'Moderne' Blocks Of Flats: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Berthold Lubetkin Highpoint.jpg | Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London]] The 'Moderne' style that arrived in the UK after the First World War brought innovation in blocks of flats as well as [['Moderne' Houses|houses]]. The government-sponsored drive to mass produce [['Homes For Heroes']], for returning soldiers, led to a desire to industrialise the process of housebuilding. Britain looked to Europe, and the new [[International Moderne]] Movement for inspiration. For the UK homeowner, [['Moderne' Houses|'Moderne' houses]] (and some amazing [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes|Poirot episodes]]) were the result. Like Moderne houses, the Moderne blocks of flats in the UK tend to fall into one of three kinds [[#'Moderne' Blocks|Moderne]], [[#Restrained Moderne|Restrained Moderne]] and [[#Hollywood Moderne|Hollywood Moderne]]. Most importantly, the UK developed some wonderful evocative[[#Streamline Moderne|Streamline Moderne]] blocks of flats but are all based on a style that started in the 1920s with 'International Moderne'. Architecture never stands still, and the end of the twenties and thirties brought a new purist approach to design that led to Modernism, (with out the 'e')and eventually the [[Brutalism]] of the 1960's and 1970s.
[[File:Berthold Lubetkin Highpoint.jpg |250px|right|Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London]] The 'Moderne' block of flats arrived in the UK in the 1920s as Britain looked to define a bright new 20th Century after the horrors of the First World War. In this desire, Britain looked to Europe, and the new [[International Moderne]] Movement for inspiration. Built by a new wave of young architects, often refugees from war torn Europe, the new blocks brought crisp clean lines, white stucco walls and minimal detailing. Like Moderne houses, the Moderne blocks of flats developed in a range of styles starting with the simple but powerful [[#'Moderne' Blocks|Moderne]]. Towards the end of the period, the UK developed some wonderfully evocative [[#Streamline Moderne|Streamline Moderne]] blocks of flats with curving lines and windows. Architecture never stands still, and the end of the twenties and thirties brought a new purist approach to design that led to Modernism, (with out the 'e')and eventually the [[Brutalism]] of the 1960's and 1970s.




=='Moderne' Blocks==
=='Moderne' Blocks Of Flats==
When 'Moderne' houses arrived in the UK they were as shocking as they were revolutionary. The stark lines, white stuccoed walls, [[Crittall Windows]] and flat roofs of the houses that were produced reflected the new international aesthetic, but to British sensibilities, they were divisive. Pullman Court, Highpoint1
[[File:LoveInModerneBlocks-HeathRobinson.jpg |250px|right|‘Romantic Possibilities In Modern Flats’ by William Heath Robinson]]
Like 'Moderne' houses , the first International Moderne blocks were as shocking as they were revolutionary when they arrived in the UK. Blocks like [[Berthold Lubetkin]]'s Highpoint 1 in Highgate, London were unlike anything seen in the UK before. The stark lines, white stuccoed walls, [[Crittall Windows]] and flat roofs were produced reflected the new international aesthetic, but to British sensibilities, they were divisive. Blocks like Frederick Gibberd's Pullman Court, in South London and Ravelston Gardens in Edinburgh are now viewed as national treasures and regularly appear in films and TV dramas depicting the period such as ITV's [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes | Poirot]]. At the time, they divided the nation.


However, as well as wonderful estates of modest family houses such as Park Avenue, Ruislip and [[Silver End]] in Braintree, the period also produced renowned modernist [[Detached Houses|detached houses]] for the rich and famous by architects such as Gropius, Lubetkin and Wells Coates. These were always more likely to be preserved. Now beautifully restored, houses like 'High & Over' in Bucks, and 'High Cross' in Devon regularly appear in films and TV dramas depicting the period such as ITV's [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes | Poirot]] and Agatha Christie.
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Ravelston Gardens.jpg| Ravelston Gardens, Edinburgh. Neal & Hurd 1935-36
 
File:PullmanCourt2.JPG| Pullman Court, South London, [[Frederick Gibberd]] 1933


<gallery>
File:Ravelston Gardens.jpg| Ravelston Gardens, Edinburgh. Neal & Hurd 1935-36
File:Berthold Lubetkin Highpoint.jpg | Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London
File:Pullman Court Facade.jpg | Pullman Court, South London


</gallery>
</gallery>


The 'Moderne' style is still influential, and you can see echoes of it in many houses being built today.  However, in the 1930s it didn't take long for the mood to change. At the 1935 Ideal Home Exhibition, the following year, there was only one house in the pure 'Moderne style'. A new restrained version was appearing.
The 'Moderne' style is still influential, and you can see echoes of it in many new blocks of flats being built today.  However, in the 1930s it didn't take long for the mood to change. As with houses, a more restrained version was appearing for those suburbs not ready for revolution.


==Restrained Moderne==
==Restrained Moderne==
It became clear that the public was held back by the kind of nostalgia the Daily Mail had described in its review of the Paris show.  British housebuilders responded and a new 'restrained' hybrid style emerged. It was a style assembled for people who were still seduced by the clean lines of the Moderne movement but who were slightly put off by the brutal nature of the flat-roofs.  
As with [['Moderne' Houses]] it became clear that the public was held back by the kind of nostalgia the Daily Mail had described in its review of the Paris show and a new 'restrained' hybrid style of flats emerged. These were necessarily a compromise, a style assembled for people who were still seduced by the clean lines of the Moderne movement but who were slightly put off by the brutal nature of the flat-roofs.  


The curved windows and horizontal lines remained but with hipped roofs, bricks and tiles.  Restrained Moderne was a uniquely British fudge with the lower lines and horizontal mullioned windows offset by a nice safe roof 'like your mother had'. Arguably, Restrained Moderne is more suited to the British climate, where sun-terraces in suburban streets were always going to be a laughable extravagance.  
The curved windows and horizontal lines remained but with hipped roofs, bricks and tiles.  These blocks drifted back towards the 'mansion blocks' of the late Victorian period.


By the end of the 1930s consumers had also begun to reject the aesthetic simplicity of the Moderne movement. They began to ask for decoration around doors and windows. Leaded lights with art deco 'sunburst' patterns appeared, doorways and gates got style, and a safe suburban style was created. Perfectly suited for mass production of the now popular [[Semi-Detached Houses|semi-detached houses]], the next decade saw almost 4 million of these beautifully recognisable family homes being built.
<gallery>
File:RestrainedModerne1.jpg|Semi-detached Restrained Moderne houses in Richmond, Surrey.
File:RestrainedModerne2.jpg|A detached Restrained Moderne house, showing clean lines, but tiled roof.
File:RestrainedmoderneEnfield.jpg| Restrained Moderne in Enfield
</gallery>
==Hollywood Moderne==
There is some debate about whether a separate style called Hollywood Moderne exists for houses in the UK. There was clearly a phenomenon of larger Restrained Moderne houses built in the late 1930s that adopted the styling of Hollywood Boulevard - sweeping driveways, green or blue pantiles on the roof, and balconies with ArtDeco flourishes. Hollywood Moderne was a style that lent itself to larger, detached houses with a nouveau-riche pretension to movie grandeur.  Favoured by TV celebrities they enriched the newly expensive suburbs and clustered around golf courses.
Hollywood Moderne should be treated as distinct for the parallel evolution in Moderne architecture that hankered after the speed and streamlining of the available international travel.


==Streamline Moderne==
==Streamline Moderne==
Predominantly a US phenomenon, Streamline Moderne evolved as a more formulaic architectural style that chose cars, trains and boats as its inspiration.  The building style was meant to capture the speed and exhilaration of 1930s travel and its highpoint was skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building in New York.  In the UK, the theatricality of Streamline was frowned upon for houses but it did lend itself to blocks of flats like Hartington Court or Florin Court, in Clerkenwell - one of the [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes | properties used in episodes of Poirot]] - as well as hotels like the Midland in Morecambe and factories with US owners such as the Hoover and Firestone Buildings in West London.
Predominantly a US phenomenon, Streamline Moderne evolved as a more formulaic architectural style that chose cars, trains and boats as its inspiration.  The building style was meant to capture the speed and exhilaration of 1930s travel and its highpoint was skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building in New York.  In the UK, the theatricality of Streamline was frowned upon for houses but it did lend itself to blocks of flats like Hartington Court or Florin Court, in Clerkenwell - one of the [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes | properties used in episodes of Poirot]] - as well as hotels like the Midland in Morecambe and factories with US owners such as the Hoover and Firestone Buildings in West London.


<gallery>
<gallery mode=packed>
File:Hartington court.jpg| Hartington Court, Chiswick London
File:Hartington court.jpg| Hartington Court, Chiswick London
File:StreamlineModerneFlats.jpg | Flats in South London
File:StreamlineModerneFlats.jpg | Flats in South London
File:Florin Court.jpg | Florin Court, Clerkenwell
File:Florin Court.jpg | Florin Court, Clerkenwell
File:Ship Apartments-Paris.jpg | The Ship Apartments in Paris
File:Ship Apartments-Paris.jpg | The Ship Apartments in Paris
File:LichfieldCourt4.jpg| [[Lichfield Court]] Richmond, Surrey
File:FrintonStreamlineFlats.jpg| Beachside flats in Frinton-on-Sea
File:ViceroyCourt-RegentsPark.jpeg|Viceroy Court, Prince Albert Road, Regent’s Park, by Marshall & Tweedy, 1938.


</gallery>
</gallery>


==Modern or Modernist Blocks==


<gallery mode=nolines>
File:Berthold Lubetkin Highpoint.jpg | Berthold Lubetkin's [[Highpoint 1]] Highgate London
File:IsokonPhoto2.jpg | The Isokon Building, Hampstead London by Berthold Lubetkin's [[Tekton]]
File:SulkinHouse-DenysLasdun.jpeg|Sulkin House by Denys Lasdun
</gallery>


==See Also In Chimni==
==See Also In Chimni==
ChimniWiki [[Is My House 'Art Deco'?]]
Chimni Wiki Page [[Flats In A Low Rise Block]]
 
Chimni Wiki Page [[Is My House 'Art Deco'?]]


Chimni Wiki Page [[Homes Used In Poirot Episodes]]


==Other Interesting Web Sites==
==Other Interesting Web Sites==
[http://londondecoflats.co.uk/estates/ Art Deco Flats]


[http://www.flickr.com/groups/modernist-houses/ FlickrGroup: Modernist Houses Of The 1930s]
[http://www.flickr.com/groups/modernist-houses/ FlickrGroup: Modernist Houses Of The 1930s]
Line 65: Line 69:
[http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/ArtDecoTriumphant/ArtDecoTriumphant.aspx RIBA Library 'Art Deco Triumphant']
[http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/ArtDecoTriumphant/ArtDecoTriumphant.aspx RIBA Library 'Art Deco Triumphant']


[http://www.pinterest.com/benwillmore/streamline-moderne-design/ Pinterest Board: Streamline Moderne]
Pinterest Board - http://www.pinterest.com/benwillmore/streamline-moderne-design/ Pinterest Board: Streamline Moderne]
 
Pinterest Board - Deco & Modernism - http://www.pinterest.com/MargaretDier/deco-and-modernism/


==Books We Liked==
==Books We Liked==

Latest revision as of 19:11, 13 March 2023

Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London
Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London

The 'Moderne' block of flats arrived in the UK in the 1920s as Britain looked to define a bright new 20th Century after the horrors of the First World War. In this desire, Britain looked to Europe, and the new International Moderne Movement for inspiration. Built by a new wave of young architects, often refugees from war torn Europe, the new blocks brought crisp clean lines, white stucco walls and minimal detailing. Like Moderne houses, the Moderne blocks of flats developed in a range of styles starting with the simple but powerful Moderne. Towards the end of the period, the UK developed some wonderfully evocative Streamline Moderne blocks of flats with curving lines and windows. Architecture never stands still, and the end of the twenties and thirties brought a new purist approach to design that led to Modernism, (with out the 'e')and eventually the Brutalism of the 1960's and 1970s.


'Moderne' Blocks Of Flats[edit]

‘Romantic Possibilities In Modern Flats’ by William Heath Robinson
‘Romantic Possibilities In Modern Flats’ by William Heath Robinson

Like 'Moderne' houses , the first International Moderne blocks were as shocking as they were revolutionary when they arrived in the UK. Blocks like Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 in Highgate, London were unlike anything seen in the UK before. The stark lines, white stuccoed walls, Crittall Windows and flat roofs were produced reflected the new international aesthetic, but to British sensibilities, they were divisive. Blocks like Frederick Gibberd's Pullman Court, in South London and Ravelston Gardens in Edinburgh are now viewed as national treasures and regularly appear in films and TV dramas depicting the period such as ITV's Poirot. At the time, they divided the nation.

  • Ravelston Gardens, Edinburgh. Neal & Hurd 1935-36

    Ravelston Gardens, Edinburgh. Neal & Hurd 1935-36

  • Pullman Court, South London, Frederick Gibberd 1933

    Pullman Court, South London, Frederick Gibberd 1933

The 'Moderne' style is still influential, and you can see echoes of it in many new blocks of flats being built today. However, in the 1930s it didn't take long for the mood to change. As with houses, a more restrained version was appearing for those suburbs not ready for revolution.

Restrained Moderne[edit]

As with 'Moderne' Houses it became clear that the public was held back by the kind of nostalgia the Daily Mail had described in its review of the Paris show and a new 'restrained' hybrid style of flats emerged. These were necessarily a compromise, a style assembled for people who were still seduced by the clean lines of the Moderne movement but who were slightly put off by the brutal nature of the flat-roofs.

The curved windows and horizontal lines remained but with hipped roofs, bricks and tiles. These blocks drifted back towards the 'mansion blocks' of the late Victorian period.


Streamline Moderne[edit]

Predominantly a US phenomenon, Streamline Moderne evolved as a more formulaic architectural style that chose cars, trains and boats as its inspiration. The building style was meant to capture the speed and exhilaration of 1930s travel and its highpoint was skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building in New York. In the UK, the theatricality of Streamline was frowned upon for houses but it did lend itself to blocks of flats like Hartington Court or Florin Court, in Clerkenwell - one of the properties used in episodes of Poirot - as well as hotels like the Midland in Morecambe and factories with US owners such as the Hoover and Firestone Buildings in West London.

  • Hartington Court, Chiswick London

    Hartington Court, Chiswick London

  • Flats in South London

    Flats in South London

  • Florin Court, Clerkenwell

    Florin Court, Clerkenwell

  • The Ship Apartments in Paris

    The Ship Apartments in Paris

  • Lichfield Court Richmond, Surrey

    Lichfield Court Richmond, Surrey

  • Beachside flats in Frinton-on-Sea

    Beachside flats in Frinton-on-Sea

  • Viceroy Court, Prince Albert Road, Regent’s Park, by Marshall & Tweedy, 1938.

    Viceroy Court, Prince Albert Road, Regent’s Park, by Marshall & Tweedy, 1938.

Modern or Modernist Blocks[edit]

  • Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London

    Berthold Lubetkin's Highpoint 1 Highgate London

  • The Isokon Building, Hampstead London by Berthold Lubetkin's Tekton

    The Isokon Building, Hampstead London by Berthold Lubetkin's Tekton

  • Sulkin House by Denys Lasdun

    Sulkin House by Denys Lasdun

See Also In Chimni[edit]

Chimni Wiki Page Flats In A Low Rise Block

Chimni Wiki Page Is My House 'Art Deco'?

Chimni Wiki Page Homes Used In Poirot Episodes

Other Interesting Web Sites[edit]

Art Deco Flats

FlickrGroup: Modernist Houses Of The 1930s

An Archive of 'Moderne' Houses in London (with photos

A Schedule of 'Art Deco' Houses in London

Wikipedia: Streamline Moderne

Docomomo - Dedicated to The Moderne Movement

RIBA Library 'Art Deco Triumphant'

Pinterest Board - http://www.pinterest.com/benwillmore/streamline-moderne-design/ Pinterest Board: Streamline Moderne]

Pinterest Board - Deco & Modernism - http://www.pinterest.com/MargaretDier/deco-and-modernism/

Books We Liked[edit]

References[edit]

<references />

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