Features style of minimalism in the works of United States and Japan architects late XX - start XXI centuries

Abstract

The article is devoted to revealing the basic characteristics inherent in the minimalist style in architecture. The features of the facades and the means of artistic expression in the works of American and Japanese architects of the late XX-XXI centuries are considered. The authors hypothesized that the aesthetics of the minimalism of the 1950s and 1970s were the desire for functional and conceptual simplicity, to limit the architectural language and to save formal means. At that time, two major trends that continued in the minimalism of the 1990s were formed: Mies van der Rohe (intangible, transparent architecture hiding structures) and Louis Cahn (material, concrete, structural forms), and their combination (a representative and ontological approach, according to K.Frampton). Modern architects of minimalism, following the intangible concept of Mies van der Rohe or the material tectonic concept of Louis Cahn,  create the impression of simplicity, develop new architectural forms and use new technologies and materials. So, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa adhered to Mies van der Rohe's "representativeness". Tadao Ando, following the material ontological conception of Kahn, develops a representative tectonic form. Other contemporary architects, such as Peter Zumthor, Herzog & de Meuron, and Kengo Kuma, combine intangible, representational forms with material and ontological. Detailed analyzes of works by Philip Johnson, John Pawson, David Chiperfield, Tadao Ando, ​​and Fumihiko Maki was made. F. Johnson added to the intangibility of Mis's buildings with a sharp, sometimes provocative, dynamic. Japanese architects rely more on natural surroundings and regional traditionalism. Minimalism usually uses natural or high-tech materials.

Keywords: minimalism in architecture, ontological and representative approach, Mies van der Rohe, Luis Kahn, Tadao Ando