High-tech

architecture

High-tech architecture, also known as

Structural Expressionism, is a type of Late
Modern architectural style that emerged in
the 1970s, incorporating elements of high
tech industry and technology into building
design. High-tech architecture grew from
the modernist style, utilizing new advances
in technology and building materials. It
emphasizes transparency in design and
construction, seeking to communicate the
underlying structure and function of a
building throughout its interior and
exterior. High-tech architecture makes
extensive use of steel, glass, and concrete,
as these materials were becoming more
advanced and available in a wider variety
of forms at the time the style was
developing.[1]
 High-tech architecture

The Lloyd's building in London, by Richard

Rogers

Years active 1960-present

Country International

High-tech architecture focuses on creating

adaptable buildings through choice of
materials, internal structural elements, and
programmatic design. It seeks to avoid
links to the past, and as such eschews
building materials commonly used in older
styles of architecture. Common elements
include hanging or overhanging floors, a
lack of internal load-bearing walls, and
reconfigurable spaces. Some buildings
incorporate prominent, bright colors in an
attempt to evoke the sense of a drawing or
diagram.[2] High-tech utilizes a focus on
factory aesthetics and a large central
space serviced by many smaller
maintenance areas to evoke a feeling of
openness, honesty, and transparency.

Early high-tech buildings were referred to

by historian Reyner Banham as "serviced
sheds" due to their exposure of
mechanical services in addition to the
structure. Most of these early examples
used exposed structural steel as their
material of choice. As hollow structural
sections had only become widely available
in the early 1970s, high-tech architecture
saw much experimentation with this
material.

The style's premier practitioners include

the following: Bruce Graham, Fazlur
Rahman Khan, Minoru Yamasaki, Sir
Norman Foster, Sir Richard Rogers, Sir
Michael Hopkins, Renzo Piano, and
Santiago Calatrava.[2]
Background
High-tech architecture was originally
developed in Britain, with many of its most
famous early proponents being British.
However, the movement has roots in a
number of earlier styles and draws
inspiration from a number of architects
from earlier periods. Many of the ideals
communicated through high-tech
architecture were derived from the early
modernists of the 1920s. The concepts of
transparency, honesty in materials, and a
fascination with the aesthetics of industry
can all be traced to modern architects.
High-tech architecture, much like
modernism, shares a belief in a "spirit of
the age" that should be incorporated and
applied throughout each building. The
influence of Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius,
and Mies van de Rohe is extensive
throughout many of the principles and
designs of high-tech architecture.[3]

Some of the earliest practitioners of high-

tech architecture included the British
architecture group Archigram, whose
members frequently designed advanced
futuristic buildings and cities. On the most
influential of these was Peter Cook's Plug-
in City, a theoretical mega structure
designed around the detach-ability and
replacement of each of its individual units.
The concept of removable and
interchangeable elements of buildings
would later become a widespread
characteristic within the high-tech style.
Less direct precursors included
Buckminster Fuller and Frei Otto, whose
focus on minimizing construction
resources generated an emphasis on
tensile structures, another important
element in many high-tech designs. Louis
Kahn's concept of "served" and "servant"
spaces, particularly when implemented in
the form of service towers, later became a
widespread feature of high-tech
architecture.[4]
Other projects and designs that contained
or inspired elements common across the
high-tech style include the Archigram
member Mike Webb's concept of
bowellism, the Fun Palace by Cedric Price,
and the Walking City by Ron Herron, also a
member of Archigram. These theoretical
designs, along with many others, were
circulated widely in British and American
architectural circles due to their
examination by Reyner Banham. These
conceptual plans laid out the ideas and
elements that would later go on to be
hugely influential in the works of
prominent high-tech architects like
Norman Foster and Nicholas Grimshaw.[5]
Characteristics

The HSBC Hong Kong headquarters, completed in

1985, is an example of high-tech architecture.

High-tech buildings often incorporate a

range of materials reminiscent of
industrial production. Steel, glass, and
concrete are all commonly found in high-
tech structures, as these elements evoke a
feeling of being mass-produced and widely
available. Not all high-tech designs are
made to accommodate truly mass-
produced materials, but nonetheless seek
to convey a sense of factory creation and
broad distribution. Tensile structures,
cross beams, and exposed support and
maintenance elements are all important
components found in high-tech designs. A
focus on strong, simplistic, and
transparent elements all connect high-tech
as a style to the principles of engineering.
The engineer Anthony Hunt was hugely
influential in both the design, choice of
materials, and ultimate expression of
many of the earliest high-tech buildings in
Britain, and as such many of these designs
are suffused with a focus on the
aesthetics of engineering and
construction.[6]

Buildings built in the high-tech style often

share a number of characteristic layout
elements. These include an open floor
plan, a large central area serviced by many
smaller maintenance spaces, and
repeated elements which either can be or
appear to be able to be detached and
replaced as needed. Spaces or elements
dedicated to service and mechanical
components like air conditioners, water
processors, and electrical equipment are
left exposed and visible to the viewer.
Often these spaces are placed in large
service towers external to the building, as
in the Lloyd's building in London by
Richard Rogers. The Lloyd's building also
has offices designed to be changed and
configured as needed by the shifting and
removal of partitions - creating a flexible
and adaptable interior environment that
can be changed to meet the needs of the
building's occupants. This theme of
reconfigurable spaces is an important
component of high-tech buildings.[7] The
HSBC Building in Hong Kong, designed by
Norman Foster, is another excellent
example of a high-tech building designed
to be changed over time according to the
needs of its users. Its use of suspended
floor panels and the design of its social
spaces as individual towers both place
emphasis on the new approach to creating
and servicing an office building.[8]

The high-tech style is often interpreted as

glorifying technology and emphasizing the
functional purpose of each element of the
building. These designs incorporate
elements that obviously display the
technical nature of the components within
them, creating a sense of honest, open
transparency. The Centre Pompidou in
Paris, by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers,
exemplifies the technicality and focus on
the exposure of service elements. The
externalization of functional components
is a key concept of high-tech architecture,
though this technique may also be applied
to generate an aesthetic of dynamic light
and shadow across the facade of a
building. Color also plays an important role
in the decoration of high-tech buildings, as
various colors can be used to represent
different service elements or to give the
building the appearance of a set of
architectural diagrams.[9]

As of 2016, recent Structural

Impressionism has two major trends:
braced systems and diagrid systems. Both
structural systems have the structural
support elements visible from the outside,
unlike many postmodern architecture
buildings where most structural elements
are hidden in the interior. The braced
systems have strong exterior columns
connected by "heavy" cross bracing
elements. The diagrid system consists of
a lattice of "light" diagonal elements and
horizontal rings forming triangles, without
vertical columns.[10]

Goals
The Centre Pompidou in Paris, by Piano and Rogers.
The Centre Pompidou exemplifies many of the goals
and aims of the high-tech movement.

High-tech architecture attempts to

embody a series of ideals that its
practitioners felt were reflective of the
"spirit of the age". Concerns over
adaptability, sustainability, and the
changing industrial world drove a shift in
the way that many architects around the
world approached the challenge of
designing buildings. Norman Foster's
HSBC Building was specifically designed
to be built over a public plaza, so as not to
take up more land in space conscious
Hong Kong. Minoru Yamasaki's World
Trade Center had centered around a five-
acre, raised public plaza, completely
devoid of cars, so pedestrians could walk
freely through the complex. Additionally,
the World Trade Center had lead to the
construction of a brand new PATH station,
serving the rail commuters coming from
New Jersey into New York. This approach
to building, with the architect having just
as much responsibility to the city
surrounding their building as the building
itself, was a key theme of many structures
designed in the high-tech style. The
appropriate utilization and distribution of
space is often an integral component of
high-tech theory, and as such these ideals
are often found in concert with practical
concerns over habitability and practicality
of design.[8]

The Original World Trade Center in New York City, by

Minoru Yamasaki. The Twin Towers had completely
open floor plans, with zero internal columns.
open floor plans, with zero internal columns.

At the core of many high-tech buildings is

the concept of the "omniplatz". This is the
idea that a building and the spaces within
it should not necessarily be absolutely
defined, but rather perform a range of
desired functions. As such, a room in a
high-tech building could be used as a
factory floor, a storage room, or a financial
trading center all with minimal re-
distribution of structural elements. The
external services of a high-tech building, in
this understanding of the style, exist solely
to make the central space habitable and
do not define its function. This can lead to
an effect wherein the maintenance
elements of a building can be understood
and interpreted without issue, but the
function of the interior space is difficult to
guess. The Lloyd's building is an excellent
example of this, wherein its service towers
quite clearly communicate their function
but the usage of the central atrium is
difficult to determine from the exterior.[3]

While the goal of many high-tech buildings

is to honestly and transparently
communicate their form and function,
practical considerations may prevent the
absolute expression of this principle. The
Centre Pompidou, for example, has several
elements that are built up or covered over
due to concerns over fire safety and
structural soundness. In many cases high-
tech buildings exhibit compromises
between radical honesty in design and
considerations of safety in
implementation. High-tech architecture
balances art and engineering as its
primary themes, and as such incurs trade-
offs between the aesthetics of the two
disciplines.[11]
Sainsbury Centre, by Foster and Associates.

High-tech architecture has generated

some criticism for its forays into home
building and design, an issue it shares in
common with Modernism. Many of the
houses designed by high-tech architects
were never inhabited by anyone other than
themselves or their close relatives. Many
outside observers found the high-tech
style's focus on industry and expression of
services to be antithetical to comfort and
home living. Norman Foster's housing at
Milton Keynes was never particularly
popular, and other high-tech designs were
seen as uncomfortable or awkward to live
in.[3]

High-tech architecture was most

commonly employed in the construction of
factories, corporate offices, or art galleries,
all spaces that could effectively leverage
the aesthetic of industry and find good use
for the flexible spaces the style created.
The application of technological themes
throughout high-tech buildings intends to
convey an ethos of science and progress.
While transparency and honesty of
materials is heavily valued, high-tech
designs strive to evoke an ever dynamic
sense of movement and change.
Adaptability, flexibility, and openness are
all key aims of the high-tech style. To
obviously and creatively display the
functional nature of service elements and
to clearly communicate the changeable
nature of the spaces created inside them
are important goals of the vast majority of
high-tech buildings.[12]

Examples
 Name of Building Place Country Architect Year

Kansas City,
BMA Tower United States Bruce Graham 1961
Missouri

Jacksonville,
Riverplace Tower United States Welton Becket 1967
Florida

Irvine Company Newport Beach,

United States William Pereira 1968
headquarters California

John Hancock Center Chicago, Illinois United States Bruce Graham 1969

World Trade Center New York City United States Minoru Yamasaki 1971

Willis Tower Chicago, Illinois United States Bruce Graham 1973

Minneapolis,
Marquette Plaza United States Gunnar Birkerts 1973
Minnesota

United Michael Hopkins and

Hopkins House London 1976
Kingdom Partners

St. Louis, Thompson, Ventulett,

One US Bank Plaza United States 1976
Missouri Stainback & Associates

Centre Georges Renzo Piano and Richard

Paris France 1977
Pompidou Rogers

Internationales Congress Ralf Schüler, Ursulina

Berlin Germany 1979
Centrum Berlin Schüler-Witte

Aon Centre Wellington New Zealand Stephenson & Turner 1983

HSBC Hong Kong

Hong Kong China Norman Foster 1985
headquarters building

United
Lloyd's Building London Richard Rogers 1986
Kingdom

San Diego Convention

San Diego United States Arthur Erickson 1989
Center

Bank of China Tower Hong Kong China I.M. Pei 1989

Hotel Arts Barcelona Spain Bruce Graham 1992

Czech
Žižkov TV Tower Prague Václav Aulický, Jiří Kozák 1992
Republic
Lord's Media Centre London United Future Systems 1999
Kingdom

United Arab
Burj Al Arab Dubai Tom Wright 1999
Emirates

City of Manchester United

Manchester Arup 2002
Stadium Kingdom

United
30 St. Mary Axe London Norman Foster 2003
Kingdom

Turning Torso Malmö Sweden Santiago Calatrava 2004

Hearst Tower New York City United States Norman Foster 2004

Torre Agbar Barcelona Spain Jean Nouvel 2005

United
Wembley Stadium London Norman Foster 2006
Kingdom

Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy

Toronto, Ontario Canada Norman Foster 2006
Building

Diagonal Zero Zero Barcelona Spain Enric Massip-Bosch 2011

Mercury City Tower Moscow IBC Russia Frank Williams 2013

United
The Leadenhall Building London Rogers + Stirk + Harbour 2013
Kingdom

[13]

References
1. Pawley, Martin (1991). "High-Tech
Architecture: History Vs. The
 Parasites". AA Files (21): 26–29.
ISSN 0261-6823 . JSTOR 29543727 .
2. Moore, Rowan (2014-02-09). "The Brits
who built the modern world" . The
Observer. ISSN 0029-7712 . Retrieved
2019-12-02.
3. Davies, Colin, 1929- (1988). High tech
architecture. New York, NY: Rizzoli
International Publications. ISBN 0-
8478-0881-5. OCLC 17526878 .
4. "Dezeen's guide to high-tech
architecture" . Dezeen. 2019-11-04.
Retrieved 2019-12-02.
5. "Richard Rogers: high-tech's inside out
architect" . Dezeen. 2019-11-06.
Retrieved 2019-12-02.
6. "Anthony Hunt is the high-tech
architect's engineer" . Dezeen. 2019-
11-20. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
7. "Lloyd's building is Richard Rogers'
first high-tech office block" . Dezeen.
2019-11-19. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
8. Wainwright, Oliver (2015-05-28).
"Norman Foster's Hong Kong HSBC
headquarters tore up the rule book – a
history of cities in 50 buildings, day
45" . The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 .
Retrieved 2019-12-02.
 9. "AD Classics: AD Classics: Centre
Georges Pompidou / Renzo Piano
Building Workshop + Richard Rogers" .
ArchDaily. 2010-06-11. Retrieved
2019-12-02.
10. Kheir Al-Kodmany; and Mir M. Ali. "An
Overview of Structural and Aesthetic
Developments in Tall Buildings Using
Exterior Bracing and Diagrid
Systems" . International Journal of
High-Rise Buildings. 2016. p. 274-275.
11. Maxwell, Robert (1999). "Purity and
Danger: The Appeal of High-Tech". AA
Files (40): 53–55. ISSN 0261-6823 .
JSTOR 29544172 .
 12. "Revisiting the Contentious "High Tech"
Movement in Architecture" .
Metropolis. 2018-06-07. Retrieved
2019-12-02.
13. "WAM | Modern - High Tech
Architecture" .
www.worldarchitecturemap.org.
Retrieved 2019-12-02.

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