Is there is any romance in modern architecture? It is presupposed by many that traditional forms are romantic or have meaning and therefore have more gravity than anything novel but all styles had an origin before they became a part of any tradition. Can modernism embody a unique romance of its own? Modern can be romantic too but it requires clients that believe in their architects and let the new romantic come into being.
As with any design in architecture there is a period when the new is shocking and out of the norm. All of the styles from history were new at one time. Historic forms, what we call classical or traditional architecture, were once the modern, cutting edge solution to the problem of dwelling. There are many examples of historic architecture that, when first introduced, were almost rejected. I will use two local Philadelphia architectural firms to make my point.
Frank Furness, of Furness and Evans, first introduced his brand of Victorian in the late 1800's and his buildings were so outlandish for the time that many rejected his designs as frivolous. He was the modernist of his day. "Fiery" Furness made structural expressions that seemed incomplete and to some even scary. Arches that were half complete, cantilevered overhangs, and some of his ornament were distorted shapes that seemed unstable. The introduction of cast iron and steel in engineering, new around this time and hidden behind facades, allowed him to make his buildings appear awkward by standard design proportions and, in some cases, apparently ready to fall down. There were many other architects who used steel structure but its capacity to make new shapes was always hidden behind an outward appearance (facade design) that masked the new materials capabilities. Others architects made their building look like older styles and broke no accepted visual rules of composition. A passer by would never know that a large number structures designed after1850 had steel skeletons and later whole steel frames. Furness took advantage of steel to make a new romantic style that challenge convention and found clients willing to let him make the new romance.
Furness went on to design many Banks, Train Stations, Libraries, and homes in the Philadelphia area. Perhaps one of his best is the Architecture Library (Furness and Evans 1890) on the campus of The University of Pennsylvania. http://lacqueredlife.blogspot.com/2010/04/study-study-study.html
He persevered over the critics who had tastes entrenched in the the way of classicism and the traditional. Today Frank Furness is known as the master who apprenticed Louis Sullivan who, in turn, apprenticed Frank :Lloyd Wright. His work is considered a treasure in the Philadelphia area and some of the most romantic architecture ever designed. This is an example of how the shockingly modern of its time can become accepted as romantic and beautiful given time.
So in the last 100 years we have another "new" romantic architecture which has many names. It started as "The International Style"- a moniker given by Hitchcock and Johnson for their exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1932. One of the first and perhaps best examples of this style is the Howe and Lescaze Philadelphia masterpiece that is the PSFS Building of 1929-32 http://press.visitphilly.com/media/1267. This is a high expression of steel structural gymnastics but, unlike Furness, there is not even one single attempt at hiding the new forms with any notions of ornament or historic structural references. This design is an example of the next step to expose the new romantic in its true form. The expression is not made heroic by any attempt at tradition and the shapes themselves are daringly unconventional and challenge one to think of architecture in a new way.
So I have given some examples styles that challenged the accepted ideas of architecture and then became a part of the fabric of design history. These are now the new classics. Philadelphia is a community blessed with many exceptional designs that pushed the envelope of what can be. So where are the new romantic designs? Modern architecture can only happen when modern people see and accept that the new can be just as romantic and wonderful as the old. It takes great, open minded clients to let the architects of our time make new forms. The design profession waits to find the people in the public who see the new as romantic and then it will happen.
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