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Why did modern architects reject many historical styles and applied ornament?
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Architecture
The Great Court, designed by Foster and Partners, 2000; in the British Museum, London.
Modern architects rejected historical styles and applied ornament primarily due to the rise of Functionalism, a doctrine asserting that a building's form should be determined by its use, materials, and structure rather than by preconceived aesthetic notions.1
This shift was driven by several key factors:
- Reaction Against Eclecticism: By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, architects grew dissatisfied with the "stylistic pluralism" and historical revivalism that dominated the Victorian era, where ornament and structure were often designed independently of one another.23
- Technological and Social Change: Modernists believed that the 20th century required a radically new architecture to reflect a technological, industrial society. Pioneers like Louis Sullivan championed the idea that "form follows function," while Le Corbusier famously described the house as a "machine for living".21
- Ethical and Aesthetic Purism: Architects like Adolf Loos argued in his polemic Ornament and Crime that unnecessary, superficial decoration was a symptom of a dying society, advocating instead for utilitarian objects and honest expression of materials.45
- The International Style: Following World War I, leading designers rejected even disciplined, naturalistic ornament, relying instead on the inherent qualities of materialsāsuch as concrete, steel, and glassāto create aesthetic effects.63