Postmodern Architecture - Wikipedia PDF

11/15/2017 Postmodern architecture - Wikipedia
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which
Postmodern Architecture
emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity,
formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture,
particularly in the international style advocated by Le
Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The movement was
given a doctrine by the architect and architectural theorist
Robert Venturi in his 1966 book Complexity and
Contradiction in Architecture. The style flourished from the
1980s through the 1990s, particularly in the work of 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-classicism and
deconstructivism.[1]
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 Top right:Vanna Venturi House by Robert
2.5 Frank Gehry Venturi; Top right:Team Disney building in
3 Postmodernism in Europe Burbank, California by Michael Graves; Center
4 Postmodernism in Japan left: Guild House in Philadelphia by Robert
Venturi; Center: 550 Madison Avenue by Philip
5
Concert halls – Sydney Opera House and the Berlin Johnson: Center right:PPG Place in Pittsburgh
Philharmonic by Philip Johnson: Bottom: Piazza d'Italia, New
6 Characteristics Orleans by Charles Moore
6.1 Complexity and contradiction
Years active 1960s–present
6.2 Fragmentation
6.3 Asymmetrical and oblique forms Country international
6.4 Color
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 References
15.1 Notes and Citations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_architecture 1/25
15.2 Bibliography
16 Further reading
17 External links
Origins
Postmodern architecture emerged in the 1960s 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. The architect and architectural historian Robert Venturi led the attack in
1966 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." [2]
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. [3] Venturi's second book, Learning from Las Vegas
(1972), co-authored with his wife, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, further developed his argument against
modernism. He urged architects 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. He 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 examples of 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. [4]
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.[5]
Notable postmodern buildings and architects
Robert Venturi
The Guild House in Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi (1964)

Philadelphia by Robert
Venturi (1960–63)
Fire Station Number 4 in Columbus, Indiana Trabant Center at the University of Delaware in
(1968) Newark, DE (1996)
Episcopal Academy Chapel Frist Campus Center at Princeton University

(2000)
Robert Venturi (born 1925) 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 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.[6]
Michael Graves
Portland Building by Michael Humana Building in

Graves (1982) Louisville, Kentucky, (1982)
Team Disney building in Burbank, California, (1986)
The Denver Public Library by Michael Graves (1995)
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.[6]
Charles Moore
Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans, by Charles Moore, completed

1978
Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley

by Charles Moore (1992)
Beverly Hills Civic Center by Charles Moore (1990)
The most famous work of architect Charles Moore 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 Post-Modern styles. It includes courtyards, colonnades, promenades, and buildings, with both open and
semi-enclosed spaces, stairways and balconies.[7]
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
550 Madison Avenue, Bank of America Center in PPG Place, Pittsburgh, 500 Boylston Street
(Formerly AT&T Houston, Texas by Philip Pennsylvania by Philip building in Boston,
Building) by Philip Johnson (1983) Johnson (1979–84) Massachusetts, by
Johnson (1982) Philip Johnson
(1989)
400 West Market in Glass house Pavilion for the Glass House in
Louisville, Kentucky by New Canaan, Connecticut (1995)
Philip Johnson (1993)
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 b 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 (1954–56), 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 (1970–76) were massive, sober, and entirely
modernist.[8]
With the AT&T Building (now named 550 Madison Avenue) (1978–82), 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 afterwards he completed another postmodern
project, PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1979-1984), a complex of six glass buildings for the Pittsburg Plate
Glass Company. These buildings have neo-gothic features, including 231 glass spires, the largest of which is 82 feet
(25 m) high.[9]
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.[9]
Frank Gehry
Gehry residence in Santa Monica (1978) Norton Beach House,

Venice, California (1983)
Dancing House in Prague Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain (1997)

(1996)
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. breaking their traditional design giving them an unfinished and unstable look.
His Schnabel House in Los Angeles (1986–89) 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 (1982–84), 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 (1991–97), 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.[10]
Postmodernism in Europe
The Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Germany, Clore Gallery of the Tate Gallery in London by James
by James Stirling (1977–83) Stirling (1980–86)
No 1 Poultry, an office Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in

building and shops in London by Robert Venturi (1991)
London, by James Stirling
(completed 1997)
The Abteiberg Museum in Mönchengladbach by Hans Messeturm in Frankfurt,

Hollein (1972–82) Germanyby Helmut Jahn,
(completed 1991)
Top of the Messeturm in The SIS Building in London, UK, by Terry Farrell (1994)
Frankfurt, Germany, by
Helmut Jahn (1991)
Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Cracow, Poland, by

Arata Isozaki and Krzysztof Ingarden (1994)
The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, the Muralla Roja (Red Walls) at Calpe, Spain by Ricardo
Netherlands by Aldo Rossi (1995) Bofill (1973)
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
constructed the Messeturm skyscraper in Frankfurt, Germany, a skyscraper adorned with the pointed spire of a
medieval tower.[11]
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. [12]
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. The critic
Deyan Sudjic in The Guardian in 1992 described it 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'.[13]
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.[14]
The Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill is also known for his early postmodern works, including a residential complex in
the form of a castle with red walls at Culpe on the coast of Spain (1973).
Postmodernism in Japan
Church of the Light in The Museum of Wood Culture by Tadao

Osaka by Tadao Ando Ando (1995)
(1987–89)
Bennesse House in Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan by Art Tower in Mito, Ibaraki by Isozaki Arata (1986-1990)
Tadao Ando
The Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art in Nagi,

Okayama by Isozaki Arata (1994)
Kyoto Concert Hall in Kyoto, Japan by Isozaki Arata (1995)
Kyoto Train Station in Kyoto by Hiroshi Hara (1991–97)
The Japanese architects Tadao Ando (born 1941) and Isozaki Arata (born 1931) 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.[15]
Isozaki Arata worked two years in the studio of Kenzo Tange, before opening his own firm in Tokyo in 1963. His
Museum of Contemporary Art in Nagi artfully combined wood, stone and metal, and joined together 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 aluminum 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), (1981–86), and the COSI Columbus science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio.[16]
Concert halls – Sydney Opera House and the Berlin

Philharmonic
The Sydney Opera House by Jørn Utzon (1957–1973)
Facade of the Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun (1963)
"Vineyard Style"; The orchestra surrounded by the audience

in the Berlin Philharmonic
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.[17]
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 orchesta in the
center, instead of on a stage at the end of the hall.[18]
Characteristics
Complexity and Contradiction. The Neue Oblique forms. The Church of Banlay-Sainte-
Staatsgalerie by James Stirling in Stuttgart, Bernadette in Nevers, France, by Claude
Germany (1977-84). Parent, inspired by a tilting German
blockhouse on the French coast (1968)
Color. Interior of Humor. Binoculars Building in Venice neighborhood of Los

Cambridge Judge Angeles by Frank Gehry and sculptor Claes Oldenberg
Business School in (1991-2001)
Cambridge, UK by John
Outram (1995)
Fragmentation. Wexner Center by Peter Camp. Hotel Dolphin by Michael Graves,

Eisenman (1989) Walt Disney World Florida (1987)
Complexity and contradiction
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
colors, and features often borrowed from earlier periods. Colors and textures unrelated to the structure or function of
the building. While 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 Viennese secession, the British arts and crafts movement, the German Jugendstil. [19]
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."[20]
Fragmentation
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 Staditsches Museum by Hans Hollein in Munich
(1972–74).[21]
Asymmetrical and oblique forms

Asymmetrical forms are one of the trademarks of postmodernism. In 1968 the French architect Claude Parent and
philosopher Paul Virilio designed a 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 symmetrical, balanced and orderly. Oblique buildings
which tilt, lean, and seem about to fall over are common.[22]
Color
Color is an important element in many postmodern buildings, to give the facades variety and personality sometimes
colored glass is used, or ceramic tiles, or stone. The buildings of Mexican architect Luis Barragan offer bright sunlight
colors that give life to the forms.
Humor and "camp"

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 Oldenberg (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. The American critic Susan Sontag in 1964 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.[23]
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

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'oeil. 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.
Postmodernism, with its sensitivity to the building's context, did not exclude the needs of humans from the building.
Carlo Scarpa's Brion Cemetery (1970–72) 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.
Postmodern buildings sometimes utilize trompe l'oeil, 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.
The Hood Museum of Art (1981–1983) has a typical symmetrical façade which was at the time prevalent throughout
Postmodern Buildings.
Robert Venturi's Vanna Venturi House (1962–64) 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.
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.[24]
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.
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.
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[25] 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.
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. (These were, after all, "machines
for living," according to LeCorbusier, and machines did not usually have gabled roofs.) 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 (not to be confused with Portland's Congress Center, once referred to by the same
name) 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

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 towards 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 (but not simply recreating them, as was done in
neoclassical architecture). 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 San Antonio Public
Center buildings. Library, Texas
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 Ancient ruyi symbol
noteworthy examples of modern architecture responded both subtly and directly to adorning Taipei 101,
their physical context (analyzed by Thomas Schumacher in "Contextualism: Urban Taiwan
Ideals and Deformations," and by Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter in Collage City[26]),
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
The Postmodernist movement is often seen (especially in the USA) 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 125 London Wall (1992) by Terry
characteristics. The job of defining Postmodernism was subsequently taken Farrell and Partners aimed to "repair
over by a younger generation who welcomed rather than rejected what they the urban fabric" of the district,
dominated by post-Blitz modernist
saw happening and, in the case of Robert Venturi, contributed to it.
schemes.
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.[27] 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
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, several PhD programs in schools of architecture arose in order 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.[28]
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[29] (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
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 towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart
growth, architectural tradition and classical design.[30][31] This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform
architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl.[32] 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.[33] Some
postmodern architects, such as Robert A. M. Stern and Albert, Righter, & Tittman, have moved from postmodern
design to new interpretations of traditional architecture.[27]
Postmodern architects
Some of the best-known and influential architects in the Postmodern style are:
Joel Bergman Ernst Lohse

Barbara Bielecka Charles Moore
Ricardo Bofill William Pedersen
Mario Botta César Pelli
John Burgee Boris Podrecca
Charles Correa John C. Portman Jr.
Peter Eisenman Paolo Portoghesi
Terry Farrell Antoine Predock
Frank Gehry Kevin Roche
James Gowan Aldo Rossi
Michael Graves Carlo Scarpa
Hans Hollein Denise Scott Brown
Arata Isozaki Robert A. M. Stern
Helmut Jahn James Stirling
Jon Jerde Tomás Taveira
Philip Johnson[34] Siavash Teimouri
Edward Jones Robert Venturi
Hans Kollhoff Michael Wilford
Ricardo Legorreta James Wines
Eberhard Zeidler
Other examples of postmodern architecture
The Fairmont, San Wells Fargo Marriott Marquis, San Francisco, SunTrust Tower in
Jose CA. Center in CA. Completed 1989 Jacksonville, by KBJ
Completed 1987 Minneapolis, Architects, completed
by César 1989
Pelli,
completed
1988
100 East The Harold Antigone, Montpellier, France, by One Detroit
Wisconsin in Washington Library Ricardo Bofill, completed 1992 Center in
Milwaukee, in Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, by John
Wisconsin, by by Hammond, Burgee and
Clark, Tribble, Beeby & Babka, Philip Johnson,
Harris & Li, completed 1991 completed 1993
completed 1989
Westendstrasse The Roy E. Disney Animation The British Library in London, by Petronas
1 in Frankfurt, Building in Burbank, California, by Colin St John Wilson, completed 1997 Towers in
by William Robert A. M. Stern, completed Kuala Lumpur,
Pedersen, 1995 Malaysia, by
completed 1993 César Pelli,
completed
1999
L'Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Casinò di Campione in Campione
by Joel Bergman, completed 2005 d'Italia, by Mario Botta, completed

2007
See also
Neo-Historism, a reference style to historical architecture, emerged from Postmodernism. It attempts at creating
more accurate references of historical architecture styles.
Third Bay Tradition
Charles Jencks
References
Notes and Citations

1. Hopkins 2014, p. 200.
2. Cited in review of Robert Venturi's "Complexities and Contradiction in Architecture" by Martino Stierli, in
Architectural Review, 22 December 2016
3. Ghirardo & 19997, p. 18.
4. Ghirardo & 19997, p. 17.
5. Ghirardo & 19997, pp. 17–23.
6. Taschen 2016, p. 638.
7. Allen John Scott, Edward W. Soja, The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century,
Los Angeles,
8. Taschen 2016, pp. 314-317.
9. Taschen 2016, p. 317.

10. Taschen 2016, pp. 220–223.
11. De Bure 2015, p. 48.
12. Taschen 2016, p. 604).
13. The Guardian, London, June 19, 1992
14. Prima 2006, p. 353.
15. Taschen 2016, pp. 24-27.
16. Taschen 2016, pp. 304-305.
17. Taschen 2016, p. 634.
18. De Bure 2015, p. 160.
19. De Bure, 2015 & pages 47-49.
20. Hopkins 2014, p. 202.
21. Hopkins 2014, pp. 200-201.
22. De Bure 2015, p. 161.
23. Hopkins 2014, p. 203.
24. Heinrich Klotz, "The History of Postmodern Architecture", MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1988
25. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~twp/architecture/postmoderncom/
26. 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.
27. McAlester, Virginia Savage (2013). A Field Guide to American Houses. Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 664–665, 668–669.
ISBN 978-1-4000-4359-0.
28. 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.
29. Cornell University Dept. of Architecture website[1] (http://www.aap.cornell.edu/arch/faculty/faculty-profile.cfm?cust
omel_datapageid_7102=18513)
30. Charter of the New Urbanism (http://www.cnu.org/charter)
31. "Beauty, Humanism, Continuity between Past and Future" (http://www.traditionalarchitecture.co.uk/aims.html).
Traditional Architecture Group. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
32. Issue Brief: Smart-Growth: Building Livable Communities (http://www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/smartgrowth05.pdf).
American Institute of Architects. Retrieved on 2014-03-23.
33. "Driehaus Prize" (http://architecture.nd.edu/about/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"
34. Caniglia, Julie (December 1999). "Cathedral of Hope" (https://books.google.com/books?id=WWIEAAAAMBAJ&pg
=PA46&dq=jonah+falcon&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK2tvLxLjQAhVDBcAKHWW2DawQ6AEIGTAA#v=onepag
e&q=jonah%20falcon&f=false). Out. Here Publishing: 46. ISSN 1062-7928 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1062-79
28).
Bibliography
Bony, Anne (2012). L'Architecture Moderne (in French). Larousse. ISBN 978-2-03-587641-6.
Ghirardo, Diane (1996). Architecture after Modernism. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 2-87811-123-0.
Poisson, Michel (2009). 1000 Immeubles et monuments de Paris (in French). Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-84096-
539-8.
Taschen, Aurelia and Balthazar (2016). L'Architecture Moderne de A à Z (in French). Bibliotheca Universalis.
ISBN 978-3-8365-5630-9.
Prina, Francesca; Demaratini, Demartini (2006). Petite encyclopédie de l'architecture (in French). Solar. ISBN 2-
263-04096-X.
Hopkins, Owen (2014). Les styles en architecture- guide visuel (in French). Dunod. ISBN 978-2-10-070689-1.
De Bure, Gilles (2015). Architecture contemporaine- le guide (in French). Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-08-134385-6.
Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Robert Venturi, Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1977 ISBN 0-262-22015-6
History of Post-Modern Architecture. Heinrich Klotz, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. ISBN 0-262-11123-3
Further reading
Postmodern Architecture: Restoring Context Princeton University Lecture (http://www.princeton.edu/~mbhansen/e
ng377/lecture5.pdf)
Postmodern Architecture and Urbanism University of California–Berkeley Lecture (http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/co
urses/arch170/past/SP2001/05-01-01.html)
External links
About Postmodernism (http://architecture.about.com/library/blgloss-postmodernism.htm)
Postmodern architecture (https://eng.archinform.net/stich/832.htm) at the archINFORM database.
Gallery of Postmodern Houses (http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/Postmodern-Style.
htm)
Post Modern Architecture at Great Buildings Online (http://types.greatbuildings.com/styles/post_modern.html)
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Notable postmodern buildings and architects

The Guild House in Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi (1964)

Episcopal Academy Chapel Frist Campus Center at Princeton University

Portland Building by Michael Humana Building in

Team Disney building in Burbank, California, (1986)

The Denver Public Library by Michael Graves (1995)

Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans, by Charles Moore, completed

Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley

Beverly Hills Civic Center by Charles Moore (1990)

Gehry residence in Santa Monica (1978) Norton Beach House,

Dancing House in Prague Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain (1997)

No 1 Poultry, an office Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in

The Abteiberg Museum in Mönchengladbach by Hans Messeturm in Frankfurt,

Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Cracow, Poland, by

Church of the Light in The Museum of Wood Culture by Tadao

The Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art in Nagi,

Kyoto Concert Hall in Kyoto, Japan by Isozaki Arata (1995)

Kyoto Train Station in Kyoto by Hiroshi Hara (1991–97)

Concert halls – Sydney Opera House and the Berlin

The Sydney Opera House by Jørn Utzon (1957–1973)

Facade of the Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun (1963)

"Vineyard Style"; The orchestra surrounded by the audience

Color. Interior of Humor. Binoculars Building in Venice neighborhood of Los

Fragmentation. Wexner Center by Peter Camp. Hotel Dolphin by Michael Graves,

Complexity and contradiction

Asymmetrical and oblique forms

Humor and "camp"

Theories of postmodern architecture

Relationship to previous styles

Joel Bergman Ernst Lohse

Other examples of postmodern architecture

100 East The Harold Antigone, Montpellier, France, by One Detroit

Wisconsin in Washington Library Ricardo Bofill, completed 1992 Center in

Milwaukee, in Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, by John

Wisconsin, by by Hammond, Burgee and

Clark, Tribble, Beeby & Babka, Philip Johnson,

Harris & Li, completed 1991 completed 1993

L'Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Casinò di Campione in Campione

by Joel Bergman, completed 2005 d'Italia, by Mario Botta, completed

Notes and Citations

9. Taschen 2016, p. 317.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Postmodern_architecture&oldid=806416961"

This page was last edited on 21 October 2017, at 22:09.

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