JOHN PAWSON MINIMALIST OR MANNARIST

John Pawson Minimalist or Mannerist

John Pawson Minimalist or Mannerist

PART I

Introduction

One important trend in Modernist architecture is the movement toward minimalist or reductivist design. Hallmarks of Minimalism include:

Buildings are stripped of all but the most essential elements

Emphasis is placed on the outline, or frame, of the struture

Interior walls are eliminated

Floor plans are open

Lighting is used to dramatize lines and planes

The negative spaces around the structure are part of the overall design

Modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe paved the way for Minimalism when he said, "Less is more." Minimalist architects drew much of their inspiration from the elegant simplicity of traditional Japanese architecture. Minimalists were also inspired by a movement of early twentieth century Dutch artists known as De Stijl. Valuing simplicity and abstraction, De Stijl artists used only straight lines and rectangular shapes. (CHING 1979 63)

The Mexico City home of the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Luis Barragán is Minimalist in its emphasis on lines, planes, and open spaces.

Architects known for Minimalist designs include:

Tadao Ando

Luis Barragan

Yoshio Taniguchi

Richard Gluckman

John Pawson

Frank Lloyd Wright said that all architecture is organic, and the Art Nouveau architects of the early twentieth century incorporated curving, plant-like shapes into their designs. But in the later half of the twentieth century, Modernist architects took the concept of organic architecture to new heights. By using new forms of concrete and cantilever trusses, architects could create swooping arches without visible beams or pillars. (LASEAU 1984 54-55)

Reason for Choosing John Pawson

John Pawson has been designing buildings and objects for more than twenty-five years, with work realised on four continents for a wide range of clients and covering a breadth of scales and programmes. From the beginning his approach to making architecture has drawn comparisons with the art movement known as Minimalism. More helpful, perhaps, is its characterisation as an attitude to space, light and proportion. (CHING 1984 36)

Pawson grew up in Yorkshire in the north of England, with four older sisters. On finishing school he worked in the family textile business, before moving to Japan where he spent four years teaching English and traveling around the country, ending up in Tokyo where he visited the studio of the Japanese designer, Shiro Kuramata. He enrolled at the Architecture Association shortly after his return to London, but left following only a brief period of study to take up the commissions which were already coming in. (ZEYI 1990 56)

Although his work has been described as having an abstract quality, it is rigorously grounded in a precise understanding of the grain of everyday life. Whether a house, store, gallery, bridge, monastery or cookpot, for Pawson the fundamental challenge is always the same: how people, space and objects may be brought into harmony with one another. (SULLIVAN 1997 45-48)

Research Methodology

This research is based on the secondary data. The research methodology used is the online survey of various architectures as available online. This research involved studies in detail the news, articles ...