POSTMODERN
ARCHITECTURE
6th
History of Architecture -VI Semester
INTRODUCTION
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.
Postmodernism with its diversity possesses
sensitivity to the building‟s context and
history, and the client‟s requirements.
Postmodern architecture was an international
style whose first examples are generally cited
as being from the 1950s, and which continues
to influence present-day architecture.
Robert Venturi, Philip Johnson, Michael
Graves, Charles Moore are some key persons.
THE SOLUTION TO MODERNISM
The Solution to Modernism Architects started
turning away from Modern Functionalism. They
viewed it as boring, unwelcoming, and even
unpleasant.
Postmodernists sought to cure this by reintroducing
ornament and decoration for its own sake.
Form was no longer defined only by its functional
requirements it now could be anything the architect
pleased! It replaced the functional and formalized
shapes seen in the modernist movement by: The
use of diverse aesthetics, different styles colliding,
form is adopted for its own sake, and new ways of
viewing familiar styles and space
POSTMODERNISM TIME PERIOD
The term postmodernism is probably most specific and
meaningful when used in relation to architecture, where
it designates an international architectural movement
that emerged in the 1960s, became prominent in the late
1970s and 80s, and remained a dominant force in the
1990s.
The movement largely has been a reaction to the
orthodoxy, austerity, and formal absolutism of the
International Style.
Postmodern architecture is characterized by the
incorporation of historical details in a hybrid rather than
a pure style, by the use of decorative elements, by a
more personal and exaggerated style, and by references
to popular modes of building.
POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE
(EXAMPLES)
POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE
(EXAMPLES)
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERNISM
Nonlinearity: Multiple styles, multiple goals
Examples: a. Commercialism vs. anti — commercialism
b. Inequality vs. equality
c. Violence vs. peace
Influence of digital technology
Inclusion of world cultures
Visual culture: Fine art, craft, advertising
Visual studies: Combination of visual culture and
social theory
Trompe l'oeil - Creating the illusion of forms or depths
where none actually exist, as has been done by
painters since the renaissance
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN
ARCHITECTURE
Postmodern Architecture rejects the notion of “pure”
or “perfect” detail, instead it draws from: all methods,
materials, forms, & colours available to architects.
Moves away from the neutral white colours seen in
modernism.
Re-emergence of surface ornament, reference to its
surrounding buildings, and historical references.
Time of revival of traditional elements and techniques,
in order to learn from it.
Classical designs such as pillars, torches, arches, and
domes used in new, almost humorous ways, just to
send a message to the modernist people.
USED CLASSICAL ST YLES IN NEW COMBINATIONS:
PILLARS, TOURETTES, ARCHES, DOMES, CURTAIN
WALL FACADES; GREEN AND ROMAN
CONVENTIONS
SIMILAR TO OLD CATHEDRALS, DRAWS
THE EYE UPWARDS TOWARD THE SKY
RECONCILED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OLD
AND NEW GENERATIONS (CULTURE WARS)
POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE TAKES OLD
ST YLES AND UPDATES THEM
1970‟S- REBELLING AGAINST THE MINIMALISM OF
MODERN ARCHITECTURE OF THE 60S WHICH
REBELLED AGAINST THE CONFORMIT Y OF THE 50S
IN CONTRAST, MODERN FUNCTIONALISM IS
BORING, UNINTERESTING, AND UNPLEASANT
ROBERT VENTURI
Robert Venturi Robert Venturi was at the head of the
Postmodern Movement
He is known for re-wording the famous saying of Mies
van der Rohe‟s: “Less is more” to "Less is a bore."
In his book, Complexity and Contradiction in
Architecture, he states: “Architects can bemoan or try
to ignore them (referring to the ornamental and
decorative elements in buildings) or even try to
abolish them, but they will not go away. Or they will
not go away for a long time, because architects do not
have the power to replace them (nor do they know
what to replace them with).”
VENTURI HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA
1962
Venturi combined simplicity of external form with
complexity of interior layout, and conventional
symbols and elements with contradictory
arrangements.
The house was constructed with intentional formal
architectural, historical and aesthetic contradictions.
ROBERT VENTURI
He goes on to explain the need for ornament in his
second book called Learning from Las Vegas
(published in 1972).
Venturi states decorative elements “accommodate
existing needs for variety and communication”.
He stresses that the building needs to communicate
a meaning to the public.
Postmodernists in general strive to achieve this
communication through their buildings.
This communication however is not intended to be a
direct narration of the meaning.
ROBERT VENTURI
Venturi goes on to explain that it is rather intended
to be a communication that could be interpreted in
many ways.
Because work of such quality will have many
dimensions and layers of meaning.
THE DUCK AND THE DECORATED SHED
The terms “duck” and
“decorated shed” were
codified in the book Learning
from Las Vegas by Robert
Venturi, his wife Denise Scott
Brown, and their friend Steven
Izenour.
The book argues that there
are two distinctly different
types of buildings and that all
Duck-shape d roadsid e building
buildings can be classified as Eastern Long Island, used to sell
one or the other. ducks and eggs.
PHILIP JOHNSON
In 1984, Johnson took the center of
Post-Modernist age, with his AT&T
Headquarters in New York City.
At its base is a giant Serliana, which
has been compared by some to the
facade of Brunelleschi‟s Pazzi
Chapel, and at its crown a broken
pediment, which has been compared
to a grandfather‟s clock.
AT&T BUILDING, NEW YORK
1984
The Mies’ian Tradition
With this building and its
references to architectural
styles of the past, Philip
Johnson broke completely with
the Mies‟ian tradition.
In fact, his client had said
emphatically that the company Philip Johnson and John Burgee,
American Telephone and Telegraph
did not want another glass box. Headquarters, New York, 1984.
CHARLES MOORE
Charles Moore brought to Post-
Modernism a gentle but studied
playfulness that made his
buildings immediately accessible
to the public and professionals
alike.
Moore took pleasure in historical
allusions, but with large doses of
whimsy.
He emphasised from architectural
formalism to a re-examination of
the nature and function of
architecture.
PIAZZA D‟ITALIA, NEW ORLEANS
The Piazza d‟Italia (1975-79) consists of a flamboyant,
wildly Neo-Classical, neon-outlined, scenographic
backdrop for a contour map of Italy set in a pool of water
that is demarcated by concentric rings of marble paving.
It is much spectacle as architecture.
KRESGE COLLEGE
At his dormitory complex for Kresge
College in Santa Cruz, Moore moves
his place-making design outdoors.
The l-shaped layout rambles through
a redwood forest, widening,
narrowing, twisting along its central
street in his version of “the Italian
hill town”.
Picturesque vitality of the hill town is
evoked by fronting the street facades
with a varied series of stuccoed,
trabeated screens, stairs, and
“arches”.
MICHAEL GRAVES
Graves describes his work as
„figurative‟, with the figural
elements traceable to „classical and
anthropomorphic sources‟.
He decided to create buildings that
avoid such a degree of abstraction.
He takes inspiration from the
painterly, the technical or the purely
functional postmodernism.
PORTLAND BUILDING IN PORTLAND
OREGON (1980)
The Portland Building is replete with
quotations from the classical
language: the temples on the roof
(never built), the giant keystone
beneath them, the pair of fluted
pilasters of indeterminate order, and
the tiered stylobate at street level.
Graves was also a force in
reintroducing colour into 20 th
century architecture, as here with
the green base, terracotta-coloured
columns, and tan flanking walls
punctured by square windows.
SWAN AND DOLPHIN HOTEL
DISNEYWORLD, FLORIDA, (1987)
The Swan Hotel, with its
twenty eight ton turquoise
birds , has 758 rooms and the
dolphin hotel has 1510 rooms.
All the problems of scale, size,
detailing and conception are
well symbolized by the
predatory birds.
The swans are repeated
resonantly throughout the
interior, especially successful
is the long lobby of the swan.
This creates a vibrating pattern of floral lights, cut-
out palms and parrot chandeliers-all against a red,
white and blue backdrop.
ROBERT ARTHUR MORTON STERN
Stern is particularly skilled at adopting
historical styles to a contemporary context.
He is primarily known for his residential
structures.
Stern's many books include New Directions
in Architecture and Pride of Place: Building
the American Dream
DISNEY‟S NEWPORT BAY CLUB
DISNEYLAND, PARIS(1992)
Newport Bay Club is a hotel that was and styled
after archetypal New England architecture with its
white clapboard exterior, porches, woodwork and
nautical memorabilia.
The name was derived from the town of Newport,
Rhode Island
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