching for a new way to build and in using
new steel and curtain wall construction they were able to do just that.
With
city life becoming more congested and fast pace some individuals were lead to
explore life outside of its boundaries. American families, many of them young
families, were looking for a lifestyle that wasn’t accessible in the city.
Known for being simple and efficient, the Bungalow became the style of home
preferred by many. The bungalow steered away from the more formal Victorian and
offered an interior that was relaxed and catered to a family. Mail order
catalogs help to further the popularity of the bungalow, allowing buyers to
easily select what home to order.
As we move
forward design starts to explore more deeply what the future looks like.
Especially after the First World War, buildings are sleek and streamlined as if
they are projecting away from the war itself. Again, the Worlds fair are where
most will see these structures for the first time. The New York World’s fair of
1939 was looking forward to tomorrow. Even in a time of depression for the U.S.
attendance of the fair was quite high, helping to perpetuate the products and
designs being presented. Automobile companies were the most significant of sponsors;
thus becoming a central focus of the structures being designed. They focused heavily
on movement with the use of circular shapes and their repetition. In other
parts of the world houses become less residential and more machine like. The
structures were lifted off the land and the interior was designed human
movement all throughout. Le Corbusier also considered the automobile and it’s
movement when designed the exterior the Villa Savoye.
The
popularity of the television creates a shift, in both the home and in
advertising. Televisions become the center of the home; rooms and furniture are
arranged around it. Family meals are had in front of the television, while
families digest what it is the “All American Family” should look like.
Advertising quickly moves to capitalize on all the families huddled around
their TV sets. As a result consumerism is booming.
International
style begins to explore the notion of a design that can be the same and be
recognizable everywhere. What emerges is a design that doesn’t consider climate
as a factor and often doesn’t consider the human in general. This lack of human
interest makes way for interior design.
The structure is designed with the intent of being viewed as a work of
art. Many architects are exploring thisidea and consider the user of the space
less relevant than the design itself.
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