The 20th century began with Beaux Arts architecture in full glory, with New York showcasing the Metropolitan Museum, Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library. But by the `30s, the Beaux Arts was under attack by the modern architecture exemplified by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. And after WWII, modern architecture held the field as glass skyscrapers sprang up in cities across the country and then around the world. By the 1960s, dissatisfaction set in and a spate of books declared ‘the failure of modern architecture.’ What happened, what was the role of such postmodernists as Robert Venturi, and how did Louis Kahn bring “order” to modern architecture? And finally, where does all this leave us today?
This lecture is part John Lobell’s series, Art and Architecture.