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Postmodern architecture

February 16, 2024

Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the late 1950s 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-Russell Hitchcock. The movement was introduced by the architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown and architectural theorist Robert Venturi in their 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas. The style flourished from the 1980s through the 1990s, particularly in the work of Scott Brown & Venturi, Philip Johnson, Charles Moore and Michael Graves. In the late 1990s, it divided into a multitude of new tendencies, including high-tech architecture, neo-futurism, new classical architecture, and deconstructivism.[1] However, some buildings built after this period are still considered postmodern.[2]

Postmodern architecture
From top, left to right: Vanna Venturi House (1964) by Robert Venturi; Team Disney building in Burbank, California (1990) by Michael Graves; Guild House (1963) in Philadelphia by Robert Venturi; 550 Madison Avenue (1984) by Philip Johnson to; One PPG Place (1984) in Pittsburgh by Philip Johnson; Piazza d'Italia, New Orleans by Charles Moore (1978).
Years activeLate 1950s–early-to-mid 2000s
CountryInternational
InfluencesInternational style and modern

Origins edit

Postmodern architecture emerged in the late 1950s as a reaction against the perceived shortcomings of modern architecture, particularly its rigid doctrines, its uniformity, its lack of ornament, and its habit of ignoring the history and culture of the cities where it appeared. In 1966, Venturi formalized the movement in his book, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. Venturi summarized the kind of architecture he wanted to see replace modernism:

I speak of a complex and contradictory architecture based on the richness and ambiguity of modern experience, including that experience which is inherent in art. ... I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainties. ... I like elements which are hybrid rather than "pure", compromising rather than "clean" ... accommodating rather than excluding. ... I am for messy vitality over obvious unity. ... I prefer "both-and" to "either-or", black and white, and sometimes gray, to black or white. ... An architecture of complexity and contradiction must embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion.[3]

In place of the functional doctrines of modernism, Venturi proposed giving primary emphasis to the façade, incorporating historical elements, a subtle use of unusual materials and historical allusions, and the use of fragmentation and modulations to make the building interesting.[4] Accomplished architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown, who was Venturi's wife, and Venturi wrote Learning from Las Vegas (1972), co-authored with Steven Izenour, in which they further developed their joint argument against modernism. They urged architects to take into consideration and to celebrate the existing architecture in a place, rather than to try to impose a visionary utopia from their own fantasies. This was in line with Scott Brown's belief that buildings should be built for people, and that architecture should listen to them. Scott Brown and Venturi argued that ornamental and decorative elements "accommodate existing needs for variety and communication". The book was instrumental in opening readers' eyes to new ways of thinking about buildings, as it drew from the entire history of architecture—both high-style and vernacular, both historic and modern—and In response to Mies van der Rohe's famous maxim "Less is more", Venturi responded, to "Less is a bore." Venturi cited the example of one of his wife's and his own buildings, Guild House, in Philadelphia, as examples of a new style that welcomed variety and historical references, without returning to academic revival of old styles.[5]

In Italy at about the same time, a similar revolt against strict modernism was being launched by the architect Aldo Rossi, who criticized the rebuilding of Italian cities and buildings destroyed during the war in the modernist style, which had had no relation to the architectural history, original street plans, or culture of the cities. Rossi insisted that cities be rebuilt in ways that preserved their historical fabric and local traditions. Similar ideas were and projects were put forward at the Venice Biennale in 1980. The call for a post-modern style was joined by Christian de Portzamparc in France and Ricardo Bofill in Spain, and in Japan by Arata Isozaki.[6]

Notable postmodern buildings and architects edit

Robert Venturi edit

Robert Venturi (1925–2018) was both a prominent theorist of postmodernism and an architect whose buildings illustrated his ideas. After studying at the American Academy in Rome, he worked in the offices of the modernists Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn until 1958, and then became a professor of architecture at Yale University. One of his first buildings was the Guild House in Philadelphia, built between 1960 and 1963, and a house for his mother in Chestnut Hill, in Philadelphia. These two houses became symbols of the postmodern movement. He went on to design, in the 1960s and 1970s, a series of buildings which took into account both historic precedents, and the ideas and forms existing in the real life of the cities around them.[7]

Michael Graves edit

Michael Graves (1934–2015) designed two of the most prominent buildings in the postmodern style, the Portland Building and the Denver Public Library. He later followed up his landmark buildings by designing large, low-cost retail stores for chains such as Target and J.C. Penney in the United States, which had a major influence on the design of retail stores in city centers and shopping malls. In his early career, he, along with the Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier, was considered one of the New York Five, a group of advocates of pure modern architecture, but in 1982 he turned toward postmodernism with the Portland Building, one of the first major structures in the style. The building has since been added to the National Register of Historic Places.[7]

Charles Moore edit

The most famous work of architect Charles Moore (1925–1993) is the Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans (1978), a public square composed of an exuberant collection of pieces of famous Italian Renaissance architecture. Drawing upon the Spanish Revival architecture of the city hall, Moore designed the Beverly Hills Civic Center in a mixture of Spanish Revival, Art Deco and postmodern styles. It includes courtyards, colonnades, promenades, and buildings, with both open and semi-enclosed spaces, stairways and balconies.[8]

The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley blends in with both the neo-Renaissance architecture of the Berkeley campus and with picturesque early 20th century wooden residential architecture in the neighboring Berkeley Hills.

Philip Johnson edit

Philip Johnson (1906–2005) began his career as a pure modernist. In 1935, he co-authored the famous catalog of the Museum of Modern Art exposition on the International Style, and studied with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer at Harvard. His Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut (1949), inspired by a similar house by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became an icon of the modernist movement. He worked with Mies on another iconic modernist project, the Seagrams Building in New York City. However, in the 1950s, he began to include certain playful and mannerist forms into his buildings, such as the Synagogue of Port Chester (1954–1956), with a vaulted plaster ceiling and narrow colored windows, and the Art Gallery of the University of Nebraska (1963). However, his major buildings in the 1970, such as IDS Center in Minneapolis (1973) and Pennzoil Place in Houston (1970–1976), were massive, sober, and entirely modernist.[9]

With the AT&T Building (now named 550 Madison Avenue) (1978–1982), Johnson turned dramatically toward postmodernism. The building's most prominent feature is a purely decorative top modeled after a piece of Chippendale furniture, and it has other more subtle references to historical architecture. His intention was to make the building stand out as a corporate symbol among the modernist skyscrapers around it in Manhattan, and he succeeded; it became the best-known of all postmodern buildings. Soon afterward he completed another postmodern project, PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1979–1984), a complex of six glass buildings for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. These buildings have neo-gothic features, including 231 glass spires, the largest of which is 82 feet (25 m) high.[10]

In 1995, he constructed a postmodern gatehouse pavilion for his residence, Glass House. The gatehouse, called "Da Monstra", is 23 feet high, made of gunite, or concrete shot from a hose, colored gray and red. It is a piece of sculptural architecture with no right angles and very few straight lines, a predecessor of the sculptural contemporary architecture of the 21st century.[10]

Frank Gehry edit

Frank Gehry (born 1929) was a major figure in postmodernist architecture, and is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary architecture. After studying at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and then the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he opened his own office in Los Angeles in 1962. Beginning in the 1970s, he began using prefabricated industrial materials to construct unusual forms on private houses in Los Angeles, including, in 1978, his own house in Santa Monica. He broke their traditional design giving them an unfinished and unstable look. His Schnabel House in Los Angeles (1986–1989) was broken into individual structures, with a different structure for every room. His Norton Residence in Venice, California (1983) built for a writer and former lifeguard, had a workroom modeled after a lifeguard tower overlooking the Santa Monica beach. In his early buildings, different parts of the buildings were often different bright colors. In the 1980s he began to receive major commissions, including the Loyola Law School (1978–1984), and the California Aerospace Museum (1982–1984), then international commissions in the Netherlands and Czech Republic. His "Dancing House" in Prague (1996), constructed with an undulating façade of plaques of concrete; parts of the walls were composed of glass, which revealed the concrete pillars underneath. His most prominent project was the Guggenheim Bilbao museum (1991–1997), clad in undulating skins of titanium, a material which until then was used mainly in building aircraft, which changed color depending upon the light. Gehry was often described as a proponent of deconstructivism, but he refused to accept that or any other label for his work.[11]

César Pelli edit

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    200 Liberty Street, formerly One World Financial Center in New York City (1986)
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    225 Liberty Street, formerly Two World Financial Center in New York City (1987)
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    200 Vesey Street, formerly Three World Financial Center, and American Express Tower, in New York City (1985)
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    250 Vesey Street, formerly Four World Financial Center in New York City (1986)
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    The Petronas Towers, also known as Petronas Twin Towers, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1996)
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    One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London, (1991)

César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks.[12] Two of his most notable projects are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur[13] and the World Financial Center in New York City.[14] The American Institute of Architects named him one of the ten most influential living American architects in 1991 and awarded him the AIA Gold Medal in 1995.[12][15] In 2008, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat presented him with The Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award.[16][17][a] In 1977, Pelli was selected to be the dean of the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, and served in that post until 1984.[22] Shortly after Pelli arrived at Yale, he won the commission to design the expansion and renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which resulted in the establishment of his own firm, Cesar Pelli & Associates.[23][22][24] The museum's expansion/renovation and the Museum of Modern Art Residential Tower were completed 1984; the World Financial Center in New York, which includes the grand public space of the Winter Garden, was completed in 1988.[14] Among other significant projects during this period are the Crile Clinic Building in Cleveland, Ohio, completed 1984; Herring Hall at Rice University in Houston, Texas (also completed 1984); completion in 1988 of the Green Building at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California; and the construction of the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1989.[25]

Pelli was named one of the ten most influential living American Architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991. In 1995, he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.[12][15] In May 2004, Pelli was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth where he designed Weber Music Hall.[26] In 2005, Pelli was honored with the Connecticut Architecture Foundation's Distinguished Leadership Award.[27]

Buildings designed by Pelli during this period are marked by further experimentation with a variety of materials (most prominently stainless steel) and his evolution of the skyscraper. One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in London (opened in 1991); Plaza Tower in Costa Mesa, California (completed 1991); and the NTT Headquarters in Tokyo (finished 1995) were preludes to a landmark project that Pelli designed for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[25] The Petronas Towers were completed in 1997, sheathed in stainless steel and reflecting Islamic design motifs.[28] The dual towers were the world's tallest buildings until 2004.[29] That year, Pelli received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of the Petronas Towers[30] Pelli's design for the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan, was completed 2005, the same year that Pelli's firm changed its name to Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects to reflect the growing roles of senior principals Fred W. Clarke and Pelli's son Rafael.[28]

Postmodernism in Europe edit

While postmodernism was best known as an American style, notable examples also appeared in Europe. In 1991 Robert Venturi completed the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London, which was modern but harmonized with the neoclassical architecture in and around Trafalgar Square. The German-born architect Helmut Jahn (1940–2021) constructed the Messeturm skyscraper in Frankfurt, Germany, a skyscraper adorned with the pointed spire of a medieval tower.[33]

One of the early postmodernist architects in Europe was James Stirling (1926–1992). He was a first critic of modernist architecture, blaming modernism for the destruction of British cities in the years after World War II. He designed colorful public housing projects in the postmodern style, as well as the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Germany (1977–1983) and the Kammertheater in Stuttgart (1977–1982), as well as the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University in the United States.[34]

One of the most visible examples of the postmodern style in Europe is the SIS Building in London by Terry Farrell (1994). The building, next to the Thames, is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service. In 1992, Deyan Sudjic described it in The Guardian as an "epitaph for the 'architecture of the eighties. ... It's a design which combines high seriousness in its classical composition with a possible unwitting sense of humour. The building could be interpreted equally plausibly as a Mayan temple or a piece of clanking art deco machinery'.[35]

The Italian architect Aldo Rossi (1931–1997) was known for his postmodern works in Europe, the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, the Netherlands, completed in 1995. Rossi was the first Italian to win the most prestigious award in architecture, the Pritzker Prize, in 1990. He was noted for combining rigorous and pure forms with evocative and symbolic elements taken from classical architecture.[36]

The Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill (born 1939) is also known for his early postmodern works, including a residential complex in the form of a castle with red walls at Calp on the coast of Spain (1973) and the social housing complex Les Espaces d'Abraxas (1983) in Noisy-le-Grand, France.

The works of Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000) are occasionally considered a special expression of postmodern architecture.

Postmodernism in Japan edit

The Japanese architects Tadao Ando (born 1941) and Isozaki Arata (1931–2022) introduced the ideas of the postmodern movement to Japan. Before opening his studio in Osaka in 1969, Ando traveled widely in North America, Africa and Europe, absorbing European and American styles, and had no formal architectural education, though he taught later at Yale University (1987), Columbia University (1988) and Harvard University (1990). Most of his buildings were constructed of raw concrete in cubic forms, but had wide openings which brought in light and views of the nature outside. Beginning in the 1990s, he began using wood as a building material, and introduced elements of traditional Japanese architecture, particularly in his design of the Museum of Wood Culture (1995). His Bennesse House in Naoshima, Kagama, has elements of classic Japanese architecture and a plan which subtly integrates the house into the natural landscape, He won the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in architecture, in 1995.[37]

Isozaki Arata worked two years in the studio of Kenzo Tange (1913–2005), before opening his own firm in Tokyo in 1963. His Museum of Contemporary Art in Nagi artfully combined wood, stone and metal, and joined three geometric forms, a cylinder, a half-cylinder and an extended block, to present three different artists in different settings. His Art Tower in Mito, Japan (1986–1990) featured a postmodernist Titanium and Stainless Steel tower that rotated upon its own axis. In addition to museums and cultural centers in Japan, he designed the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), (1981–1986), and the COSI Columbus science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio.[38]

Concert halls – Sydney Opera House and the Berlin Philharmonic edit

The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), is one of the most recognizable of all works of postwar architecture, and spans the transition from modernism to postmodernism. Construction began in 1957, but it was not completed until 1973 due to difficult engineering problems and growing costs. The giant shells of concrete soar over the platforms which form the roof of the hall itself. The architect resigned before the structure was completed, and the interior was designed largely after he left the project. The influence of the Sydney Opera House, can be seen in later concert halls with soaring roofs made of undulating stainless steel.[39]

One of the most influential buildings of the postmodern period was the Berlin Philharmonic, designed by Hans Scharoun (1893–1972) and completed in 1963. The exterior, with its sloping roofs and glided façade, was a distinct break from the earlier, more austere modernist concert halls. The real revolution was inside, where Scharoun placed the orchestra in the center, with the audience seated on terraces around it. He described it this way: "The form given to the hall is inspired by a landscape; In the center is a valley, at the bottom of which is found the orchestra. Around it on all sides rise the terraces, like vineyards. Corresponding to an earthly landscape, the ceiling above appears like a sky." Following his description, future concert halls, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry in Los Angeles, and the Philharmonie de Paris of Jean Nouvel (2015) used the term "vineyard style" and placed the orchestra in the center, instead of on a stage at the end of the hall.[40]

Characteristics edit

Complexity and contradiction edit

Postmodern architecture first emerged as a reaction against the doctrines of modern architecture, as expressed by modernist architects including Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In place of the modernist doctrines of simplicity as expressed by Mies in his famous "less is more;" and functionality, "form follows function" and the doctrine of Le Corbusier that "a house is a machine to live in," postmodernism, in the words Robert Venturi, offered complexity and contradiction. Postmodern buildings had curved forms, decorative elements, asymmetry, bright colours, and features often borrowed from earlier periods. Colours and textures were unrelated to the structure or function of the building. Rejecting the "puritanism" of modernism, it called for a return to ornament, and an accumulation of citations and collages borrowed from past styles. It borrowed freely from classical architecture, rococo, neoclassical architecture, the Vienna Secession, the British Arts and Crafts movement, the German Jugendstil.[49]

Postmodern buildings often combined astonishing new forms and features with seemingly contradictory elements of classicism. James Stirling the architect of the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Germany (1984), described the style as "representation and abstraction, monumental and informal, traditional and high-tech."[50]

Fragmentation edit

Postmodern architecture often breaks large buildings into several different structures and forms, sometimes representing different functions of those parts of the building. With the use of different materials and styles, a single building can appear like a small town or village. An example is the Abteiberg Museum by Hans Hollein in Mönchengladbach (1972–1974).[51]

Asymmetric and oblique forms edit

Asymmetric forms are one of the trademarks of postmodernism. In 1968, the French architect Claude Parent and philosopher Paul Virilio designed the church Saint-Bernadette-du-Banlay in Nevers, France, in the form of a massive block of concrete leaning to one side. Describing the form, they wrote: "a diagonal line on a white page can be a hill, or a mountain, or slope, an ascent, or a descent." Parent's buildings were inspired in part by concrete German blockhouses he discovered on the French coast which had slid down the cliffs, but were perfectly intact, with leaning walls and sloping floors. Postmodernist compositions are rarely symmetric, balanced and orderly. Oblique buildings which tilt, lean, and seem about to fall over are common.[52]

Polychromy edit

Color is an important element in many postmodern buildings; to give the façades variety and personality, colored glass is sometimes used, or ceramic tiles, or stone. The buildings of Mexican architect Luis Barragan offer bright sunlight color that give life to the forms.

Humor and "camp" edit

Humor is a particular feature of many postmodern buildings, particularly in the United States. An example is the Binoculars Building in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, designed by Frank Gehry in collaboration with the sculptor Claes Oldenburg (1991–2001). The gateway of the building is in the form of an enormous pair of binoculars; cars enter the garage passing under the binoculars. "Camp" humor was popular during the postmodern period; it was an ironic humor based on the premise that something could appear so bad (such as a building that appeared about to collapse) that it was good. In 1964, American critic Susan Sontag defined camp as a style which put its accent on the texture, the surface, and style to the detriment of the content, which adored exaggeration, and things which were not what they seemed. Postmodern architecture sometimes used the same sense of theatricality, sense of the absurd and exaggeration of forms.[53]

The aims of postmodernism, which include solving the problems of Modernism, communicating meanings with ambiguity, and sensitivity for the building's context, are surprisingly unified for a period of buildings designed by architects who largely never collaborated with each other. These aims do, however, leave room for diverse implementations as can be illustrated by the variety of buildings created during the movement.

Theories of postmodern architecture edit

The characteristics of postmodernism allow its aim to be expressed in diverse ways. These characteristics include the use of sculptural forms, ornaments, anthropomorphism and materials which perform trompe-l'œil. These physical characteristics are combined with conceptual characteristics of meaning. These characteristics of meaning include pluralism, double coding, flying buttresses and high ceilings, irony and paradox, and contextualism.

The sculptural forms, not necessarily organic, were created with much ardor. These can be seen in Hans Hollein's Abteiberg Museum (1972–1982). The building is made up of several building units, all very different. Each building's forms are nothing like the conforming rigid ones of Modernism. These forms are sculptural and are somewhat playful. These forms are not reduced to an absolute minimum; they are built and shaped for their own sake. The building units all fit together in a very organic way, which enhances the effect of the forms.

After many years of neglect, ornament returned. Frank Gehry's Venice Beach house, built in 1986, is littered with small ornamental details that would have been considered excessive and needless in Modernism. The Venice Beach House has an assembly of circular logs which exist mostly for decoration. The logs on top do have a minor purpose of holding up the window covers. However, the mere fact that they could have been replaced with a practically invisible nail, makes their exaggerated existence largely ornamental. The ornament in Michael Graves' Portland Municipal Services Building ("Portland Building") (1980) is even more prominent. The two obtruding triangular forms are largely ornamental. They exist for aesthetic or their own purpose.[citation needed]

Postmodernism, with its sensitivity to the building's context, did not exclude the needs of humans from the building. Carlo Scarpa's Brion Cemetery (1970–1972) exemplifies this. The human requirements of a cemetery is that it possesses a solemn nature, yet it must not cause the visitor to become depressed. Scarpa's cemetery achieves the solemn mood with the dull gray colors of the walls and neatly defined forms, but the bright green grass prevents this from being too overwhelming.[citation needed]

Postmodern buildings sometimes utilize trompe-l'œil, creating the illusion of space or depths where none actually exist, as has been done by painters since the Romans. The Portland Building (1980) has pillars represented on the side of the building that to some extent appear to be real, yet they are not.[citation needed]

The Hood Museum of Art (1981–1983) has a typical asymmetrical façade which was at the time prevalent throughout postmodern buildings.[citation needed]

Robert Venturi's Vanna Venturi House (1962–1964) illustrates the postmodernist aim of communicating a meaning and the characteristic of symbolism. The façade is, according to Venturi, a symbolic picture of a house, looking back to the 18th century. This is partly achieved through the use of symmetry and the arch over the entrance.[citation needed]

Perhaps the best example of irony in postmodern buildings is Charles Moore's Piazza d'Italia (1978). Moore quotes (architecturally) elements of Italian renaissance and Roman Antiquity. However, he does so with a twist. The irony comes when it is noted that the pillars are covered with steel. It is also paradoxical in the way he quotes Italian antiquity far away from the original in New Orleans.[54]

Double coding meant the buildings convey many meanings simultaneously. The Sony Building in New York does this very well. The building is a tall skyscraper which brings with it connotations of very modern technology. Yet, the top contradicts this. The top section conveys elements of classical antiquity. This double coding is a prevalent trait of postmodernism.[citation needed]

The characteristics of postmodernism were rather unified given their diverse appearances. The most notable among their characteristics is their playfully extravagant forms and the humour of the meanings the buildings conveyed.[citation needed]

Postmodern architecture as an international style – the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s – but did not become a movement until the late 1970s[55] and continues to influence present-day architecture. Postmodernity in architecture is said to be heralded by the return of "wit, ornament and reference" to architecture in response to the formalism of the International Style of modernism. As with many cultural movements, some of postmodernism's most pronounced and visible ideas can be seen in architecture. The functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the modernist style are replaced by diverse aesthetics: styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake, and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound. Perhaps most obviously, architects rediscovered past architectural ornament and forms which had been abstracted by the Modernist architects.

Postmodern architecture has also been described as neo-eclectic, where reference and ornament have returned to the façade, replacing the aggressively unornamented modern styles. This eclecticism is often combined with the use of non-orthogonal angles and unusual surfaces, most famously in the State Gallery of Stuttgart by James Stirling and the Piazza d'Italia by Charles Moore. The Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh has also been cited as being of postmodern vogue.[citation needed]

Modernist architects may regard postmodern buildings as vulgar, associated with a populist ethic, and sharing the design elements of shopping malls, cluttered with "gew-gaws". Postmodern architects may regard many modern buildings as soulless and bland, overly simplistic and abstract. This contrast was exemplified in the juxtaposition of the "whites" against the "grays," in which the "whites" were seeking to continue (or revive) the modernist tradition of purism and clarity, while the "grays" were embracing a more multifaceted cultural vision, seen in Robert Venturi's statement rejecting the "black or white" world view of modernism in favor of "black and white and sometimes gray." The divergence in opinions comes down to a difference in goals: modernism is rooted in minimal and true use of material as well as absence of ornament, while postmodernism is a rejection of strict rules set by the early modernists and seeks meaning and expression in the use of building techniques, forms, and stylistic references.

One building form that typifies the explorations of postmodernism is the traditional gable roof, in place of the iconic flat roof of modernism. Shedding water away from the center of the building, such a roof form always served a functional purpose in climates with rain and snow, and was a logical way to achieve larger spans with shorter structural members, but it was nevertheless relatively rare in Modernist buildings.[b] However, postmodernism's own modernist roots appear in some of the noteworthy examples of "reclaimed" roofs. For instance, Robert Venturi's Vanna Venturi House breaks the gable in the middle, denying the functionality of the form, and Philip Johnson's 1001 Fifth Avenue building in Manhattan[c] advertises a mansard roof form as an obviously flat, false front. Another alternative to the flat roofs of modernism would exaggerate a traditional roof to call even more attention to it, as when Kallmann McKinnell & Wood's American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, layers three tiers of low hipped roof forms one above another for an emphatic statement of shelter.

Relationship to previous styles edit

 
San Antonio Public Library, Texas
 
Ancient ruyi symbol adorning Taipei 101, Taiwan

A new trend became evident in the last quarter of the 20th century as some architects started to turn away from modern functionalism which they viewed as boring, and which some of the public considered unwelcoming and even unpleasant. These architects turned toward the past, quoting past aspects of various buildings and melding them together (even sometimes in an inharmonious manner) to create a new means of designing buildings. A vivid example of this new approach was that postmodernism saw the comeback of columns and other elements of premodern designs, sometimes adapting classical Greek and Roman examples.[d] In Modernism, the traditional column (as a design feature) was treated as a cylindrical pipe form, replaced by other technological means such as cantilevers, or masked completely by curtain wall façades. The revival of the column was an aesthetic, rather than a technological necessity. Modernist high-rise buildings had become in most instances monolithic, rejecting the concept of a stack of varied design elements for a single vocabulary from ground level to the top, in the most extreme cases even using a constant "footprint" (with no tapering or "wedding cake" design), with the building sometimes even suggesting the possibility of a single metallic extrusion directly from the ground, mostly by eliminating visual horizontal elements—this was seen most strictly in Minoru Yamasaki's World Trade Center buildings.

Another return was that of the "wit, ornament and reference" seen in older buildings in terra cotta decorative façades and bronze or stainless steel embellishments of the Beaux-Arts and Art Deco periods. In postmodern structures this was often achieved by placing contradictory quotes of previous building styles alongside each other, and even incorporating furniture stylistic references at a huge scale.

Contextualism, a trend in thinking in the later parts of 20th century, influences the ideologies of the postmodern movement in general. Contextualism is centered on the belief that all knowledge is "context-sensitive". This idea was even taken further to say that knowledge cannot be understood without considering its context. While noteworthy examples of modern architecture responded both subtly and directly to their physical context,[e] postmodern architecture often addressed the context in terms of the materials, forms and details of the buildings around it—the cultural context.

Roots of postmodernism edit

 
125 London Wall (1992) by Terry Farrell and Partners aimed to "repair the urban fabric" of the district, dominated by post-Blitz modernist schemes.

The postmodernist movement is often seen (especially in the US) as an American movement, starting in America around the 1960s–1970s and then spreading to Europe and the rest of the world, to remain right through to the present. In 1966, however, the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner spoke of a revived Expressionism as being "a new style, successor to my International Modern of the 1930s, a post-modern style", and included as examples Le Corbusier's work at Ronchamp and Chandigarh, Denys Lasdun at the Royal College of Physicians in London, Richard Sheppard at Churchill College, Cambridge, and James Stirling's and James Gowan's Leicester Engineering Building, as well as Philip Johnson's own guest house at New Canaan, Connecticut. Pevsner disapproved of these buildings for their self-expression and irrationalism, but he acknowledged them as "the legitimate style of the 1950s and 1960s" and defined their characteristics. The job of defining postmodernism was subsequently taken over by a younger generation who welcomed rather than rejected what they saw happening and, in the case of Robert Venturi, contributed to it.

The aims of postmodernism or late-modernism begin with its reaction to modernism; it tries to address the limitations of its predecessor. The list of aims is extended to include communicating ideas with the public often in a then humorous or witty way. Often, the communication is done by quoting extensively from past architectural styles, often many at once. In breaking away from modernism, it also strives to produce buildings that are sensitive to the context within which they are built.

Postmodernism has its origins in the perceived failure of modern architecture.[57] Its preoccupation with functionalism and economical building meant that ornaments were done away with and the buildings were cloaked in a stark rational appearance. Many felt the buildings failed to meet the human need for comfort both for body and for the eye, that modernism did not account for the desire for beauty. The problem worsened when some already monotonous apartment blocks degenerated into slums. In response, architects sought to reintroduce ornament, color, decoration and human scale to buildings. Form was no longer to be defined solely by its functional requirements or minimal appearance.

Changing pedagogies edit

Critics of the reductionism of modernism often noted the abandonment of the teaching of architectural history as a causal factor. The fact that a number of the major players in the shift away from modernism were trained at Princeton University's School of Architecture, where recourse to history continued to be a part of design training in the 1940s and 1950s, was significant. The increasing rise of interest in history had a profound impact on architectural education. History courses became more typical and regularized. With the demand for professors knowledgeable in the history of architecture, program were developed including the Advanced Masters-Level Course in the History and Theory of Architecture offered by Dalibor Vesely and Joseph Rykwert at the University of Essex in England between 1968 and 1978. It was the first of its kind.

Other programs followed suit, including several PhD programs in schools of architecture that arose to differentiate themselves from art history PhD programs, where architectural historians had previously trained. In the US, MIT and Cornell were the first, created in the mid-1970s, followed by Columbia, Berkeley, and Princeton. Among the founders of new architectural history programs were Bruno Zevi at the Institute for the History of Architecture in Venice, Stanford Anderson and Henry Millon at MIT, Alexander Tzonis at the Architectural Association, Anthony Vidler at Princeton, Manfredo Tafuri at the University of Venice, Kenneth Frampton at Columbia University, and Werner Oechslin and Kurt Forster at ETH Zürich.[58]

The creation of these programs was paralleled by the hiring, in the 1970s, of professionally trained historians by schools of architecture: Margaret Crawford (with a PhD from UCLA) at SCI-Arc; Elisabeth Grossman (PhD, Brown University) at Rhode Island School of Design; Christian Otto[59] (PhD, Columbia University) at Cornell University; Richard Chafee (PhD, Courtauld Institute) at Roger Williams University; and Howard Burns (MA Kings College) at Harvard, to name just a few examples. A second generation of scholars then emerged that began to extend these efforts in the direction of what is now called "theory": K. Michael Hays (PhD, MIT) at Harvard, Mark Wigley (PhD, Auckland University) at Princeton (now at Columbia University), and Beatriz Colomina (PhD, School of Architecture, Barcelona) at Princeton; Mark Jarzombek (PhD MIT) at Cornell (now at MIT), Jennifer Bloomer (PhD, Georgia Tech) at Iowa State and Catherine Ingraham (PhD, Johns Hopkins) now at Pratt Institute.

Postmodernism with its diversity possesses sensitivity to the building's context and history, and the client's requirements. The postmodernist architects often considered the general requirements of the urban buildings and their surroundings during the building's design. For example, in Frank Gehry's Venice Beach House, the neighboring houses have a similar bright flat color. This vernacular sensitivity is often evident, but other times the designs respond to more high-style neighbors. James Stirling's Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University features a rounded corner and striped brick patterning that relate to the form and decoration of the polychromatic Victorian Memorial Hall across the street, although in neither case is the element imitative or historicist.

Subsequent movements edit

Following the postmodern riposte against modernism, various trends in architecture established, though not necessarily following principles of postmodernism. Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture promote a sustainable approach toward construction, that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition and classical design.[60][61] This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl.[62] Both trends started in the 1980s. The Driehaus Architecture Prize is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture, and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of the modernist Pritzker Prize.[63] Some postmodern architects, such as Robert A. M. Stern and Albert, Righter, & Tittman, have moved from postmodern design to new interpretations of traditional architecture.[57]

The Neo-Andean style takes a similar approach to ornamentation as broader postmodernism. First brought to attention in 1996, the style is notable for being designed and championed by indigenous Peruvians and Bolivians, and takes inspiration from ancient Inca and Andean designs.[64][65]

Postmodern architects edit

Some of the best-known and influential architects in the postmodern style are:

Other examples of postmodern architecture edit

 
Albuquerque Plaza in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum completed 1990

See also edit

Explanatory footnotes edit

  1. ^ Pelli studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán.[18][19] He graduated in 1949, after which he designed low-cost housing projects.[20] In 1952, he attended the University of Illinois School of Architecture in the United States for advanced study in architecture, and received his Master of Science in Architecture degree in 1954.[14][21]
  2. ^ These Modernist buildings were, after all, "machines for living," according to LeCorbusier, and machines did not usually have gabled roofs.
  3. ^ 1001 Fifth Avenue building in Manhattan is not to be confused with Portland's Congress Center, once referred to by the same name.
  4. ^ But postmodernism did not advocate simply recreating classical designs, as had been done in neoclassical architecture.
  5. ^ Modern architectural response analyzed by Thomas Schumacher in "Contextualism: Urban Ideals and Deformations", and by Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter in Collage City[56]

References edit

  1. ^ Hopkins 2014, p. 200.
  2. ^ Katherine McGrath (18 February 2020). "15 Playfully Bold Examples of Postmodern Architecture". Architectural Digest.
  3. ^ Cited in review of Robert Venturi's "Complexities and Contradiction in Architecture" by Martino Stierli, in Architectural Review, 22 December 2016
  4. ^ Ghirardo 1997, p. 18.
  5. ^ Ghirardo 1997, p. 17.
  6. ^ Ghirardo 1997, pp. 17–23.
  7. ^ a b Taschen 2016, p. 638.
  8. ^ Allen John Scott, Edward W. Soja, The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century, Los Angeles,
  9. ^ Taschen 2016, pp. 314–317.
  10. ^ a b Taschen 2016, p. 317.
  11. ^ Taschen 2016, pp. 220–223.
  12. ^ a b c "Master of the Schuylkill – Architect César Pelli". Patriot Harbor Lines. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  13. ^ "A Conversation with Cesar Pelli". New Haven Living. July 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c "Cesar Pelli: Connections". National Building Museum. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  15. ^ a b Benjamin Forgey. "COMSAT Alumni & Retirees Association". COMARA.org. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  16. ^ "2008 Lynn S. Beedle Award Winner". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  17. ^ "César Pelli: 'I avoided a style'". La Gaceta. June 10, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  18. ^ Marcelo Gardinetti (June 2012). "César Pelli Tucuman". Technne. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  19. ^ Charles E. Gagit Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
  20. ^ Murphy, Brian (July 19, 2019). "César Pelli, celebrated architect of sweep and harmony, dies at 92". The Washington Post.
  21. ^ "Cesar Pelli gives convocation address at University of Illinois". Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. May 17, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  22. ^ a b Charles E. Gagit, Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
  23. ^ Nicholas Von Hoffman (February 28, 2005). "Cesar Pelli Architecture and Design". Architectural Digest. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  24. ^ Paola Singer (May 10, 2016). "César Pelli and His Nonchalant Architecture". Surface Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  25. ^ a b Michael J. Crosbie. "Introduction: A Conversation with Cesar Pelli." Cesar Pelli: Selected and Current Works. Mulgrave: Images Publishing Group, 1993.
  26. ^ "UMD to honor Weber Music Hall architect at commencement May 13". Budgeteer News. April 30, 2004. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  27. ^ Connecticut Architecture Foundation [1] October 9, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  28. ^ a b Michael J. Crosbie. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, 2013.
  29. ^ "Petronas Twin Towers". Culture Now. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  30. ^ Linda Hales (November 27, 2004). "The Spirit Behind the Aga Khan Awards". Washington Post. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  31. ^ Postmodern landscape architecture: theoretical, compositional characteristics and design elements with the analysis of 25 projects. Anna EPLÉNYI, Brigitta OLÁH-CHRISTIAN 2015
  32. ^ Nieuw ontwerp Schouwburgplein bekend 12.02.10 https://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/18748/nieuw-ontwerp-schouwburgplein-bekend
  33. ^ De Bure 2015, p. 48.
  34. ^ Taschen 2016, p. 604).
  35. ^ The Guardian, London, June 19, 1992
  36. ^ Prima 2006, p. 353.
  37. ^ Taschen 2016, pp. 24–27.
  38. ^ Taschen 2016, pp. 304–305.
  39. ^ Taschen 2016, p. 634.
  40. ^ De Bure 2015, p. 160.
  41. ^ Hopkins, Owen (2020). Postmodern Architecture - Less is a Bore. Phaidon. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7148-7812-6.
  42. ^ Hugh Honour, John Fleming (2009). A World History of Art - Revised Seventh Edition. Laurence King Publishing. p. 867. ISBN 978-1-85669-584-8.
  43. ^ Hall, William (2019). Stone. Phaidon. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-7148-7925-3.
  44. ^ Gura, Judith (2017). Postmodern Design Complete. Thames & Hudson. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-500-51914-1.
  45. ^ Hopkins, Owen (2020). Postmodern Architecture - Less is a Bore. Phaidon. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-7148-7812-6.
  46. ^ Hopkins 2014, p. 73.
  47. ^ Gura, Judith (2017). Postmodern Design Complete. Thames & Hudson. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-500-51914-1.
  48. ^ Hopkins, Owen (2020). Postmodern Architecture - Less is a Bore. Phaidon. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7148-7812-6.
  49. ^ De Bure, 2015 & pages 47–49.
  50. ^ Hopkins 2014, p. 202.
  51. ^ Hopkins 2014, pp. 200–201.
  52. ^ De Bure 2015, p. 161.
  53. ^ Hopkins 2014, p. 203.
  54. ^ Heinrich Klotz, "The History of Postmodern Architecture", MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1988
  55. ^ Pardis, Tom W. (ed.). . Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-09-17 – via jan.ucc.nau.edu.
    site moved to Paradis, Tom W. (ed.). "American Architectural Styles: An Introduction". Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  56. ^ Nesbitt, Kate (1996). Theorizing A New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 294. ISBN 1-56898-053-1.
  57. ^ a b McAlester, Virginia Savage (2013). A Field Guide to American Houses. Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 664–665, 668–669. ISBN 978-1-4000-4359-0.
  58. ^ Mark Jarzombek, "The Disciplinary Dislocations of Architectural History," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 58/3 (September 1999), p. 489. See also other articles in that issue by Eve Blau, Stanford Anderson, Alina Payne, Daniel Bluestone, Jeon-Louis Cohen and others.
  59. ^ Cornell University Dept. of Architecture website[2]
  60. ^ Charter of the New Urbanism
  61. ^ . Traditional Architecture Group. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  62. ^ Issue Brief: Smart-Growth: Building Livable Communities. American Institute of Architects. Retrieved on 2014-03-23.
  63. ^ "Driehaus Prize". Notre Dame School of Architecture. Retrieved 23 March 2014. Together, the $200,000 Driehaus Prize and the $50,000 Reed Award represent the most significant recognition for classicism in the contemporary built environment
  64. ^ "United States Embassy Chancery Building". Architectural Record. 184: 84. 1996.
  65. ^ Flores, Paola (5 July 2014). "From street stall to mini-mansion". Toronto Star.
  66. ^ Caniglia, Julie (December 1999). "Cathedral of Hope". Out. Here Publishing. p. 46. ISSN 1062-7928.

General and cited references edit

  • Bony, Anne (2012). L'Architecture Moderne (in French). Larousse. ISBN 978-2-03-587641-6.
  • De Bure, Gilles (2015). Architecture contemporaine- le guide (in French). Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-08-134385-6.
  • Ghirardo, Diane (1996). Architecture after Modernism. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 2-87811-123-0.
  • Hopkins, Owen (2014). Les styles en architecture- guide visuel (in French). Dunod. ISBN 978-2-10-070689-1.
  • Klotz, Heinrich (1998). History of Post-Modern Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-11123-3.
  • Poisson, Michel (2009). 1000 Immeubles et monuments de Paris (in French). Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-84096-539-8.
  • Prina, Francesca; Demaratini, Demartini (2006). Petite encyclopédie de l'architecture (in French). Solar. ISBN 2-263-04096-X.
  • Taschen, Aurelia and Balthazar (2016). L'Architecture Moderne de A à Z (in French). Bibliotheca Universalis. ISBN 978-3-8365-5630-9.
  • Robert Venturi (1977). Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-22015-6.

Further reading edit

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Postmodern architecture and 21st-century architecture.
  • About Postmodernism
  • Postmodern architecture at archINFORM
  • Gallery of Postmodern Houses
  • at Great Buildings Online (archived 10 January 2007)

February 16, 2024
postmodern, architecture, style, movement, which, emerged, late, 1950s, reaction, against, austerity, formality, lack, variety, modern, architecture, particularly, international, style, advocated, philip, johnson, henry, russell, hitchcock, movement, introduce. Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the late 1950s 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 Russell Hitchcock The movement was introduced by the architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown and architectural theorist Robert Venturi in their 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas The style flourished from the 1980s through the 1990s particularly in the work of Scott Brown amp Venturi Philip Johnson Charles Moore and Michael Graves In the late 1990s it divided into a multitude of new tendencies including high tech architecture neo futurism new classical architecture and deconstructivism 1 However some buildings built after this period are still considered postmodern 2 Postmodern architectureFrom top left to right Vanna Venturi House 1964 by Robert Venturi Team Disney building in Burbank California 1990 by Michael Graves Guild House 1963 in Philadelphia by Robert Venturi 550 Madison Avenue 1984 by Philip Johnson to One PPG Place 1984 in Pittsburgh by Philip Johnson Piazza d Italia New Orleans by Charles Moore 1978 Years activeLate 1950s early to mid 2000sCountryInternationalInfluencesInternational style and modern Contents 1 Origins 2 Notable postmodern buildings and architects 2 1 Robert Venturi 2 2 Michael Graves 2 3 Charles Moore 2 4 Philip Johnson 2 5 Frank Gehry 2 6 Cesar Pelli 3 Postmodernism in Europe 4 Postmodernism in Japan 5 Concert halls Sydney Opera House and the Berlin Philharmonic 6 Characteristics 6 1 Complexity and contradiction 6 2 Fragmentation 6 3 Asymmetric and oblique forms 6 4 Polychromy 6 5 Humor and camp 7 Theories of postmodern architecture 8 Relationship to previous styles 9 Roots of postmodernism 10 Changing pedagogies 11 Subsequent movements 12 Postmodern architects 13 Other examples of postmodern architecture 14 See also 15 Explanatory footnotes 16 References 17 General and cited references 18 Further reading 19 External linksOrigins editPostmodern architecture emerged in the late 1950s as a reaction against the perceived shortcomings of modern architecture particularly its rigid doctrines its uniformity its lack of ornament and its habit of ignoring the history and culture of the cities where it appeared In 1966 Venturi formalized the movement in his book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture Venturi summarized the kind of architecture he wanted to see replace modernism I speak of a complex and contradictory architecture based on the richness and ambiguity of modern experience including that experience which is inherent in art I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainties I like elements which are hybrid rather than pure compromising rather than clean accommodating rather than excluding I am for messy vitality over obvious unity I prefer both and to either or black and white and sometimes gray to black or white An architecture of complexity and contradiction must embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion 3 In place of the functional doctrines of modernism Venturi proposed giving primary emphasis to the facade incorporating historical elements a subtle use of unusual materials and historical allusions and the use of fragmentation and modulations to make the building interesting 4 Accomplished architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown who was Venturi s wife and Venturi wrote Learning from Las Vegas 1972 co authored with Steven Izenour in which they further developed their joint argument against modernism They urged architects to take into consideration and to celebrate the existing architecture in a place rather than to try to impose a visionary utopia from their own fantasies This was in line with Scott Brown s belief that buildings should be built for people and that architecture should listen to them Scott Brown and Venturi argued that ornamental and decorative elements accommodate existing needs for variety and communication The book was instrumental in opening readers eyes to new ways of thinking about buildings as it drew from the entire history of architecture both high style and vernacular both historic and modern and In response to Mies van der Rohe s famous maxim Less is more Venturi responded to Less is a bore Venturi cited the example of one of his wife s and his own buildings Guild House in Philadelphia as examples of a new style that welcomed variety and historical references without returning to academic revival of old styles 5 In Italy at about the same time a similar revolt against strict modernism was being launched by the architect Aldo Rossi who criticized the rebuilding of Italian cities and buildings destroyed during the war in the modernist style which had had no relation to the architectural history original street plans or culture of the cities Rossi insisted that cities be rebuilt in ways that preserved their historical fabric and local traditions Similar ideas were and projects were put forward at the Venice Biennale in 1980 The call for a post modern style was joined by Christian de Portzamparc in France and Ricardo Bofill in Spain and in Japan by Arata Isozaki 6 Notable postmodern buildings and architects editRobert Venturi edit nbsp The Guild House in Philadelphia by Robert Venturi 1960 1963 nbsp Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi 1964 nbsp Fire Station Number 4 in Columbus Indiana 1968 nbsp Wisma 46 in Jakarta by Robert Venturi 1996 nbsp Carson Hall Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire nbsp Trabant Center at the University of Delaware in Newark DE 1996 nbsp Episcopal Academy Chapel nbsp Frist Campus Center at Princeton University 2000 Robert Venturi 1925 2018 was both a prominent theorist of postmodernism and an architect whose buildings illustrated his ideas After studying at the American Academy in Rome he worked in the offices of the modernists Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn until 1958 and then became a professor of architecture at Yale University One of his first buildings was the Guild House in Philadelphia built between 1960 and 1963 and a house for his mother in Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia These two houses became symbols of the postmodern movement He went on to design in the 1960s and 1970s a series of buildings which took into account both historic precedents and the ideas and forms existing in the real life of the cities around them 7 Michael Graves edit nbsp Portland Building by Michael Graves 1982 nbsp Humana Building in Louisville Kentucky 1982 nbsp Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel in Antwerp 1993 nbsp The Denver Public Library by Michael Graves 1995 nbsp IFC building in Washington D C 1996 nbsp Castalia building in The Hague 1998 Michael Graves 1934 2015 designed two of the most prominent buildings in the postmodern style the Portland Building and the Denver Public Library He later followed up his landmark buildings by designing large low cost retail stores for chains such as Target and J C Penney in the United States which had a major influence on the design of retail stores in city centers and shopping malls In his early career he along with the Peter Eisenman Charles Gwathmey John Hejduk and Richard Meier was considered one of the New York Five a group of advocates of pure modern architecture but in 1982 he turned toward postmodernism with the Portland Building one of the first major structures in the style The building has since been added to the National Register of Historic Places 7 Charles Moore edit nbsp Piazza d Italia in New Orleans by Charles Moore completed 1978 nbsp Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley by Charles Moore 1992 nbsp National Dong Hwa University by Charles Moore 1992 nbsp Beverly Hills Civic Center by Charles Moore 1990 The most famous work of architect Charles Moore 1925 1993 is the Piazza d Italia in New Orleans 1978 a public square composed of an exuberant collection of pieces of famous Italian Renaissance architecture Drawing upon the Spanish Revival architecture of the city hall Moore designed the Beverly Hills Civic Center in a mixture of Spanish Revival Art Deco and postmodern styles It includes courtyards colonnades promenades and buildings with both open and semi enclosed spaces stairways and balconies 8 The Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley blends in with both the neo Renaissance architecture of the Berkeley campus and with picturesque early 20th century wooden residential architecture in the neighboring Berkeley Hills Philip Johnson edit nbsp 550 Madison Avenue Formerly AT amp T Building in Manhattan New York City by Philip Johnson 1982 nbsp Bank of America Center in Houston Texas by Philip Johnson 1983 nbsp PPG Place Pittsburgh Pennsylvania by Philip Johnson 1979 1984 nbsp 500 Boylston Street building in Boston Massachusetts by Philip Johnson 1989 nbsp 400 West Market in Louisville Kentucky by Philip Johnson 1993 nbsp Glass house Pavilion for the Glass House in New Canaan Connecticut 1995 Philip Johnson 1906 2005 began his career as a pure modernist In 1935 he co authored the famous catalog of the Museum of Modern Art exposition on the International Style and studied with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer at Harvard His Glass House in New Canaan Connecticut 1949 inspired by a similar house by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became an icon of the modernist movement He worked with Mies on another iconic modernist project the Seagrams Building in New York City However in the 1950s he began to include certain playful and mannerist forms into his buildings such as the Synagogue of Port Chester 1954 1956 with a vaulted plaster ceiling and narrow colored windows and the Art Gallery of the University of Nebraska 1963 However his major buildings in the 1970 such as IDS Center in Minneapolis 1973 and Pennzoil Place in Houston 1970 1976 were massive sober and entirely modernist 9 With the AT amp T Building now named 550 Madison Avenue 1978 1982 Johnson turned dramatically toward postmodernism The building s most prominent feature is a purely decorative top modeled after a piece of Chippendale furniture and it has other more subtle references to historical architecture His intention was to make the building stand out as a corporate symbol among the modernist skyscrapers around it in Manhattan and he succeeded it became the best known of all postmodern buildings Soon afterward he completed another postmodern project PPG Place in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 1979 1984 a complex of six glass buildings for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company These buildings have neo gothic features including 231 glass spires the largest of which is 82 feet 25 m high 10 In 1995 he constructed a postmodern gatehouse pavilion for his residence Glass House The gatehouse called Da Monstra is 23 feet high made of gunite or concrete shot from a hose colored gray and red It is a piece of sculptural architecture with no right angles and very few straight lines a predecessor of the sculptural contemporary architecture of the 21st century 10 Frank Gehry edit nbsp Gehry residence in Santa Monica 1978 nbsp Norton Beach House Venice California 1983 nbsp Dancing House in Prague 1996 nbsp Guggenheim Bilbao Bilbao Spain 1997 Frank Gehry born 1929 was a major figure in postmodernist architecture and is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary architecture After studying at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and then the Harvard Graduate School of Design he opened his own office in Los Angeles in 1962 Beginning in the 1970s he began using prefabricated industrial materials to construct unusual forms on private houses in Los Angeles including in 1978 his own house in Santa Monica He broke their traditional design giving them an unfinished and unstable look His Schnabel House in Los Angeles 1986 1989 was broken into individual structures with a different structure for every room His Norton Residence in Venice California 1983 built for a writer and former lifeguard had a workroom modeled after a lifeguard tower overlooking the Santa Monica beach In his early buildings different parts of the buildings were often different bright colors In the 1980s he began to receive major commissions including the Loyola Law School 1978 1984 and the California Aerospace Museum 1982 1984 then international commissions in the Netherlands and Czech Republic His Dancing House in Prague 1996 constructed with an undulating facade of plaques of concrete parts of the walls were composed of glass which revealed the concrete pillars underneath His most prominent project was the Guggenheim Bilbao museum 1991 1997 clad in undulating skins of titanium a material which until then was used mainly in building aircraft which changed color depending upon the light Gehry was often described as a proponent of deconstructivism but he refused to accept that or any other label for his work 11 Cesar Pelli edit nbsp 200 Liberty Street formerly One World Financial Center in New York City 1986 nbsp 225 Liberty Street formerly Two World Financial Center in New York City 1987 nbsp 200 Vesey Street formerly Three World Financial Center and American Express Tower in New York City 1985 nbsp 250 Vesey Street formerly Four World Financial Center in New York City 1986 nbsp The Petronas Towers also known as Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 1996 nbsp One Canada Square in Canary Wharf London 1991 Cesar Pelli October 12 1926 July 19 2019 was an Argentine architect who designed some of the world s tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks 12 Two of his most notable projects are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur 13 and the World Financial Center in New York City 14 The American Institute of Architects named him one of the ten most influential living American architects in 1991 and awarded him the AIA Gold Medal in 1995 12 15 In 2008 the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat presented him with The Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award 16 17 a In 1977 Pelli was selected to be the dean of the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven Connecticut and served in that post until 1984 22 Shortly after Pelli arrived at Yale he won the commission to design the expansion and renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York which resulted in the establishment of his own firm Cesar Pelli amp Associates 23 22 24 The museum s expansion renovation and the Museum of Modern Art Residential Tower were completed 1984 the World Financial Center in New York which includes the grand public space of the Winter Garden was completed in 1988 14 Among other significant projects during this period are the Crile Clinic Building in Cleveland Ohio completed 1984 Herring Hall at Rice University in Houston Texas also completed 1984 completion in 1988 of the Green Building at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood California and the construction of the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis Minnesota in 1989 25 Pelli was named one of the ten most influential living American Architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991 In 1995 he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal 12 15 In May 2004 Pelli was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth where he designed Weber Music Hall 26 In 2005 Pelli was honored with the Connecticut Architecture Foundation s Distinguished Leadership Award 27 Buildings designed by Pelli during this period are marked by further experimentation with a variety of materials most prominently stainless steel and his evolution of the skyscraper One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in London opened in 1991 Plaza Tower in Costa Mesa California completed 1991 and the NTT Headquarters in Tokyo finished 1995 were preludes to a landmark project that Pelli designed for Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 25 The Petronas Towers were completed in 1997 sheathed in stainless steel and reflecting Islamic design motifs 28 The dual towers were the world s tallest buildings until 2004 29 That year Pelli received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of the Petronas Towers 30 Pelli s design for the National Museum of Art in Osaka Japan was completed 2005 the same year that Pelli s firm changed its name to Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects to reflect the growing roles of senior principals Fred W Clarke and Pelli s son Rafael 28 Postmodernism in Europe edit nbsp The Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart Germany by James Stirling 1977 1983 nbsp Hanse Viertel a store gallery in Hamburg Northern Germany by Gerkan Marg and Partners 1980 nbsp State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart Germany by James Stirling 1980s nbsp Amoreiras towers in Lisbon by Tomas Taveira 1985 nbsp No 1 Poultry an office building and shops in London by James Stirling completed 1997 nbsp Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London by Robert Venturi 1991 nbsp Messeturm in Frankfurt Germany by Helmut Jahn completed 1991 nbsp Top of the Messeturm in Frankfurt nbsp The SIS Building in London UK by Terry Farrell 1994 nbsp The Groninger Museum Netherlands by Alessandro Mendini et al completed 1994 nbsp Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam Netherlands by Adriaan Geuze 1996 It is an example of the revitalization of a square that was once empty and dominated by concrete 31 The planned large greenery of the area is visible 32 nbsp Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow Poland by Arata Isozaki and Krzysztof Ingarden 1994 nbsp The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht the Netherlands by Aldo Rossi 1995 nbsp Antigone Montpellier France by Ricardo Bofill completed 1992While postmodernism was best known as an American style notable examples also appeared in Europe In 1991 Robert Venturi completed the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London which was modern but harmonized with the neoclassical architecture in and around Trafalgar Square The German born architect Helmut Jahn 1940 2021 constructed the Messeturm skyscraper in Frankfurt Germany a skyscraper adorned with the pointed spire of a medieval tower 33 One of the early postmodernist architects in Europe was James Stirling 1926 1992 He was a first critic of modernist architecture blaming modernism for the destruction of British cities in the years after World War II He designed colorful public housing projects in the postmodern style as well as the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart Germany 1977 1983 and the Kammertheater in Stuttgart 1977 1982 as well as the Arthur M Sackler Museum at Harvard University in the United States 34 One of the most visible examples of the postmodern style in Europe is the SIS Building in London by Terry Farrell 1994 The building next to the Thames is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service In 1992 Deyan Sudjic described it in The Guardian as an epitaph for the architecture of the eighties It s a design which combines high seriousness in its classical composition with a possible unwitting sense of humour The building could be interpreted equally plausibly as a Mayan temple or a piece of clanking art deco machinery 35 The Italian architect Aldo Rossi 1931 1997 was known for his postmodern works in Europe the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht the Netherlands completed in 1995 Rossi was the first Italian to win the most prestigious award in architecture the Pritzker Prize in 1990 He was noted for combining rigorous and pure forms with evocative and symbolic elements taken from classical architecture 36 The Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill born 1939 is also known for his early postmodern works including a residential complex in the form of a castle with red walls at Calp on the coast of Spain 1973 and the social housing complex Les Espaces d Abraxas 1983 in Noisy le Grand France The works of Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser 1928 2000 are occasionally considered a special expression of postmodern architecture Postmodernism in Japan edit nbsp The Museum of Wood Culture by Tadao Ando 1995 nbsp Bennesse House in Naoshima Kagawa Japan by Tadao Ando nbsp Art Tower in Mito Ibaraki by Isozaki Arata 1986 1990 nbsp Kyoto Concert Hall in Kyoto Japan by Isozaki Arata 1995 nbsp Kyoto Train Station in Kyoto by Hiroshi Hara 1991 1997 The Japanese architects Tadao Ando born 1941 and Isozaki Arata 1931 2022 introduced the ideas of the postmodern movement to Japan Before opening his studio in Osaka in 1969 Ando traveled widely in North America Africa and Europe absorbing European and American styles and had no formal architectural education though he taught later at Yale University 1987 Columbia University 1988 and Harvard University 1990 Most of his buildings were constructed of raw concrete in cubic forms but had wide openings which brought in light and views of the nature outside Beginning in the 1990s he began using wood as a building material and introduced elements of traditional Japanese architecture particularly in his design of the Museum of Wood Culture 1995 His Bennesse House in Naoshima Kagama has elements of classic Japanese architecture and a plan which subtly integrates the house into the natural landscape He won the Pritzker Prize the most prestigious award in architecture in 1995 37 Isozaki Arata worked two years in the studio of Kenzo Tange 1913 2005 before opening his own firm in Tokyo in 1963 His Museum of Contemporary Art in Nagi artfully combined wood stone and metal and joined three geometric forms a cylinder a half cylinder and an extended block to present three different artists in different settings His Art Tower in Mito Japan 1986 1990 featured a postmodernist Titanium and Stainless Steel tower that rotated upon its own axis In addition to museums and cultural centers in Japan he designed the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles MOCA 1981 1986 and the COSI Columbus science museum and research center in Columbus Ohio 38 Concert halls Sydney Opera House and the Berlin Philharmonic edit nbsp The Sydney Opera House by Jorn Utzon 1957 1973 nbsp Facade of the Berliner Philharmonie by Hans Scharoun 1963 nbsp Vineyard Style The orchestra surrounded by the audience in the Berlin PhilharmonicThe Sydney Opera House in Sydney Australia by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon 1918 2008 is one of the most recognizable of all works of postwar architecture and spans the transition from modernism to postmodernism Construction began in 1957 but it was not completed until 1973 due to difficult engineering problems and growing costs The giant shells of concrete soar over the platforms which form the roof of the hall itself The architect resigned before the structure was completed and the interior was designed largely after he left the project The influence of the Sydney Opera House can be seen in later concert halls with soaring roofs made of undulating stainless steel 39 One of the most influential buildings of the postmodern period was the Berlin Philharmonic designed by Hans Scharoun 1893 1972 and completed in 1963 The exterior with its sloping roofs and glided facade was a distinct break from the earlier more austere modernist concert halls The real revolution was inside where Scharoun placed the orchestra in the center with the audience seated on terraces around it He described it this way The form given to the hall is inspired by a landscape In the center is a valley at the bottom of which is found the orchestra Around it on all sides rise the terraces like vineyards Corresponding to an earthly landscape the ceiling above appears like a sky Following his description future concert halls such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry in Los Angeles and the Philharmonie de Paris of Jean Nouvel 2015 used the term vineyard style and placed the orchestra in the center instead of on a stage at the end of the hall 40 Characteristics edit nbsp Fragmentation Abteiberg Museum Monchengladbach Germany by Hans Hollein 1972 1982 41 nbsp Camp Piazza d Italia New Orleans US by Charles Moore 1978 1979 42 nbsp Contradiction in this case the mix between monumental curving forms columns bossages but also other Classical elements and High Tech glazing with highly saturated colours Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Germany by James Stirling 1984 43 nbsp Stripes on facades No 1 Poultry London by James Stirling designed in 1988 but built in 1997 44 nbsp Quotations uses of elements and ornaments taken from pre Modernist styles often highly simplified Dolphin Hotel Orlando Florida US with urn tops that are reminiscent of urns that decorate corners tops and roof railings of Classical buildings and furniture by Michael Graves 1989 45 nbsp Assymetry Dancing House Prague the Czech Republic by Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry 1992 1996 nbsp Complexity Groninger Museum Groningen the Netherlands by Alessandro Mendini with Michele de Lucci Philippe Starck and Coop Himmelb l au 1994 46 nbsp Polychromy and highly saturated colours Main hall of the Judge Business School University of Cambridge England by John Outram 1995 47 nbsp Irony Headquarter of The Longaberger Company Newark Ohio US by NBBJ 1997 48 Complexity and contradiction edit Postmodern architecture first emerged as a reaction against the doctrines of modern architecture as expressed by modernist architects including Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe In place of the modernist doctrines of simplicity as expressed by Mies in his famous less is more and functionality form follows function and the doctrine of Le Corbusier that a house is a machine to live in postmodernism in the words Robert Venturi offered complexity and contradiction Postmodern buildings had curved forms decorative elements asymmetry bright colours and features often borrowed from earlier periods Colours and textures were unrelated to the structure or function of the building Rejecting the puritanism of modernism it called for a return to ornament and an accumulation of citations and collages borrowed from past styles It borrowed freely from classical architecture rococo neoclassical architecture the Vienna Secession the British Arts and Crafts movement the German Jugendstil 49 Postmodern buildings often combined astonishing new forms and features with seemingly contradictory elements of classicism James Stirling the architect of the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart Germany 1984 described the style as representation and abstraction monumental and informal traditional and high tech 50 Fragmentation edit Postmodern architecture often breaks large buildings into several different structures and forms sometimes representing different functions of those parts of the building With the use of different materials and styles a single building can appear like a small town or village An example is the Abteiberg Museum by Hans Hollein in Monchengladbach 1972 1974 51 Asymmetric and oblique forms edit Asymmetric forms are one of the trademarks of postmodernism In 1968 the French architect Claude Parent and philosopher Paul Virilio designed the church Saint Bernadette du Banlay in Nevers France in the form of a massive block of concrete leaning to one side Describing the form they wrote a diagonal line on a white page can be a hill or a mountain or slope an ascent or a descent Parent s buildings were inspired in part by concrete German blockhouses he discovered on the French coast which had slid down the cliffs but were perfectly intact with leaning walls and sloping floors Postmodernist compositions are rarely symmetric balanced and orderly Oblique buildings which tilt lean and seem about to fall over are common 52 Polychromy edit Color is an important element in many postmodern buildings to give the facades variety and personality colored glass is sometimes used or ceramic tiles or stone The buildings of Mexican architect Luis Barragan offer bright sunlight color that give life to the forms Humor and camp edit Humor is a particular feature of many postmodern buildings particularly in the United States An example is the Binoculars Building in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles designed by Frank Gehry in collaboration with the sculptor Claes Oldenburg 1991 2001 The gateway of the building is in the form of an enormous pair of binoculars cars enter the garage passing under the binoculars Camp humor was popular during the postmodern period it was an ironic humor based on the premise that something could appear so bad such as a building that appeared about to collapse that it was good In 1964 American critic Susan Sontag defined camp as a style which put its accent on the texture the surface and style to the detriment of the content which adored exaggeration and things which were not what they seemed Postmodern architecture sometimes used the same sense of theatricality sense of the absurd and exaggeration of forms 53 The aims of postmodernism which include solving the problems of Modernism communicating meanings with ambiguity and sensitivity for the building s context are surprisingly unified for a period of buildings designed by architects who largely never collaborated with each other These aims do however leave room for diverse implementations as can be illustrated by the variety of buildings created during the movement Theories of postmodern architecture editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message The characteristics of postmodernism allow its aim to be expressed in diverse ways These characteristics include the use of sculptural forms ornaments anthropomorphism and materials which perform trompe l œil These physical characteristics are combined with conceptual characteristics of meaning These characteristics of meaning include pluralism double coding flying buttresses and high ceilings irony and paradox and contextualism The sculptural forms not necessarily organic were created with much ardor These can be seen in Hans Hollein s Abteiberg Museum 1972 1982 The building is made up of several building units all very different Each building s forms are nothing like the conforming rigid ones of Modernism These forms are sculptural and are somewhat playful These forms are not reduced to an absolute minimum they are built and shaped for their own sake The building units all fit together in a very organic way which enhances the effect of the forms After many years of neglect ornament returned Frank Gehry s Venice Beach house built in 1986 is littered with small ornamental details that would have been considered excessive and needless in Modernism The Venice Beach House has an assembly of circular logs which exist mostly for decoration The logs on top do have a minor purpose of holding up the window covers However the mere fact that they could have been replaced with a practically invisible nail makes their exaggerated existence largely ornamental The ornament in Michael Graves Portland Municipal Services Building Portland Building 1980 is even more prominent The two obtruding triangular forms are largely ornamental They exist for aesthetic or their own purpose citation needed Postmodernism with its sensitivity to the building s context did not exclude the needs of humans from the building Carlo Scarpa s Brion Cemetery 1970 1972 exemplifies this The human requirements of a cemetery is that it possesses a solemn nature yet it must not cause the visitor to become depressed Scarpa s cemetery achieves the solemn mood with the dull gray colors of the walls and neatly defined forms but the bright green grass prevents this from being too overwhelming citation needed Postmodern buildings sometimes utilize trompe l œil creating the illusion of space or depths where none actually exist as has been done by painters since the Romans The Portland Building 1980 has pillars represented on the side of the building that to some extent appear to be real yet they are not citation needed The Hood Museum of Art 1981 1983 has a typical asymmetrical facade which was at the time prevalent throughout postmodern buildings citation needed Robert Venturi s Vanna Venturi House 1962 1964 illustrates the postmodernist aim of communicating a meaning and the characteristic of symbolism The facade is according to Venturi a symbolic picture of a house looking back to the 18th century This is partly achieved through the use of symmetry and the arch over the entrance citation needed Perhaps the best example of irony in postmodern buildings is Charles Moore s Piazza d Italia 1978 Moore quotes architecturally elements of Italian renaissance and Roman Antiquity However he does so with a twist The irony comes when it is noted that the pillars are covered with steel It is also paradoxical in the way he quotes Italian antiquity far away from the original in New Orleans 54 Double coding meant the buildings convey many meanings simultaneously The Sony Building in New York does this very well The building is a tall skyscraper which brings with it connotations of very modern technology Yet the top contradicts this The top section conveys elements of classical antiquity This double coding is a prevalent trait of postmodernism citation needed The characteristics of postmodernism were rather unified given their diverse appearances The most notable among their characteristics is their playfully extravagant forms and the humour of the meanings the buildings conveyed citation needed Postmodern architecture as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s but did not become a movement until the late 1970s 55 and continues to influence present day architecture Postmodernity in architecture is said to be heralded by the return of wit ornament and reference to architecture in response to the formalism of the International Style of modernism As with many cultural movements some of postmodernism s most pronounced and visible ideas can be seen in architecture The functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the modernist style are replaced by diverse aesthetics styles collide form is adopted for its own sake and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound Perhaps most obviously architects rediscovered past architectural ornament and forms which had been abstracted by the Modernist architects Postmodern architecture has also been described as neo eclectic where reference and ornament have returned to the facade replacing the aggressively unornamented modern styles This eclecticism is often combined with the use of non orthogonal angles and unusual surfaces most famously in the State Gallery of Stuttgart by James Stirling and the Piazza d Italia by Charles Moore The Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh has also been cited as being of postmodern vogue citation needed Modernist architects may regard postmodern buildings as vulgar associated with a populist ethic and sharing the design elements of shopping malls cluttered with gew gaws Postmodern architects may regard many modern buildings as soulless and bland overly simplistic and abstract This contrast was exemplified in the juxtaposition of the whites against the grays in which the whites were seeking to continue or revive the modernist tradition of purism and clarity while the grays were embracing a more multifaceted cultural vision seen in Robert Venturi s statement rejecting the black or white world view of modernism in favor of black and white and sometimes gray The divergence in opinions comes down to a difference in goals modernism is rooted in minimal and true use of material as well as absence of ornament while postmodernism is a rejection of strict rules set by the early modernists and seeks meaning and expression in the use of building techniques forms and stylistic references One building form that typifies the explorations of postmodernism is the traditional gable roof in place of the iconic flat roof of modernism Shedding water away from the center of the building such a roof form always served a functional purpose in climates with rain and snow and was a logical way to achieve larger spans with shorter structural members but it was nevertheless relatively rare in Modernist buildings b However postmodernism s own modernist roots appear in some of the noteworthy examples of reclaimed roofs For instance Robert Venturi s Vanna Venturi House breaks the gable in the middle denying the functionality of the form and Philip Johnson s 1001 Fifth Avenue building in Manhattan c advertises a mansard roof form as an obviously flat false front Another alternative to the flat roofs of modernism would exaggerate a traditional roof to call even more attention to it as when Kallmann McKinnell amp Wood s American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge Massachusetts layers three tiers of low hipped roof forms one above another for an emphatic statement of shelter Relationship to previous styles editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp San Antonio Public Library Texas nbsp Ancient ruyi symbol adorning Taipei 101 TaiwanA new trend became evident in the last quarter of the 20th century as some architects started to turn away from modern functionalism which they viewed as boring and which some of the public considered unwelcoming and even unpleasant These architects turned toward the past quoting past aspects of various buildings and melding them together even sometimes in an inharmonious manner to create a new means of designing buildings A vivid example of this new approach was that postmodernism saw the comeback of columns and other elements of premodern designs sometimes adapting classical Greek and Roman examples d In Modernism the traditional column as a design feature was treated as a cylindrical pipe form replaced by other technological means such as cantilevers or masked completely by curtain wall facades The revival of the column was an aesthetic rather than a technological necessity Modernist high rise buildings had become in most instances monolithic rejecting the concept of a stack of varied design elements for a single vocabulary from ground level to the top in the most extreme cases even using a constant footprint with no tapering or wedding cake design with the building sometimes even suggesting the possibility of a single metallic extrusion directly from the ground mostly by eliminating visual horizontal elements this was seen most strictly in Minoru Yamasaki s World Trade Center buildings Another return was that of the wit ornament and reference seen in older buildings in terra cotta decorative facades and bronze or stainless steel embellishments of the Beaux Arts and Art Deco periods In postmodern structures this was often achieved by placing contradictory quotes of previous building styles alongside each other and even incorporating furniture stylistic references at a huge scale Contextualism a trend in thinking in the later parts of 20th century influences the ideologies of the postmodern movement in general Contextualism is centered on the belief that all knowledge is context sensitive This idea was even taken further to say that knowledge cannot be understood without considering its context While noteworthy examples of modern architecture responded both subtly and directly to their physical context e postmodern architecture often addressed the context in terms of the materials forms and details of the buildings around it the cultural context Roots of postmodernism editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp 125 London Wall 1992 by Terry Farrell and Partners aimed to repair the urban fabric of the district dominated by post Blitz modernist schemes The postmodernist movement is often seen especially in the US as an American movement starting in America around the 1960s 1970s and then spreading to Europe and the rest of the world to remain right through to the present In 1966 however the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner spoke of a revived Expressionism as being a new style successor to my International Modern of the 1930s a post modern style and included as examples Le Corbusier s work at Ronchamp and Chandigarh Denys Lasdun at the Royal College of Physicians in London Richard Sheppard at Churchill College Cambridge and James Stirling s and James Gowan s Leicester Engineering Building as well as Philip Johnson s own guest house at New Canaan Connecticut Pevsner disapproved of these buildings for their self expression and irrationalism but he acknowledged them as the legitimate style of the 1950s and 1960s and defined their characteristics The job of defining postmodernism was subsequently taken over by a younger generation who welcomed rather than rejected what they saw happening and in the case of Robert Venturi contributed to it The aims of postmodernism or late modernism begin with its reaction to modernism it tries to address the limitations of its predecessor The list of aims is extended to include communicating ideas with the public often in a then humorous or witty way Often the communication is done by quoting extensively from past architectural styles often many at once In breaking away from modernism it also strives to produce buildings that are sensitive to the context within which they are built Postmodernism has its origins in the perceived failure of modern architecture 57 Its preoccupation with functionalism and economical building meant that ornaments were done away with and the buildings were cloaked in a stark rational appearance Many felt the buildings failed to meet the human need for comfort both for body and for the eye that modernism did not account for the desire for beauty The problem worsened when some already monotonous apartment blocks degenerated into slums In response architects sought to reintroduce ornament color decoration and human scale to buildings Form was no longer to be defined solely by its functional requirements or minimal appearance Changing pedagogies editCritics of the reductionism of modernism often noted the abandonment of the teaching of architectural history as a causal factor The fact that a number of the major players in the shift away from modernism were trained at Princeton University s School of Architecture where recourse to history continued to be a part of design training in the 1940s and 1950s was significant The increasing rise of interest in history had a profound impact on architectural education History courses became more typical and regularized With the demand for professors knowledgeable in the history of architecture program were developed including the Advanced Masters Level Course in the History and Theory of Architecture offered by Dalibor Vesely and Joseph Rykwert at the University of Essex in England between 1968 and 1978 It was the first of its kind Other programs followed suit including several PhD programs in schools of architecture that arose to differentiate themselves from art history PhD programs where architectural historians had previously trained In the US MIT and Cornell were the first created in the mid 1970s followed by Columbia Berkeley and Princeton Among the founders of new architectural history programs were Bruno Zevi at the Institute for the History of Architecture in Venice Stanford Anderson and Henry Millon at MIT Alexander Tzonis at the Architectural Association Anthony Vidler at Princeton Manfredo Tafuri at the University of Venice Kenneth Frampton at Columbia University and Werner Oechslin and Kurt Forster at ETH Zurich 58 The creation of these programs was paralleled by the hiring in the 1970s of professionally trained historians by schools of architecture Margaret Crawford with a PhD from UCLA at SCI Arc Elisabeth Grossman PhD Brown University at Rhode Island School of Design Christian Otto 59 PhD Columbia University at Cornell University Richard Chafee PhD Courtauld Institute at Roger Williams University and Howard Burns MA Kings College at Harvard to name just a few examples A second generation of scholars then emerged that began to extend these efforts in the direction of what is now called theory K Michael Hays PhD MIT at Harvard Mark Wigley PhD Auckland University at Princeton now at Columbia University and Beatriz Colomina PhD School of Architecture Barcelona at Princeton Mark Jarzombek PhD MIT at Cornell now at MIT Jennifer Bloomer PhD Georgia Tech at Iowa State and Catherine Ingraham PhD Johns Hopkins now at Pratt Institute Postmodernism with its diversity possesses sensitivity to the building s context and history and the client s requirements The postmodernist architects often considered the general requirements of the urban buildings and their surroundings during the building s design For example in Frank Gehry s Venice Beach House the neighboring houses have a similar bright flat color This vernacular sensitivity is often evident but other times the designs respond to more high style neighbors James Stirling s Arthur M Sackler Museum at Harvard University features a rounded corner and striped brick patterning that relate to the form and decoration of the polychromatic Victorian Memorial Hall across the street although in neither case is the element imitative or historicist Subsequent movements editFollowing the postmodern riposte against modernism various trends in architecture established though not necessarily following principles of postmodernism Concurrently the recent movements of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture promote a sustainable approach toward construction that appreciates and develops smart growth architectural tradition and classical design 60 61 This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl 62 Both trends started in the 1980s The Driehaus Architecture Prize is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of the modernist Pritzker Prize 63 Some postmodern architects such as Robert A M Stern and Albert Righter amp Tittman have moved from postmodern design to new interpretations of traditional architecture 57 The Neo Andean style takes a similar approach to ornamentation as broader postmodernism First brought to attention in 1996 the style is notable for being designed and championed by indigenous Peruvians and Bolivians and takes inspiration from ancient Inca and Andean designs 64 65 Postmodern architects editSome of the best known and influential architects in the postmodern style are Joel Bergman Barbara Bielecka Ricardo Bofill John Burgee Peter Eisenman Terry Farrell Frank Gehry James Gowan Michael Graves Hans Hollein Arata Isozaki Helmut Jahn Jon Jerde Philip Johnson 66 Edward Jones Hans Kollhoff Ricardo Legorreta Ernst Lohse Charles Moore William Pedersen Cesar Pelli Boris Podrecca John C Portman Jr Paolo Portoghesi Antoine Predock Kevin Roche Aldo Rossi Carlo Scarpa Denise Scott Brown Robert A M Stern James Stirling Tomas Taveira Siavash Teimouri Robert Venturi Michael Wilford James Wines Eberhard Zeidler Eolo Maia Chu yuan LeeOther examples of postmodern architecture edit nbsp Albuquerque Plaza in Albuquerque New Mexico by Hellmuth Obata amp Kassabaum completed 1990 nbsp Park of Can Sabate Barcelona by Daniel Navas Neus Sole and Imma Jansana completed 1984 nbsp The Fairmont San Jose CA Completed 1987 nbsp Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis by Cesar Pelli completed 1988 nbsp Marriott Marquis San Francisco CA Completed 1989 nbsp SunTrust Tower in Jacksonville by KBJ Architects completed 1989 nbsp 100 East Wisconsin in Milwaukee Wisconsin by Clark Tribble Harris amp Li completed 1989 nbsp The Harold Washington Library in Chicago Illinois by Hammond Beeby amp Babka completed 1991 nbsp One Detroit Center in Detroit by John Burgee and Philip Johnson completed 1993 nbsp Westendstrasse 1 in Frankfurt by William Pedersen completed 1993 nbsp The Roy E Disney Animation Building in Burbank California by Robert A M Stern completed 1995 nbsp The British Library in London by Colin St John Wilson completed 1997 nbsp Tuntex Tower in Kaohsiung Taiwan by Chu yuan Lee completed 1997 nbsp Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia by Cesar Pelli completed 1999 nbsp Taipei 101 in Taipei Taiwan by Chu yuan Lee completed 2004 nbsp L Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles Louisiana by Joel Bergman completed 2005 nbsp Casino di Campione in Campione d Italia by Mario Botta completed 2007 nbsp One Towne Square in Southfield Michigan See also edit nbsp Architecture portalCharles Jencks New classical architecture a reference style to historical architecture emerged from postmodernism It creates more accurate references of historical architecture styles Third Bay TraditionExplanatory footnotes edit Pelli studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman 18 19 He graduated in 1949 after which he designed low cost housing projects 20 In 1952 he attended the University of Illinois School of Architecture in the United States for advanced study in architecture and received his Master of Science in Architecture degree in 1954 14 21 These Modernist buildings were after all machines for living according to LeCorbusier and machines did not usually have gabled roofs 1001 Fifth Avenue building in Manhattan is not to be confused with Portland s Congress Center once referred to by the same name But postmodernism did not advocate simply recreating classical designs as had been done in neoclassical architecture Modern architectural response analyzed by Thomas Schumacher in Contextualism Urban Ideals and Deformations and by Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter in Collage City 56 References edit Hopkins 2014 p 200 Katherine McGrath 18 February 2020 15 Playfully Bold Examples of Postmodern Architecture Architectural Digest Cited in review of Robert Venturi s Complexities and Contradiction in Architecture by Martino Stierli in Architectural Review 22 December 2016 Ghirardo 1997 p 18 sfn error no target CITEREFGhirardo1997 help Ghirardo 1997 p 17 sfn error no target CITEREFGhirardo1997 help Ghirardo 1997 pp 17 23 sfn error no target CITEREFGhirardo1997 help a b Taschen 2016 p 638 Allen John Scott Edward W Soja The City Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century Los Angeles Taschen 2016 pp 314 317 a b Taschen 2016 p 317 Taschen 2016 pp 220 223 a b c Master of the Schuylkill Architect Cesar Pelli Patriot Harbor Lines Retrieved September 12 2016 A Conversation with Cesar Pelli New Haven Living July 2013 Retrieved September 12 2016 a b c Cesar Pelli Connections National Building Museum Retrieved September 12 2016 a b Benjamin Forgey COMSAT Alumni amp Retirees Association COMARA org Retrieved April 21 2013 2008 Lynn S Beedle Award Winner Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Retrieved May 17 2012 Cesar Pelli I avoided a style La Gaceta June 10 2012 Retrieved September 12 2016 Marcelo Gardinetti June 2012 Cesar Pelli Tucuman Technne Retrieved September 12 2016 Charles E Gagit Jr June 1 2015 The Groundbreakers Architects in American History Their Places and Times Transaction Publishers Murphy Brian July 19 2019 Cesar Pelli celebrated architect of sweep and harmony dies at 92 The Washington Post Cesar Pelli gives convocation address at University of Illinois Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects May 17 2014 Retrieved September 12 2016 a b Charles E Gagit Jr June 1 2015 The Groundbreakers Architects in American History Their Places and Times Transaction Publishers Nicholas Von Hoffman February 28 2005 Cesar Pelli Architecture and Design Architectural Digest Retrieved September 12 2016 Paola Singer May 10 2016 Cesar Pelli and His Nonchalant Architecture Surface Magazine Retrieved September 12 2016 a b Michael J Crosbie Introduction A Conversation with Cesar Pelli Cesar Pelli Selected and Current Works Mulgrave Images Publishing Group 1993 UMD to honor Weber Music Hall architect at commencement May 13 Budgeteer News April 30 2004 Retrieved September 12 2016 Connecticut Architecture Foundation 1 Archived October 9 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 30 2016 a b Michael J Crosbie Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects Basel Birkhauser Verlag 2013 Petronas Twin Towers Culture Now Retrieved September 12 2016 Linda Hales November 27 2004 The Spirit Behind the Aga Khan Awards Washington Post Retrieved September 12 2016 Postmodern landscape architecture theoretical compositional characteristics and design elements with the analysis of 25 projects Anna EPLENYI Brigitta OLAH CHRISTIAN 2015 Nieuw ontwerp Schouwburgplein bekend 12 02 10 https www rijnmond nl nieuws 18748 nieuw ontwerp schouwburgplein bekend De Bure 2015 p 48 Taschen 2016 p 604 The Guardian London June 19 1992 Prima 2006 p 353 sfn error no target CITEREFPrima2006 help Taschen 2016 pp 24 27 Taschen 2016 pp 304 305 Taschen 2016 p 634 De Bure 2015 p 160 Hopkins Owen 2020 Postmodern Architecture Less is a Bore Phaidon p 78 ISBN 978 0 7148 7812 6 Hugh Honour John Fleming 2009 A World History of Art Revised Seventh Edition Laurence King Publishing p 867 ISBN 978 1 85669 584 8 Hall William 2019 Stone Phaidon p 79 ISBN 978 0 7148 7925 3 Gura Judith 2017 Postmodern Design Complete Thames amp Hudson p 141 ISBN 978 0 500 51914 1 Hopkins Owen 2020 Postmodern Architecture Less is a Bore Phaidon p 198 ISBN 978 0 7148 7812 6 Hopkins 2014 p 73 Gura Judith 2017 Postmodern Design Complete Thames amp Hudson p 120 ISBN 978 0 500 51914 1 Hopkins Owen 2020 Postmodern Architecture Less is a Bore Phaidon p 102 ISBN 978 0 7148 7812 6 De Bure 2015 amp pages 47 49 sfn error no target CITEREFDe Bure2015pages 47 49 help Hopkins 2014 p 202 Hopkins 2014 pp 200 201 De Bure 2015 p 161 Hopkins 2014 p 203 Heinrich Klotz The History of Postmodern Architecture MIT Press Cambridge Massachusetts 1988 Pardis Tom W ed Postmodern com architecture website Flagstaff AZ Northern Arizona University Archived from the original on 2009 07 08 Retrieved 2009 09 17 via jan ucc nau edu site moved to Paradis Tom W ed American Architectural Styles An Introduction Retrieved 2020 06 03 Nesbitt Kate 1996 Theorizing A New Agenda for Architecture An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 1995 New York Princeton Architectural Press p 294 ISBN 1 56898 053 1 a b McAlester Virginia Savage 2013 A Field Guide to American Houses Alfred A Knopf pp 664 665 668 669 ISBN 978 1 4000 4359 0 Mark Jarzombek The Disciplinary Dislocations of Architectural History Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 58 3 September 1999 p 489 See also other articles in that issue by Eve Blau Stanford Anderson Alina Payne Daniel Bluestone Jeon Louis Cohen and others Cornell University Dept of Architecture website 2 Charter of the New Urbanism Beauty Humanism Continuity between Past and Future Traditional Architecture Group Archived from the original on 5 March 2018 Retrieved 23 March 2014 Issue Brief Smart Growth Building Livable Communities American Institute of Architects Retrieved on 2014 03 23 Driehaus Prize Notre Dame School of Architecture Retrieved 23 March 2014 Together the 200 000 Driehaus Prize and the 50 000 Reed Award represent the most significant recognition for classicism in the contemporary built environment United States Embassy Chancery Building Architectural Record 184 84 1996 Flores Paola 5 July 2014 From street stall to mini mansion Toronto Star Caniglia Julie December 1999 Cathedral of Hope Out Here Publishing p 46 ISSN 1062 7928 General and cited references editBony Anne 2012 L Architecture Moderne in French Larousse ISBN 978 2 03 587641 6 De Bure Gilles 2015 Architecture contemporaine le guide in French Flammarion ISBN 978 2 08 134385 6 Ghirardo Diane 1996 Architecture after Modernism Thames and Hudson ISBN 2 87811 123 0 Hopkins Owen 2014 Les styles en architecture guide visuel in French Dunod ISBN 978 2 10 070689 1 Klotz Heinrich 1998 History of Post Modern Architecture Cambridge MA MIT Press ISBN 0 262 11123 3 Poisson Michel 2009 1000 Immeubles et monuments de Paris in French Parigramme ISBN 978 2 84096 539 8 Prina Francesca Demaratini Demartini 2006 Petite encyclopedie de l architecture in French Solar ISBN 2 263 04096 X Taschen Aurelia and Balthazar 2016 L Architecture Moderne de A a Z in French Bibliotheca Universalis ISBN 978 3 8365 5630 9 Robert Venturi 1977 Learning from Las Vegas The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form Cambridge MA MIT Press ISBN 0 262 22015 6 Further reading editPostmodern Architecture Restoring Context Princeton University Lecture Postmodern Architecture and Urbanism University of California Berkeley LectureExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to wbr Postmodern architecture and wbr 21st century architecture About Postmodernism Postmodern architecture at archINFORM Gallery of Postmodern Houses Post Modern Architecture at Great Buildings Online archived 10 January 2007 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Postmodern architecture amp oldid 1199767864, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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