International Style International style is an architectural style that developed in Europe and the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. This style became the dominant tendency for western architecture in the later twentieth century. Common characteristics of International style buildings are rectangular forms that have been completely stripped of applied ornamentation and decoration, visually weightless qualities, open interior spaces, and an overwhelming association with geometry. Glass, steel, and reinforced concrete are the characteristic materials of construction. The International style grew from three phenomena that architects had to deal with; An incorporating mix of decorative elements from different architectual periods that had little or no relation to the buildings functions, the development and use of iron, steel, glass, and reinforced concrete, and the economical creation of large numbers of office buildings. These three phenomena basically outlined the search for an economical utilitarian architecture, an architecture that would use the new materials and still appeal to aesthetic taste. Technology was key in this transition from tradition. The availability of cheap mass-produced iron and steel ultimately rendered masonry construction obsolete. The International Style was thus formed under the dictates that modern buildingsform and appearance should naturally grow out of and express the potentialities of their materials and structural engineering. A harmony between artistic expression, function, and technology would thus be established in an austere and disciplined new architecture. The International Style grew from a small group of brilliant and original architects who went on to achieve greatness in their field. The major figures include Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe of Germany. Gropius and Mies were best known for their str...
