The advances in design and architecture between the years of 1891 and 1901 were of such fundamental importance that they should have provided serious critics and historians of art with enough material to enlighten the curiosity of those it has intrigued or nonplussed into formulating what are often either extravagant or entirely fallacious conclusions. On one point, notwithstanding, there is general agreement. No writers on the subject deny that the first symptoms of revolt appeared in Belgium, or that it spread from Brussels to Paris, then to Germany and Holland.
If Sullivan, Gaudi, Mackintosh and Van deVelde could be called the post impressionists of architecture, Wright took architecture to its cubist phase. Janson
Few however, have attempted to unravel the moral scruples which drove these Belgian precursors into proclaiming their rebellion by the creation of forms deliberately divorced from allegiance to the past. Yet in the very disparate motives which severely animated them lies the explanation of why this movement subsequently began to evolve in two radically different directions—a divergence that did not become immediately apparent.
Although at the base there was little similarity in the goals of Serrurier-Bovy, Van de Velde, Hankar and Horta, their work was lumped together, judged and described by the one quality obviously common to the whole of it: its newness. This is how the term Art Nouveau originated. Known as the New Style, Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics and graphic design. The style spread to architecture and furniture in the 1890s. Art Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches and decorative surfaces with curved, plant-like designs.
Modernism
Modernism in twentieth century architecture has meant first and foremost an aversion to decoration for its own sake, without a trace of historicism. Instead it favours a clean functionalism, which expresses the machine age with its insistent rationalism. Yet modern architecture demanded far more than a reform of architectural grammar and vocabulary. To take advantage of the expressive qualities of the new building techniques and materials that the engineer had placed at the architect’s disposal, a new philosophy was needed.
The ambition that prompted Serrurier-Bovy, Van de Velde, Hankar and Horta to affranchise themselves from tradition by launching out into new forms was in reality the desire to enjoy all the excitement and prestige of inaugurating a renascence.
Modernism was not just another style -- It presented a new way of thinking. These resources define the most important ideas that influenced architectural design in the twentieth century. They explore Art Moderne and the Bauhaus school coined by Walter Gropius, and move through Deconstructivism, Formalism, Modernism, Structuralism and Postmodernism. The leaders of modern architecture have characteristically been vigorous and articulate thinkers in whose minds architectural theory is closely linked with ideas of social reform to meet the challenges posed by industrial civilisation. To them, architecture’s ability to shape human experience brings with it the responsibility to play an active role in moulding modern society for the better.