Session 3 - Materials, components and long term behaviour: Introduction

The Symposium is intended to deal with buildings. It was interesting to me as an architect to notice that the words 'modern architecture1 were spoken in whatever is the verbal equivalent of inverted commas, rather as if one was speaking of an old and valued friend with a terminal illness. It might be useful if I try to place Modern Architecture in its context•

Whenever there is a new movement in aesthetics, there tends to be strong reaction against what has gone before. There has been comment at this symposium about the lack of traditional detailing in many of our recent buildings. There is no doubt that the aesthetic of the pioneers of the modern movement demanded smooth planes, surfaces that had as little modelling as possible. This was the reflection of a strong rejection of the decorative forms of the various revivals that preceded this new architecture. In fact, the functionalism of the engineering structures of the nineteenth century was a strong influence on the pioneer designers in this field.