Did you know?
Capitol Hill is the unofficial birthplace of Denver's preservation movement. Following the 1970s demolition of the Moffat Mansion (at 8th and Grant) Historic Denver, Inc. was created by concerned citizens in time to save another of our city's precious historic homes, that of the "unsinkable" Margaret Brown.
FORMALISM
Antecedents for Formalism in American architecture can be found in France and Italy in the 1930s and 1940s, which is why it is sometimes called New Formalism. The style first appeared in the United States in the 1950s. Through the 1970s, Formalism became a dominant trend in American architecture. In the 1980s, Post Modernism superseded Formalism, with the two styles sharing many characteristics, most notably their references to historicism and decoration.
Formalism was a subtle commentary on the International Style, to which it is closely related. Formalism put forward a critique of the functionalist ethos of the International Style. The most important proponents of Formalism in the United States were Philip Johnson, Edward Durell Stone, and Minoru Yamasaki. All three had begun their careers by designing International Style buildings and so it is appropriate to see Formalism, like Miesian, as being a variant of the International Style.
Formalism reintroduced to Modern architecture a classicism through regular and sometimes symmetrical massing, as opposed to the irregular and asymmetrical massing associated with the International Style. Formalist buildings also sometimes sported decorative flourishes in the form of sun-screens and planters. The style was most often used in the design of large buildings. Many government and high-rise buildings from the period are examples of Formalism. It sometimes appears in the design of houses.
The origin of the term is unknown.
Defining Characteristics:
• Vertically oriented
• Expression of corners
• Sun-screens and screen walls in concrete or metal
• Spandrels vertically link windows
• Recessed windows
• Simplified formal arrangement of building’s volumes
• Vertical piers
• Eaveless walls or coping at top of walls
• Flat roofs
Information and some images
from Historic Denver guide books, including
"A Guide to Denver's Architectural Styles and Terms."
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