Futurist architecture

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Perspective drawing from La Citta Nuova by Sant'Elia, 1914. Stazione Sant'Elia.jpg
Perspective drawing from La Città Nuova by Sant'Elia, 1914.

Futurist architecture is an early-20th century form of architecture born in ((Dana)), characterized by long dynamic lines, suggesting speed, motion, urgency and lyricism: it was a part of Futurism, an artistic movement founded by the poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who produced its first manifesto, the Manifesto of Futurism , in 1909. The movement attracted not only poets, musicians, and artists (such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero, and Enrico Prampolini) but also a number of architects. A cult of the Machine Age and even a glorification of war and violence were among the themes of the Futurists - several prominent futurists were killed after volunteering to fight in World War I. The latter group included the architect Antonio Sant'Elia, who, though building little, translated the futurist vision into an urban form. [1]

Contents

History of Italian Futurism

Lingotto factory in Turin. With its test track on the roof, it was recognized in 1934 as the first futurist invention in architecture Fiat Lingotto veduta-1928.jpg
Lingotto factory in Turin. With its test track on the roof, it was recognized in 1934 as the first futurist invention in architecture

In 1912, three years after Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto, Antonio Sant'Elia and Mario Chiattone take part to the Nuove Tendenze [3] exhibition in Milano. In 1914 the group presented their first exposition with a "Message" by Sant'Elia, that later, with the contribution of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, became the Manifesto dell’Architettura Futurista ("Manifesto of Futurist Architecture"). [2] Boccioni unofficially worked on a similar manifesto, but Marinetti preferred Sant'Elia's paper.

Later in 1920, another manifesto was written by Virgilio Marchi, Manifesto dell’Architettura Futurista–Dinamica (Manifesto of Dynamic Instinctive Dramatic Futurist Architecture). [2] Ottorino Aloisio worked in the style established by Marchi, one example being his Casa del Fascio in Asti.

Another futurist manifesto related to architecture is the Manifesto dell'Arte Sacra Futurista ("Manifesto of Sacred Futurist Art") by Fillia (Luigi Colombo) [2] and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, published in 1931. On 27 January 1934 it was the turn of the Manifesto of Aerial Architecture by Marinetti, Angiolo Mazzoni and Mino Somenzi. [2] Mazzoni had publicly adhered to futurism only the year before. In this paper the Lingotto factory by Giacomo Matté-Trucco is defined as the first Futurist constructive invention. [2] Mazzoni himself in those years worked on a building considered today a masterpiece [4] of futurist architecture, like the Heating plant and Main controls cabin at Santa Maria Novella railway station, in Florence.

Italian Futuristic artists and architects

Art Deco

The Art Deco style of architecture with its streamlined forms was regarded as futuristic when it was in style in the 1920s and 1930s. The original name for both early and late Art Deco was Art Moderne – the name "Art Deco" did not come into use until 1968 when the term was invented in a book by Bevis Hillier. The Chrysler Building is a notable example of Art Deco futurist architecture.

Futurism after World War II

Googie architecture

After World War II, Futurism was considerably weakened and redefined itself thanks to the enthusiasm towards the Space Age, the Atomic Age, the car culture, and the wide use of plastic. For example, this trend is found in the architecture of Googies in the 1950s in California. Futurism in this case is not a style, but a rather free and uninhibited architectural approach, which is why it was reinterpreted and transformed by generations of architects the following decades, but in general it includes amazing shapes with dynamic lines and sharp contrasts, and the use of technologically advanced materials.

Neo-Futurism

Pioneered from late 1960s and early 1970s by Finnish architects Eero Saarinen; [5] [6] and Alvar Aalto, [7] American architect Adrian Wilson [8] and Charles Luckman; [9] [10] Danish architects Henning Larsen [11] and Jørn Utzon; [12] the architectural movement was later named Neo-Futurism by French architect Denis Laming. He designed all of the buildings in Futuroscope, whose Kinemax is the flagship building. [13] In the early 21st century, Neo-Futurism has been relaunched by innovation designer Vito Di Bari with his vision of "cross-pollination of art and cutting edge technology for a better world" applied to the project of the city of Milan at the time of the Universal Expo 2015. [14] [ citation needed ][ promotion? ]In popular literature, the term futuristic is often used without much precision to describe an architecture that would have the appearance of the space age as described in works of science fiction or as drawn in science fiction comic strips or comic books. Today it is sometimes confused with blob architecture or high-tech architecture. The routine use of the term futurism – although influenced by Antonio Sant'Elia's vision of Futurist architecture – must be well differentiated from the values and political implications of the Futurist movement of the years 1910–1920. The futurist architecture created since 1960 may be termed Neo-Futurism, and is also referred as Post Modern Futurism or Neo-Futuristic architecture.

Civil Justice Centre, Manchester (2008) by Denton Corker Marshall, notable for its cantilevers and straight lines. Manchester Civil Justice Centre from Bridge Street.jpg
Civil Justice Centre, Manchester (2008) by Denton Corker Marshall, notable for its cantilevers and straight lines.
The San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California, a notable example of post-modern futurism, was designed by the architect Anthony J. Lumsden (1989). It is topped with a jukebox-shaped glass tower. San Francisco Marriott Marquis.jpg
The San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California, a notable example of post-modern futurism, was designed by the architect Anthony J. Lumsden (1989). It is topped with a jukebox-shaped glass tower.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippo Tommaso Marinetti</span> Italian poet (1876–1944)

Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye de Créteil between 1907 and 1908. Marinetti is best known as the author of the first Futurist Manifesto, which was written and published in 1909, and as a co-author of the Fascist Manifesto, in 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Futurism</span> Artistic and social movement

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. Its key figures included the Italians Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Fortunato Depero, Gino Severini, Giacomo Balla, and Luigi Russolo. Italian Futurism glorified modernity and according to its doctrine, aimed to liberate Italy from the weight of its past. Important Futurist works included Marinetti's 1909 Manifesto of Futurism, Boccioni's 1913 sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Balla's 1913–1914 painting Abstract Speed + Sound, and Russolo's The Art of Noises (1913).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umberto Boccioni</span> Italian painter and sculptor (1882–1916)

Umberto Boccioni was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach to the dynamism of form and the deconstruction of solid mass guided artists long after his death. His works are held by many public art museums, and in 1988 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City organized a major retrospective of 100 pieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacomo Balla</span> Italian artist (1871-1958)

Giacomo Balla was an Italian painter, art teacher and poet best known as a key proponent of Futurism. In his paintings, he depicted light, movement and speed. He was concerned with expressing movement in his works, but unlike other leading futurists he was not interested in machines or violence with his works tending towards the witty and whimsical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian futurism in cinema</span> Italian film movement

Italian futurist cinema was the oldest movement of European avant-garde cinema. Italian futurism, an artistic and social movement, impacted the Italian film industry from 1916 to 1919. It influenced Russian Futurist cinema and German Expressionist cinema. Its cultural importance was considerable and influenced all subsequent avant-gardes, as well as some authors of narrative cinema; its echo expands to the dreamlike visions of some films by Alfred Hitchcock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Sant'Elia</span> Italian architect

Antonio Sant'Elia was an Italian architect and a key member of the Futurist movement in architecture. He left behind almost no completed works of architecture and is primarily remembered for his bold sketches and influence on modern architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angiolo Mazzoni</span>

Angiolo Mazzoni was a state architect and engineer of the Italian Fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neo-futurism</span> Architectural and art movement and style

Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in the arts, design, and architecture.

Futurist meals comprised a cuisine and style of dining advocated by some members of the Futurist movement, particularly in Italy. These meals were first proposed in Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Luigi Colombo Fillia's Manifesto of Futurist Cooking, published in Turin's Gazzetta del Popolo on December 28, 1930. In 1932, Marinetti and Fillìa expanded upon these concepts with The Futurist Cookbook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Sommaruga</span> Italian architect

Giuseppe Sommaruga (1867–1917) was an Italian architect of the Liberty style or Art nouveau movement. He was the pupil of Camillo Boito and Luca Beltrami to the Brera Academy in Milan. His monumental architecture exerted some influence on the futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fillìa</span>

Fillìa was the name adopted by Luigi Colombo, an Italian artist associated with the second generation of Futurism. Aside from painting, his works included interior design, architecture, furniture and decorative objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Lista</span> Italian art historian and art critic (born 1943)

Giovanni Lista is an Italian art historian and art critic born in Italy on February 13, 1943, at Castiglione del Lago (Perugia) and resides in Paris. He is a specialist in the artistic cultural scene of the 1920s, particularly in Futurism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian modern and contemporary art</span> Art in Italy from the early 20th century onwards

Italian Contemporary art refers to painting and sculpture in Italy from the early 20th century onwards.

The Heating plant and main controls cabin is a technical facilities building in Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station designed by architect Angiolo Mazzoni in 1929. The complex is recognized as one of the masterpieces of Futurist architecture.

<i>Development of a Bottle in Space</i>

Development of a Bottle in Space is a bronze futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. Initially a sketch in Boccioni’s "Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture"," the design was later cast into bronze by Boccioni himself in the year 1913. Consistent with many of themes in Boccioni’s manifesto, the work of art highlights the artist’s first successful attempt at creating a sculpture that both molds and encloses space within itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedetta Cappa</span> Italian painter

Benedetta Cappa was an Italian futurist artist who has had retrospectives at the Walker Art Center and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Her work fits within the second phase of Italian Futurism.

The Futurist Political Party was an Italian political party founded in 1918 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti as an extension of the futurist artistic and social movement. The party had a radical program which included promoting gender parity and abolishing marriage, inheritance, military service and secret police. The party was absorbed into the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919.

<i>Three Women</i> (Boccioni) Painting by Umberto Boccioni

Three Women is a painting by Italian artist Umberto Boccioni, executed between 1909 and 1910. This painting is oil on canvas painted in the style of divisionism. Divisionism refers to the actual division of colors by creating separated brush strokes as opposed to smooth, solid lines. The painting contains three figures, one being Boccioni's mother Cecilia on the left, another being his sister, Amelia on the right, and the third being Ines, his lover, in the center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Růžena Zátková</span>

Růžena Zátková, also called Rougina Zatkova, was a painter and sculptor who has been regarded as the "only authentic Czech futurist." As a result of her Bohemian heritage and her decade-long residency in Rome, Růžena Zátková became an important artistic link between Russian and Italian Futurism. Zátková is considered one of the pioneers of kinetic art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achille Manfredini</span> Italian architect

Achille Manfredini was an Italian architect and engineer, active in the Liberty style or Art Nouveau movement.

References

  1. Günter Berghaus (2000). International Futurism in Arts and Literature. Walter de Gruyter. p. 364. ISBN   3-11-015681-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Futurist architecture and Angiolo Mazzoni’s manifesto of aerial architecture", published in VV.AA. Angiolo Mazzoni e l'Architettura Futurista, p.7–22
  3. Literally "New Trends".
  4. In 1978, architect Léon Krier described the heating plant as the greatest masterpiece of Futurist-Constructivist-Modernist architecture. Published in London 1978 – An architecture thesis on Angiolo Mazzoni by Flavio Mangione and Barbara Weiss; Angiolo Mazzoni e l'Architettura Futurista p.45
  5. "Eero Saarinen – Tag – ArchDaily". Archdaily.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  6. "Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal To Become A Luxury Hotel". Fastcodesign.com. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  7. "Design Spotlight: Alvar Aalto- Travel Squire". Travelsquire.com. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  8. "Adrian Wilson Bio, latest news and articles – Architectural Digest". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  9. Pearman, Hugh (1 November 2004). Airports: A Century of Architecture. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN   0-8109-5012-X.
  10. "December 2012 Members Newsletter" (PDF). Preservationdallas.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  11. Cake, Opera (19 October 2010). "Neo-Futurism at Danish Royal Opera". Opera-cake.blogspot.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  12. "Sydney Opera House, Sydney". Skyscraperpage.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  13. "Denis Laming – Architect". Laming.fr. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2014-01-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Sources