Modernism In The Palace Theater

A Comparative Study: Considering El Paso Modernism The Palace Theater in El Paso/Administration building Rice University

Nuvia J. Marquez

ARCH 3313 History of World Architecture lll
Robert Alexander Gonzalez, Ph. D., AIA
Texas Tech University
October 20, 2015

The two buildings I decided research, compare and learn more about are The Palace Theater, built in 1914 by Henry C Trost. This building is located at 125 Pioneer Plz El Paso TX, 79901. My other choice is the Rice University Administration Building built in 1912 designed by Ralph Adams Cram. This building is Located at 440 Allen Center in Houston TX, 77005. The Palace Theater was one of the buildings in El Paso that caught my attention and
In the history of architecture, The Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turned of the 20th century. Henry Trost was part of a group of architect known as “First Chicago School,” whose work would have a profound effect upon architecture. This two building represented the combination of styles present during the 1900s and also demonstrated that architecture structures were clearly a way of showing prosperity in the different cities in the country. The time was just right for a change of ideas among the architectural world a new movement that was about to revolutionize the way cities, buildings, and even homes were constructed. Industrialization was making its way into the world of structures with new ideas and designing styles. One of the few similarities this building had with The Modern Movement was that buildings had to serve a purpose and they had to be functional. The Palace Theater was made for entertainment and it justify its purpose. The building up to this period of time has manage to survive with a few renovations made during time but is still standing tall, that is one of the great characteristics of those kind of historical structures. Another principle of the Modern movement is that “Form Follows Function” a dictum originally expressed by
During this time architecture was drawn into a variety of local agendas in which regional needs were also given a broader since. It was not only about the Palace Theater or The Rice Building it was a change of structural perspective among the world. It could have been an individual preference and sometimes it was about the entire scheme of social and cultural ‘renewal’. It was a contradicting belief that modernism was the search for uniform