Form Follows Function

            

               Modernism, as a movement, spanned the 19^th and 20^th centuries, and characterized by simplification of form and ornament. Nowadays, even though designers work in post-modernism (more varied in design) many follow the spirit of Modernism. The beauty of unadorned geometric forms, abstract shapes and the bold colors of modernist art are still influential. My focus will be on modernist buildings, discussing architecture in Taiwan. The article "The Rise and Fall of Modernist Architecture" states that the phrase 'form follows function' is often used as the principle of Modernism; "[modernists] believe that ornament should follow the structure and purpose of the building" (pg. 1).   

               Even although Modernism gained popularity after World War II, it had already been adopted by influential architects worldwide. One was Sir Joseph Paxton, who built the Crystal Palace to house the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. In 1926, Walter Gropius’s Bauhaus building represented the domination of Modernism in institutional and corporate buildings. The form of these buildings was based upon their intended purpose.

St. Joseph Paxton, 1803 - 1865

The Crystal Palace, 1851

The Bauhaus

           

        Modern architecture in Taiwan includes distinctive examples of Modernism. One is Taipei Station, rebuilt four times since 1891, largely due to war. Its third generation was built from 1939 to 1941, using Modernism's style, creating more useful areas for the growing population.

Taipei Station in 1948 (third generation)

Current Exterior View of Taipei Station

                  Another famous modernist building is the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. Its rectangle shape was designed to offer ample space for audiences of various sizes.

The Exterior of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts

                  The Luce Memorial Chapel in Taichung was designed by Chen Chi-Kwan, in collaboration with I. M. Pei, often called the master of modern architecture. Because Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, small earthquakes strike year round. The chapel was executed in reinforced concrete, with curved surfaces providing earthquake stability; again, creating the form needed for the function of the structure.

Luce Memorial Chapel

Luce Memorial Chapel at night

               

                  Although many contemporary architects are post-modernist, the modernist principle is very evident in today's architecture; form is driven by purpose.

Work Cited

- Rowe, Hayley A. The Rise and Fall of Modernist Architecture: 1 pg. Online. 2011. http://www.corcoran.org/modernism/index.htm

Bauhaus Women

                       

                    While most people discuss and glorify male Bauhaus contributors, there was a group of women who also made important contributions to the Staatliches Bauhaus school from its establishment from 1919 to the end of its existence in 1933. Their work was a strong influence on Modernism.

                    In this paper, I will research weaving, pottery, and bookbinding, to which women Bauhaus artists were generally restricted, and their influence on modern designers, especially females.

I will argue that despite being under the “rule” of male Bauhaus artists such as Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer, the two Principals of the school, female teachers and students accommodated themselves to the gender disparities, and were able to introduce their point of view and perspective of the world into their works.

                    With the failure of the promise by the admission policy of the school that "'any person of good repute, without regard to age or sex, ... ..., will be admitted, as far as space permits'", there were a number of female students who were directed into Workshops that they did not want to be in (Women’s Work, Weltge, 41). However, even in this unfair situation, there was still "a range of important women – teachers, designers, artists – who taught or studied at the Bauhaus, or who, as Bauhaus masters’ wives, developed their own profiles and carried the ideas and works of the Bauhaus forth into the world" (Bauhaus Women, 7). Moreover, female students and leaders of the workshop "committed themselves to transforming the reputation of the discipline from that of a craft or hobby to an art form that could hold a respectable place within the hierarchy of the arts" (String Felt Thread, Auther, 17).

Bibliography

-   Auther, Elissa. String Felt Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art. MN: Minneapolis, 2009. Print.

In the beginning of Auther's book, she introduces "fiber art and the struggle for legitimacy", which describes the relationship between cultural definitions of textiles and the Bauhaus weavers. This helps explain more about the female Bauhaus weavers' situations at that particular time in history.

-   Butler, Cornelia, and Alexandra Schwartz, ed. Preface. Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art  by T'ai Smith. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. Print.

This written material contains many essays that relate to women artists at the Museum of Modern Art. It interprets T’ai Smith’s essay of "A Collective and Its Individuals: The Bauhaus and Its Women", which elaborates upon Bauhaus women and their works.

-   Dearstyne, Howard. Inside the Bauhaus. Ed. David Spaeth. New York: Rizzoli. 1986. Print. 

Dearstyne's Inside the Bauhaus talks about the school from the personal viewpoint of being a graduate. Specific accounts of coursework studied by the women of the Bauhaus will add necessary detail to the research.

-   Muller, Ulrike. Bauhaus Women: Art, Handicraft, Design. Paris: S.A., 2009. Print.

In this work, Ulrike Muller gives the women artists of the Bauhaus movement, in all of their respective design fields, the acclaim they deserve, for the first time. It presents both their lives and their artistic endeavors.

-   Weltge, Sigrid Wortmann. Women's Work: Textile Art from the Bauhaus. California: San Francisco, 1993. Print.

This book unearths a missing chapter in the story of the most important institution in the history of modern design. The author will tell us how the female Bauhaus artists’ ideals and influence live on in marvelous fabrics which are still produced today.