Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow International Style: Carry floors on columns so plan and facade both stay free.
- Type
- Set in International Style's manner (Align sans serif signs to the column grid, flush with the wall.), and let Tropical Modernism's lettering (Place signs in the shade of the eaves so glare never blanks them.) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in International Style's material (Steel and concrete frame, white rendered planes, large sheets of glass.); bring in exactly one thing from Tropical Modernism (Concrete louvers, perforated terracotta blocks, timber shutters that breathe.).
- Colour
- Build on #eeece5, #9ca3a5, #252729 and admit one accent from #e2dfcc, #779173, #48514a.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Modern Architecture, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- International Style A white box alone misses the structure, free plan, industrial materials and social program, and ornament stripped without tuned proportion and detail reads as cheapness, leaving openings with no reason for their position.
- Tropical Modernism Louvers and canopies added as shapes, with no calculation of orientation and sun angles, stop neither sun nor rain. Look past a tropical look to colonial rule, nation building after independence and local architects.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from International Style (Style, 1920s–1960s) and its accent from Tropical Modernism (Style, 1940s–1970s). Structural cues: Rectangular volumes; Glass planes; No ornament; The free plan. Accent cues, used sparingly: Brise-soleil; Deep eaves; Cross-ventilation; Permeable screens. Composition: Carry floors on columns so plan and facade both stay free.. Type and lettering: Align sans serif signs to the column grid, flush with the wall.. Let one material quality come from the second style: Concrete louvers, perforated terracotta blocks, timber shutters that breathe.. Mood: Trust, Calm, Futurism. Color: build on #eeece5, #9ca3a5, #252729 with a single accent drawn from #e2dfcc, #779173, #48514a. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- International Style 1920s–1960s / Style / Modern Architecture
Strips ornament and aims at a universal architectural language crossing borders: the box, the free plan, steel, concrete and glass.
- Tropical Modernism 1940s–1970s / Style / Modern Architecture
Adapts modern architecture to hot, humid climates through canopies, louvers, ventilation and sun control.
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