3rd Year B.

Arch, BVP

Postmodernism Date:28-7-2017
Questions

A) Explain the characteristics of Post Modernism with examples of works done

by Architects in Post Modern style. Any two architects.

B) Explain the reasons for the discontent for Brutalist type of Architecture.

Notes:

 Postmodernism is a term applied to a variety of artistic, cultural and

philosophical movements that arose as a result of modernism.
 postmodernism celebrates fragmentation and believes that unity and
coherence are neither possible nor important
 Diverse aesthetics-styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake
 Expressive and symbolic value of architectural elements and forms
 Use of sculptural forms, ornaments. Physical characteristics combined with
conceptual characteristics of meaning
 Each building forms are not like the conforming rigid ones of Modernism.
These are sculptural and playful.
 not reduced to an absolute minimum, they are built and shaped for their
own sake
 Postmodernism, with its sensitivity to the buildings context, did not exclude
the needs of humans from the building
 Characteristics were unified given their diverse appearances.
 Playfully extravagant forms and humour of the meanings the buildings
conveyed.
 Influential Architects were-
 Aldo ROssi
 Terry Farell
 Philip Johnson
 Frank Gehry

 Development of Post-Modernism
 Modernism began to show hairline cracks after World War II.
  What was important 30-40 years before now seemed less important and
people were looking to welcome diversity.
 An increasing concern for the environment and a related interest in more
site-specific building set for a radical change.

 Critiquing Modernism
 CIAM- International Congress of Modern Architects, known as team 10
 Between 1953-1956 showed dissatisfaction with Modernist architecture
 Mass scale of destruction of urban environment during World War
 Europe and America were the main to express their dissatisfaction
 Example-works of Louis Kahn widely appreciated
 A belief that the human condition could be healed by new approaches
to art and design-more spiritual, rational
 Desire to connect art and life led to collaboration between artists and
designers
 Focusing on basic elements of daily life-housing, furniture, domestic
goods, clothes they reinvented forms for a new century
 Garden city concept by Ebenezer Howard
 Venturi’s work relied on visual which lacked in Modern movement.
 Emerge as catalyzer of change
 No longer synthesis of a historical process but consequence of human
force
 Search of new vocabulary
 Twin Phenomena and Threshold by Aldo Van Eyck 1959
 Metaphors which referred to the meanings embedded in forms of new
architecture
 The international style had little effect on 3 architects-Alvar Aalto, Eero
Saarinen (1910-61) and Louis Kahn
 Performing Arts Centre at Fort Wayne.- Louis Kahn


Venturi’s-1970

 Venturi installation of the stylized TV antenna as a crown over the Home

for Aged in Philadelphia-centrality of TV in the lives of the occupants of
this institution in contemporary culture
 Coffee cup at Grands Coffee shop
 Central courtyard, Plaza of entrances reveal unexpected aspect of the
space
  Use natures material in a way that nature would approve
 Many of Venturi’s buildings were small in stature, designed for a specific
location and site
 For him, a schoolhouse being designed for the state of Georgia ought to
be different from a school being designed for Washington state.
 The cultural history that a community’s citizens share varies intensely from
city to city
 Venturi went on to work with some of the great architects of the day,
including Louis Kahn and Eero Saarinen
 In 1966, Venturi published Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture
 Venturi attempted to untangle what he perceived as flaws in
architectural thinking when he coauthored Learning from Las Vegas
(1977).
 he chose to showcase specific aspects such as colored brick patterns
within the walls of his structures
 love of richness and symbolism in design was apparent in Venturi’s
Sainsbury Wing addition to London’s National Gallery
 Venturi designed buildings that were seemingly ordinary looking and that
were not revolutionary like Modern style buildings, with their excessive
simplicity.
 Each of his buildings was different from all others because the specific
historical factors from a given region contributed to the symbolism that
Venturi included in his work
 His symbolism came from influences such as local materials, local building
traditions, climate, and the overall building site
 Perhaps one of Venturi’s better-known smaller buildings is the Vanna
Venturi House, a home he designed for his mother, constructed in 1964.



Aalto

 Aalto design for Tuberculosis Sanatorium-1929-33. Furniture design

interested him-Finland’s greatest natural resource being wood

Brutalism-1960-1970
 Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the
1950s to the mid 1970s

 resulted from the modernist architectural movement.

 The term "brutalism“-The British architects Alison and Peter Smithson

coined the term in1953, from the French béton brut, or "raw concrete",

 It was in England rather than Sweden where New Brutalism first arose

 Alison and Peter Smithsons were the first to promote this type of
architecture

 Brutalism was a response to the glass curtain wall that was overtaking
institutional and commercial architecture in the 1960s.

 The style originated in England but was quickly introduced to Ontario as it

afforded an attractive and relatively inexpensive solution to weather and
climate control conditions in large buildings.

 The 1960s and 1970s were years of great expansion in universities and
public buildings, and this is where the Brutalist style is most often found.

 The development of béton brut, a concrete with no formal finish, was

intrinsically linked to this style.

 Most windows in Brutalist buildings do not open and the buildings are
thoroughly climate- controlled.

 The design of the building is largely dependant on the shape and

placement of the various room masses.

 Outlines are quite intricate and exterior walkways are emphasized.

 Patterned concrete gives an interesting texture to this building in

downtown Toronto.

 Exposure of building functions ranging from their structure and services to

their human use in the exterior of the building

 Leading architects-Le Corbusier, Paul Rudolph, Kenzo Tange, Erno

Goldfinger, Peter and Alison Smithson, Louis Kahn, Charles Correa, I.M.Pie,
Tadaq


 The Weldon Library at the University of Western Ontario

 The rounded corner stair towers, five horizontal bands of béton

brut concrete

 Lower levels have a variety of box-like forms projecting along an irregular

plan, all in windowless poured concrete

 The John P. Robarts Research Library in Toronto, built in 1973

 Much of the first two floors is completely windowless

 The light enters the building through recessed lightwells and narrow,
vertical windows.

 he building is obviously climate and humidity- controlled, which is perfect

for storing books and periodicals.

 the Boston City Hall , designed in 1962,

 From another perspective, the design of the Hunstanton School included

placing the facility's water tank, normally a hidden service feature, in a
prominent, visible tower.


 Characteristics

 striking repetitive angular geometries

 where concrete is used, often revealing the texture of the wooden forms
used for the in-situ casting.

 rough, blocky appearance

 the expression of its structural materials, forms, and (in some cases)services
on its exterior.

 For example, many of Alison and Peter Smithson's private houses are built
from brick.
  Brutalist building materials also include brick, glass, steel, rough-hewn
stone, and gabion

 Brutalist, and may belong to one of a range of architectural styles

including Constructivism, International Style, Expressionism, Postmodernism,
and Deconstructivism

Criticism and reception

 Charles, Prince of Wales- calling many of the structures "piles of concrete".

"When it knocked down our buildings, it didn't replace them with anything
more offensive than rubble.“

 the fact that concrete façades do not age well in damp, cloudy maritime
climates such as those of northwestern Europe.

 In these climates, the concrete becomes streaked with water stains and
sometimes with moss and lichens, and rust leaches from the steel
reinforcing bars.

 At the University of Oregon campus, outrage and vocal distaste for

Brutalism led, in part, to the hiring of Christopher Alexander

 Theodore Dalrymple, a British author, physican, and political

commentator- called the buildings "cold-hearted", "inhuman", "hideous",
and "monstrous

 Many of the rougher aspects of the style have been softened in newer
buildings,

 with concrete façades often being sandblasted to create a stone-like

surface, covered in stucco, or composed of patterned, pre-cast
elements.

 Modernist architects taking this approach in recent projects include

Steven Ehrlich, Ricardo Legorreta, and Gin Wong.

 dislike of the buildings often stems from poor maintenance and social
problems resulting from poor management, rather than the designs
themselves.

 Some Brutalist buildings have been granted listed status as historic and
others, such as Gillespie, Kidd and Coia's St. Peter's Seminary
  The Twentieth Century Society has campaigned against the demolition of
buildings such as the Tricorn Centre and Trinity Centre Multi-Storey Car
Park.

 War ravaged Britain wanted solution that look modern and forward
thinking

 The new Brutalism pioneered in France by Le Corbusier

 Demand that form follow function and avoided unnecessary flourishes.

Smithsons

 Sheffield born Alison Gill, later to be known as Alison Smithson, was one
half of one of the most influential Brutalist architectural partnerships in
history.

 Gardens, one of their most well known and large scale social housing
projects, facing imminent demolition reflected their style, as the "new
brutalism", hold the key for future housing projects

 They first came to prominence with Hunstanton School which used some
of the language of high modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe but in a
stripped back way, with rough finishes and deliberate lack of refinement.

 They were associated with Team X and its 1953 revolt against old Congrès
International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) philosophies of high
modernism.

 Among their early contributions were streets in the sky in which traffic and
pedestrian circulation were rigorously separated, a theme popular in the
1960s.

 Smithdon High School, Hunstanton, Norfolk (1949–54)

 The House of the Future exhibition (at the 1956 Ideal Home Show)

 Sugden House, Watford

 The Economist Building, Piccadilly, London (1959–65)

 Garden building, St Hilda's College, Oxford (1968)

 Private house extension for Lord Kennet, Bayswater, London, 1960

  Robin Hood Gardens housing complex, Poplar, East London (1969–72)

Aldo Van Eyck

 was an Architect from the Netherlands

 most influential protagonists of the architectural movement Structuralism

 The Dutch Structuralist architect Aldo van Eyck left his mark
in Amsterdam – not only in the form of buildings but also, perhaps
surprisingly, in the form of urban playgrounds.

 Over the course of his career he created a network of more than 700
playgrounds throughout the capital.

 They played in the concrete sandpits, hung upside down on the tumbling
bars or invented games in the igloo shaped climbing frames.

 Van Eyck’s playgrounds were a recognizable aspect of the city of

Amsterdam.

 Design for village of Nagele, Noordoostpolder, 1948–1954

 Housing for the Elderly, Slotermeer, Amsterdam, 1951–1952

 Amsterdam Orphanage, Amsterdam, 1955–1960

 Primary Schools, Nagele, Noordoostpolder, 1954–1956

 Hubertus House, Amsterdam, 1973–1978

 ESA-ESTEC restaurant and conference centre, Noordwijk, 1984–1990

 The village of Nagele, the Netherlands, is a striking example of postwar

construction: A new town built on reclaimed land

 contain 300 dwelling units, 3 churches, 3 primary schools, a post office, fire
station, hotel, cafes, a clinic, cemetery, sports field, swimming pool and
business zone

 3 principles:

 1. a non-hierarchical organization with mixed social groups,

  2. a windbreak of trees to give the village a spatial character and stand
out in the polder landscape, and

 3. an open green center.

Aldo Van Eyck, Roman Catholic Church.TheHague,1964-69

 entry is so sudden that only the church doors become the sole
representation of that idea.

 Light enters sideways through tiny square panes where the two doors
overlap.

Jane Jacobs

 best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), a
powerful critique of the urban renewal policies of the 1950s in the United
States

 Opposing expressways and supporting neighborhoods were common

themes in her life.

 example stopping the Lower Manhattan Expressway

 She also had considerable influence on the regeneration of the St.

Lawrence neighborhood, a housing project regarded as a major success

 In the world of planning, Jane Jacobs' observations about the ways in

which cities function, revolutionized the urban planning profession

 advocated ideas such as "mixed use" development

 her ideas in regards to planning were very much developed through

personal experience and observation

 advocated the preservation of older buildings specifically because their

lack of economic value made them affordable for poor people.

 The Economy of Cities-The thesis of this book is that cities are the primary
drivers of economic development.

 Cities and the Wealth of Nations

  The Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle over Sovereignty-
Quebec's eventual independence isbest for M ontreal, Toronto, the rest of
Canada, and the world; and that such independence can be achieved
peacefully.

 Bottom-Up Community Planning

Aldo Rossi-(1931-1937)- Italian Architect

 MOST OF HIS WORKS WERE BASED ON FORMS.

 MANY OF HIS BUILDINGS ARE BOX LIKE WITH PITCHED ROOF.

 HE LIKES TO REPEAT IDENTICAL FORMS TO MAKE A BIGGER WHOLE.

 His signature gestures of the cone, the cylinder and the square endlessly
recombined with colonnades, windows at unexpected scales and towers

 skill at manipulating the rhythms of shadows and light.

 First to use steel

 “One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people,
and like memory it is associated with objects and places. The city is the
locus of the collective memory.”

 Modena, Italy-Type: Cemetery Complex-SAN CATALDO CEMETERY

 temporary theatre-Venice, Italy-1979

 Bonnefanten museum ,Maastricht-Netherlands-Type: Museum -Post

modern

 Rossi was a great product designer. Connection between his objects and
architecture were obvious. His timeless designs are based on simple
geometrics, primal forms. His Architecture was based on form.

 SCHOLASTIC BUILDING-SOHO, NEW YORK


  Christopher Alexander

 Design today has reached the stage where sheer inventiveness can no
longer sustain it.”

 Christopher Alexander is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University

of California, Berkeley

 best known for his seminal works on architecture including A Pattern

Language, Notes on the Synthesis of Form, and The Nature of Order,
Volumes I-IV

 Much of his work has been based on inventions in technology, including,

especially, inventions in concrete, shell design, and contracting
procedures needed to attain a living architecture

 THE SULLIVAN HOUSE. House for Steve and Susie Sullivan,

 THE MARY ROSE MUSEUM, Museum for Henry VIII's ship

 connection between nature and the human mind

 Interactions between Cars and Pedestrians.

 His architectural creations are always carefully shaped and are in

harmony with the site and the user.

 New Eishin University campus, Tokyo

SKETCHES

1) Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio

2) Neue Staatsgalerie-Germany-James Stirling

3)Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting tower

4) Indian Institute of Management

5) Capital Complex of Bangladesh

6)Arts United Center

7) Twin Phenomena

8) Vanna Venturi House

9) Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan

10) The Sydney Opera House, by Jorn Utzon, 1957

11) Home for Aged in Philadelphia

12) SCHOLASTIC BUILDING SOHO, NEW YORK

13) THE SULLIVAN HOUSE

14) AT&T Building-PHILLIP JOHNSON-NEW YORK

15) Michael Graves’s Portland Public-Services Building

16) Walt Disney Headquarters in Burbank

17) Hans Hollein’s Haas House in Vienna

18) Franklin Court in Philadelphia

19) Arata Isozaki’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles

20) Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

21) Church of the Light in Osaka by Tadao Ando

22) Wexner Center by Peter Eisenman