Defining Styles: Architecture through the years

Buildings from the turn of the 20th century featured elaborate façades that draw on influences from ancient Greece and Rome.

Buildings from the 1920s and 1930s featured the clean lines, bright colors and minimalist design of the Art Deco movement, in keeping with the flashy culture of the Jazz Age.

The late 1950s and early 1960s are known for buildings that are much more utilitarian and feature more concrete and steel, a response to the Romantic style at the beginning of the century.

Identifying a historic building’s era is is an easy task, according to Bo Hagerman of Hagerman New Urbanism, because of the influence of the American Institute of Architects.

“Architecture was governed by the AIA,” Hagerman said. “You had to charge a certain amount, you had to design a certain way, and it was very regulated.”

As for determining what constitutes today’s style, the task is more difficult. A federal antitrust suit, settled in 1990, forced the AIA to take a less hands-on approach with its members, resulting in more individual styles showing through in design.

Through the eras

The earliest period visible locally, Hagerman said, is Romanticism, which dominated the turn of the century. Many of the oldest buildings downtown, from the original Heer’s building to the historic Greene County Courthouse, are Romantic-style, featuring elaborate filigree and cornice work.

“We were looking back to the classical architecture to add quality to the design, even if there may not have been a functional reason to add those things,” Hagerman said of cornices, which are horizontal molding atop buildings or walls, and lacelike ornamental filigree. “It was there for looks.”

The next major period nationally was the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s. While this style didn’t have as much of an influence in Springfield, some vestiges remain; one notable example is the Tower Theatre building on South Glenstone Avenue, which features the clean lines, step designs and use of materials such as aluminum and stainless steel that illustrate the style.

Most of the major buildings on Missouri State University’s campus, as well as MSU’s Meyer Alumni Center and the Central Bible College administrative building, are products of the Modernist movement of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Modernist structures are distinguished by their extensive use of concrete and steel, usually devoid of ornate decorations. The modernist era was a direct contrast to its Romantic predecessor – to Modernists, such as Springfield design stalwart Dick Stahl, form followed function, making the filigree and decorative touches of Romantic buildings unnecessary.

Stahl, who died in 2001, was a past president of the Springfield AIA chapter and recipient of an honorary doctorate from Drury University in 2000.

He designed several buildings in town including, the Meyer Alumni Center and CBC structure.

The 30-year Modernist period, Hagerman said, also was influenced by the automobile. The increasing prevalence of cars caused two changes: Buildings were designed for automotive convenience, such as banks adding drive-through windows, and cities began to spread out, causing the decline of center-city areas.

‘Architecture is art’

Categorizing the current design of commercial structures is particularly challenging because many architects will combine aspects of more than one style, according to Alan Bates, principal of Bates & Associates. Bates said another reason for the lack of a cohesive architecture style is a change in the way architects look at their craft.

“(Designer) Frank Gehry said, ‘Architecture is art,’” Bates said. “That represents today’s architect’s general opinion. It will be very hard to put your finger on architecture done in 2007, because we don’t have any rules anymore.”

Gehry is best-known for his work in the current “deconstructivist” movement, which attempts to fragment the surface of a building and make interesting angles and nonrectilinear shapes, which aren’t defined by straight lines. Such buildings, Bates said, “look like a wadded-up napkin.”

While that extreme may not be popular in this area, certain aspects of deconstructivism have cropped up in local projects, such as the curved roofs and entrances of buildings such as the Meyer Health & Wellness Center on the CoxHealth campus.

Still, despite the wide variety of architectural styles, Hagerman said there are some common features.

“Even though people are trying to brand themselves, there’s a common aesthetic,” Hagerman said, pointing to glass walls and exterior line work that results in buildings that aren’t traditionally shaped.

Civic buildings are the best place to look for style, Hagerman said, because other commercial structures such as strip malls are more utilitarian and less focused on design.

“Springfield is like a microcosm of what happens in the larger world, but (eras) aren’t as clear-cut here, because we don’t go to the extremes like they do in other parts of the world,” he said.

The future

Coming years, architects say, will be characterized by green building.

Bates envisions buildings that will blend with their environments and feature a focus on recycled and recyclable materials. Determining what those features will look like, he said, is difficult, as many of the technologies that they will employ haven’t been developed yet.

Drury’s Hammons School of Architecture already has positioned itself to address future trends. Architecture professor Tracy Sooter said the school has joined the U.S. Green Building Council, and Drury has signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which aims to lower emissions in the next 10 years.

“The trend is toward sustainability, or at least it is at Drury,” she said. “We feel it’s important. It’s a more responsible way to design.”

Bates said the design industry’s growing environmental focus is an admirable effort.

“That would certainly be a great gift from architecture to the rest of society, if we would make our next 30 years green,” Bates said.

Eras of Styles

Romanticism (1890s–1920s)

Buildings from this era, such as the historic Greene County Courthouse built in 1912, feature ornate façades with elaborate filigree and cornice work.

Art Deco (1920s–1930s)

Buildings of the Art Deco period are known for clean lines, step designs and use of new materials such as stainless steel. The Tower Theatre, built in 1938, includes some features of this era.

Modernism (1950s–1980s)

The Modernist era, a direct contrast to its Romantic predecessor, features little to no ornamentation and extensive use of concrete and steel. The building now housing Missouri State University’s Kenneth E. Meyer Alumni Center, built in the 1950s, is a prime example.

Deconstructivism (1990s–present)

Today’s structures, such as the Meyer Center for Wellness built in 2003, feature unorthodox exterior shapes and curved roofs and entrances.[[In-content Ad]]