IDENTIFYING FEATURES: Modern structural principles and materials; Concrete, glass, steel the most common; occasionally reveals skeleton-frame construction, exposing its structure; rejected non-essential decoration; ribbon windows, corner windows a hallmark of the style; bands of glass as important as bands of "curtain wall"; balance and regularity admired and fostered; flat roof, without ledge. Often with thin, metal mullions and smooth spandrel panels separating large, single-pane windows.

BACKGROUND AND INSPIRATION: Even more radical than art deco/art moderne, promoted by "more intellectual practitioners who scorned art deco". Typical Applications were the same, however: rare for houses, common for commercial and institutional buildings through the 1930s. Except for houses, completely dominated American architecture from the 1950s through the late 1970s. This (anti-) style epitomized the height of the modern movement in the United States and Europe. By the late 1920s, American architects and clients were increasingly persuaded that European modernism was both visually progressive and structurally sound. After WWII, U.S. interests were characterized by a confident, enthusiastic desire to "get on with the business of progress". The ideas of the earlier International style were still potent, and thus the style flourished during the first major building boom, 1948-49. Pragmatic utilitarianism became the driving force throughout U.S., even more so in Europe. Commercial architecture became increasingly important form of public relations: the building provides an image for a company. So-called "anonymous glass boxes" (glass-covered office towers) appeared throughout small and large cities between the late 1950s and 1970s. The World Trade Center towers in New York City represented the height of the International-style office tower of the 1970s, literally, as does the Sears Tower in Chicago (photos 33-35 above).

PHOTO LOCATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS (based on info available)

1. University of Illinois campus, Urbana, IL.
2. Penn State University campus, State College, PA.
3. Penn State University campus, State College, PA. Addition on the left is international style, connected to an earlier neoclassical period building on the right.
4. Globe, AZ.
5. Flagstaff, AZ. 1956 addition to county courthouse.
6. greater Los Angeles, CA. The standard "glass box" office building design.
7. Penn State University campus, State College, PA. Walker Building, home of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and the Department of Geography!
8. Harrisburg, PA. Front Street. International-style office building on the left, adjacent to a colonial revival home of the 1920s.
9. Durango, CO. Bank building
10. Flagstaff, AZ. Another bank building
11. Branford, CT. A rare example of an international-style house.
12. Los Angeles, CA. Photo taken of two "tube" buildings, or modern "glass box" office towers, of the same genre as the late World Trade Center towers.
13. Fresno, CA. County Courthouse.
14. Riverside, CA. Downtown area.
15. Riverside, CA. Addition (annex) to Riverside County Courthouse. (Actually, this might be the jail -- I will have to confirm.)
16. Springfield, IL. Small International-style office building adjacent to a 19th century Italianate building.
17. Yuma, AZ.
18. El Centro, CA.
19. Venice, CA. This international-style building includes an arched portico over the sidewalk, in faint reference to the theme of Venice, Italy, a theme displayed much more elaborately at nearby Venice Beach.
20. Venice, CA. A pair of early international-style homes along the Venice canals.
21. Venice, CA. A stark-looking (and probably renovated) international-style house along the Venice canals.
22. Venice, CA.
23. Beverly Hills, CA.
24. Hollywood, CA. This international "glass box" office building is being used as a sign for an upcoming movie.
25. Grand Canyon, South Rim, AZ. Thunderbird Lodge, south side.
26. Grand Canyon, South Rim, AZ. Thunderbird Lodge, north side, facing Canyon.
27. Kamloops, BC. Downtown.
28. Savannah, GA. Note the contrast between the modern building (left) and the 19th century Italianate house (right).
29. Savannah, GA.
30. Chicago, IL. Equitable Building, c.1965. Beige aluminum sheating and light bronze-tinted glass.
31. Chicago, IL. IBM Building, c.1971. Architects Mies van der Rohe and C.F.Murphy, Associates. Last of the tall office towers designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Building is 52 stories and sports a curtain wall of dark aluminum and bronze-tinted glass, similar to the Sears Tower. The construction site in front of it belongs to Donald Trump, a project led by one of his new "Apprentices".
32. Chicago, IL. Amoco Building, c.1974. Slender steel structure faced with light-gray granite. Corporate headquarters of Amoco Oil Co.
33-35. Chicago, IL. Sears Tower, c.1974. World's tallest building until recently, at 110 stories, sheathed in black aluminum curtain wall with bronze-tinted glass. The structure is known as a "tube building" due to its nine framed tubes, each 75-feet square. The nine tubes of different heights are bundled together forming a mega-tube to withstand wind loads.
36. Durango, CO. A cross between International style (huge ribbon/corner windows on left) and craftsman bungalow (typical craftsman gables).
37-40. Venice Beach, CA. Variations of the residential International style.
41. Hollywood, CA. Typical facade pattern for commercial or institutional buildings.
42. Boston, MA.
43-44. Boston, MA. Government Center. Boston City Hall, c. 1963-1968. Kallman, McKinnell & Knowles, architects. Good example of a form of modernist architecture known as Brutalism, or Brutalist architecture, most popular during the 1950s-1970s, inspired initially by the modernist, Swiss architect, Le Corbusier. Blocky and angular concrete blocks are typically a signature feature of Brutalist structures.
45. Boston, MA. Across from Government Center.
46. Boston, MA.
47. Boston, MA. John Hancock Tower, c.1976. Still the tallest building in Boston. I.M. Pei, architect. Sparked a controversy due to its location at Copley Square, directly across the street from the historic Richardsonian materpiece, Trinity Church (see Romanesque Revival page). Its glass curtain wall was designed to reflect the buildings nearby like in a mirror. Its innovative mirror-like window panes caused more controversy and potential physical harm when entire 500-pound panes of glass came loose during heavy winds and crashed on the streets below. Building occupants further complained of nausea as the structure swayed in the wind. Various innovations in engineering since its early days have apparently solved both problems.
48-49. San Antonio, TX.