“Less is more” and “Less is bore” are the two extremities of design thinking. Both brought about a wave of change in what was considered aesthetically pleasing in society and what one could consider the future of the built environment as we know it.
Minimalism- “Less is more”
“Less is more,” coined by Meis Van Der Rohe, led to the forefront of the modernist movement in the 1920s. It drove me to the point that an object’s aesthetics must be free of any embellishments and purely focused on the function it serves. Evolving from the De Stijl and Bauhaus movements, it emphasized the use of simple design elements devoid of ornamentation and decoration. It was theorized that in doing so, one reduces design to its essentials, revealing the true essence of the space. Features of this often depicted pure geometric forms, plain materials, repetition, and clean lines.
Maximalism- “Less is bore”
On the other end of the spectrum, “Less is bore,” coined by Robert Venturi, emphasised the importance of ornamentation and its vitality in providing character to objects and spaces. It became the central theme of the post-modernism movement in the 1970s. It focused on an eclectic and colourful style of architecture. The clean and stiff design language of Modernist architecture was replaced with hybrid details inspired by classical architecture. Post modernism set out to stand in contradiction to everything that symbolised the modernist approach. Buildings took unusual forms; design had humour, design became more inclusive, and clean monolithic forms were replaced with fragmented and modular details.
The drastic change from a minimalist to a maximalist approach begins with the modernist era. The late 19th century marked the beginning of modernism; it stemmed from a rejection of tradition and emphasised notions such as form following function. The advent of reinforced concrete, steel frames and curtain walls was a characteristic marker of this period. Some prominent architects who spearheaded this movement were Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Meis Van Der Rohe and Phillip Johnson.
Everything in between
Modernism lasted until the 1970s in an architectural timeline, but it took different forms throughout history. Such as Constructivism(1920)- where architecture was combined with engineering, technology, and political ideologies; Functionalism(1930)- where buildings were constructed for purely practical purposes without an eye for craftsmanship. Minimalism ( 1940s)- which included open floor plans and emphasised frames and outlines by using shadows and light to do so. A good example of this is Luis Baragan’s works, International Style ( 1950s)- which included skyscrapers that were geometric and monolithic; mid-century Modern (1950s)- the modernist philosophy was applied to site-specific context, specifically desserts, some notable contributions to this style come from Richard Neutra and Donald Wexler. Structuralism (1960s)- based on the rule that everything is built from a system of contradictory signs to establish a relationship in between. Metabolism ( 1960s)- characterized by modular, replaceable units made with prefabricated elements that have the potential to change and evolve.
Brutalist (1970s) – involved exposing materials to the environment without additional finishes.
In all these forms of modernism, the one common thread was that buildings were strictly driven by their function, and as a result, all architecture began resembling boxes without character. A hospital, a residence and a museum could all be indistinguishable from one another as nothing in their function calls for an introspection of form. Exposed concrete walls with rigid angular geometries resembled an environment devoid of life. This extremity of minimalism led to the rise of the postmodernist movement. Bringing the ornament back and reinterpreting it, adding humour and colour to form with a goal to startle and surprise users, leading to an explosion of details, patterns, textures and colours. Architects who pioneered this maximalism movement include Robert Venturi, Denise ScottBrownn, Michael Graves, Robert A.M Stern and Philip Johnson.
The journey from minimalism to maximalism is a society’s reaction to the saturation of one particular style. It provides a precedent for asking questions that challenge the status quo. Since most things in history are cyclic when maximalism reaches its zeitgeist, its contradictory style will pave its way to claim prominence once again, but with a slightly altered identity that is relevant to its time.
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