Truth to materials
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Truth to materials is a tenet of
modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
(as opposed to
postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry- ...
), which holds that any material should be used where it is most appropriate and its nature should not be hidden. Concrete, therefore, should not be painted and the means of its construction should be celebrated by, for instance, not sanding away marks left by timber shuttering ('' béton brut''). As another example,
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
is infrequently used in the exterior facing of buildings, but one modern example is the
Dakin Building The Dakin Building is an architectural award-winning class A office building on the San Francisco Bay in Brisbane, California. Serving as a corporate headquarters building for several companies of national prominence, it was built from the profit ...
,
Brisbane, California Brisbane (pron. , unlike Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is a small city located in California in the northern part of San Mateo County on the lower slopes of San Bruno Mountain. It is located on the southern border of San Francisco, on the ...
; therefore, the porcelain panels of this building have been left uncovered by any paint or preservative.


See also

* Arts and Crafts movement *
Brutalism Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
*
Functionalism (architecture) In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. This principle is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern archite ...
*
Medium specificity Medium specificity is a consideration in aesthetics and art criticism. It is most closely associated with modernism, but it predates it. Overview According to Clement Greenberg, who helped popularize the term, medium specificity holds that "the u ...


Further reading

*Günter Bandmann: Der Wandel der Materialbewertung in der Kunsttheorie des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Helmut Koopmann, J. Adolf Schmoll gen. Eisenwerth (Ed.): Beiträge zur Theorie der Künste im 19. Jahrhundert, 2 Vol., Vol. 1, Frankfurt/M. 1971, p. 129–157. *Materialstil, Materialstimmung, Materialgerechtigkeit, in: Dietmar Rübel, Monika Wagner, Vera Wolff (Ed.): Materialästhetik. Quellentexte zu Kunst, Design und Architektur, Berlin 2005 () Architectural theory Modernism {{arch-style-stub