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International (1950-1965)

History

The International style was a reaction against historicist styles of the 19th and 20th centuries. It stressed a new machine age aesthetic in which the optimum use of modern materials and technology was sought and the form of the building was to clearly follow its function. Buildings were to be rational and scientific in the organization of the plan, the arrangement of the façade and the massing of the building parts. Its name came from a 1932 New York exhibition entitled “The International Style: Architecture Since 1922“. Its early champions were European architects such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. The Great Depression, World War II and a tradition of history and convention delayed its widespread adoption in Canada until the late 1940s and 1950s.

International

Click on the characteristic buttons below or on the building to explore the characteristics.

Flat roof above a 2-storey rectangular structure with balcony cut out of one corner
Flat roof Steel Frame Curtain Wall Balcony Cantilever

Flat roof

Flat roof

flat roof

The slope of a roof aids in emphasizing the proportions of the mass. A flat roof  is almost level in contrast to sloped roofs and tends to emphasize horizontal aspects.

Styles with this characteristic

Buildings with this characteristic

Steel Frame

Steel Frame

construction is normally of steel frame or reinforced concrete

Curtain Wall

Curtain wall

Ribbon Window / Curtain Wall / Spandrel

a non-loadbearing, prefabricated exterior cladding system usually consisting of steel or masonry spandrel panels and glazing (window) panels attached to a structural frame of steel or concrete

Styles with this characteristic

Buildings with this characteristic

Balcony

Balcony

Balcon / Porche

a structural platform extending from the wall of a building and enclosed with a balustrade; supported from below or cantilevered from a supporting wall

Styles with this characteristic

Buildings with this characteristic

Cantilever

Cantilever

Cantilever / Beam / Pier / Post

the unsupported end of a beam that overhangs a wall, column post or pier

Characteristics

  • the absence of ornament and attention to the creation of volume (usually rectangular) are important hallmarks of the style
  • roofs are flat
  • construction is normally of steel frame or reinforced concrete
  • curtain walls of glass or prefabricated parts hang from this frame
  • balconies and upper floors are sometimes cantilevered
  • the wall surfaces can range from smooth and uniform to a precise regular three-dimensional arrangement of parts
  • openings are often flush with the exterior wall, articulated only by a change in sheathing materials
  • the approach led by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, called Miesian, emphasized the rectangular form, a clear articulation of the grid frame, and a precise regularity of a modular pattern established by the grid
  • if asymmetrical, the design is still a balanced composition and is frequently placed dramatically within a landscape