r/ModernistArchitecture

Photos by Sterling Reed, Julius Shulman

More photos, drawings and information about this project; https://www.paulrudolph.institute/195904-fullam-residence

Photographs by Elie Aramouny and Karim Andary.

The below article was written by Friedrich Ragette and appeared on pages 7-13 of the July/August 1971 print edition of Saudi Aramco World.

American Life Insurance Building

To Irving and Jones, the Beirut architects who won the contract to design a Middle East heading quarters for the American Life Insurance Company, the problem of weaving Arab themes into contemporary structures was less pressing; Beirut is increasingly as much a showcase for international architecture as for Arab buildings. The result in this case, nevertheless, is markedly eastern.

Irving and Jones, working with Arkbuild, Beirut architects and engineers, had to create a structure that would have dignity, would suggest a discreet prosperity and would look well in a setting of pines just off the boulevard to the Beirut International Airport.

But the primary need was functional. The building had to incorporate the latest in climate control, illumination, sound-conditioning and communications, and offer unobstructed inferior space for flexible portioning.

The design that the architects eventually worked out has given Beirut one of its most handsome buildings. It is quietly elegant, impressive, attractive, yet very functional.

In order to avoid unnecessary internal columns, the peripheral supports were turned into a colonnade encompassing the whole building. But in bracing the top the architects seized the chance to introduce an emphatic eastern flavor by inserting a series of graceful pointed arches at the top and suspending a closely woven metal screen between the columns to shield the three upper floors from excessive sunlight. Executed in aluminum but tinted like bronze, the screen is clearly derived from the mashrabieh screens which long ago hid harem beauties from sight yet permitted them to see out and get fresh air.

Photos by Adam Štěch, Julius Shulman

Conceived as a gift to a globally celebrated humanitarian institution, the project draws from the crescent-shaped plot — initially a constraint, but one that ultimately informed the foundation of its design narrative. The intent was to shape the site into a harmonious ensemble, integrating a blood bank, an amphitheater, emergency response training spaces, and a clinic.

These programs are expressed through a poetic composition of interlocking volumes, carefully nested within one another. This spatial layering echoes the fluidity of the terrain while reinforcing the unity of purpose central to the Red Cross mission.

Images Source: Archi Verney

this is my first time trying to properly photograph architecture, and some streets there are quite tight so excuse the weird angles. 12th picture is the garrison church by leon dietz d'arma and jan zarzycki. pics 16 and 17 is the polish radio building by tadeusz łobos.

Photos by openspaceseries, Tim Street Porter, and Iwan Baan

Photos by Nelson Kon, Jomar Bragança, and Christina Holmes

It was built for the Bauhaus Werkschau (English: Work show) exhibition which ran from July to September 1923. It was the first building based on Bauhaus design principles, which revolutionized 20th century architectural and aesthetic thinking and practice. The building was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

fotos de Nelson Kon

Photos by Sean Hazen

Photos by Michael Wee, Rory Gardiner, and Murray Shepherdson