CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

09AT5DCCOA

CONTENT COMPILED BY
AR. SAHANA. S
(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, B.M.S.C.A.)
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE
The revolution
•It is believed that Early Modernist Architecture was impersonal and sterile.
•Detractors of the international style claim that its stark, uncompromisingly rectangular geometry is dehumanizing.
•Since the early 1980s many architects have deliberately sought to move away from rectilinear designs, towards more eclectic
styles. During the middle of the century, some architects began experimenting in organic forms that they felt were more human
and accessible.
•Mid-century modernism or organic modernism was very popular, due to its democratic and playful nature.
•In fact, the decline of modernism started by 1960 itself, and people thought the modern architecture is not actually a style, but a

•By 1980s Post-modernism took over- but the transition was complete by the mid 1990s only.

Post-modernism…Neo-Eclecticism
•Post-modernism, term used to designate a multitude of trends—in the
—that come after and deviate from the many 20th C movements that constituted modernism.
The term post-modernism 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
•In breaking away from modernism, post-modernism with its diversity possesses
The Post-modernist architects considered the general requirements of the urban buildings and their
surroundings during the building’s design.
•Post-modern architecture has also been described as where reference and ornament have returned to the facade,
replacing the aggressively unornamented modern styles. It combines a wide array of decorative techniques taken from an
assortment of different periods of historical styles.

Modern Architecture and Post-Modern Architecture

•Modernist architects regard post-modern buildings as crude and cluttered with showy ornament or decoration.
•Post-modern architects often regard modern spaces as soulless and bland.
•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 post-modernism is a rejection of
strict rules set by the early modernists and seeks exuberance in the use of building techniques, angles, and stylistic references.
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Post-Modern Architecture - The Past 40 – 50 Years

•Post-modern 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.
•Postmodernism with its diversity possesses sensitivity to the building’s context and history, and the client’s requirements.
•Sensitivity for the building’s context- a more inclusive, contextual approach to design that heralded the post-modern era in
architecture.
•Practitioners of post-modern architecture have tended to re-emphasize elements of

•They share an interest in

•However, because post-modern architects have in common only a relatively indistinct thoughts,

In fact, the very lack of a uniform organizing ethics, thoughts or ideology is one of the most important hallmarks of post-
modern art.
•One popular building style of Post-modernist style architecture is the use of Pent roofing in buildings, where roofs are slanted
at an even angle from one wall to the other.
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Zaha Hadid, MAXXI Art Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim
Museum (New York), 1943 - 1959 Museum (Rome, Italy) Museum (Bilbao, Spain) 1997

The McCormick Tribune Campus Santiago Calatrava, Milwaukee

Center at Chicago's IIT Campus by Art Museum (USA), 2001
Rem Koolhaas, 2003.
Sony Building,New York City, 1984
•The Sony building, formerly the AT&T Building, designed by architect Philip Johnson.
•It became immediately controversial for its ornamental top, but enjoyed for its spectacular arched entranceway, measuring
about seven stories in height.
•647 feet (197 m) tall, 37story skyscraper.
•At the time, it was seen as provocation on a grand scale: crowning a Manhattan skyscraper with a shape echoing a historical
wardrobe top defied every precept of the modernist aesthetic: historical pattern had been effectively outlawed among
architects for years.
•In retrospect other critics have seen the Sony Building as the first Post-modernist statement. With these ornamental
additions, the building challenged architectural modernism's demand for stark functionalism and purely efficient design. It is
therefore considered by many critics to be a prime example of post-modern architecture.
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Ar.Robert Venturi
•Robert Venturi, an American architect was at the forefront of instantiating post-modern movement.
•Ar.Robert Venturi inveighed against the predictability of modern architecture in the postwar period.
He argued instead for a more inclusive, contextual approach to design that heralded the postmodern
era in architecture.
•Eventually fed up with the generic feel Modernism projected, Venturi took the quote “Less is more”
from Mies van der Rohe, and sarcastically declared that “Less is a bore”.
•Venturi distanced himself by taking enormous deviations from the modern movement which was a stark, plain, and
disengaging form of architecture.
•Robert Venturi’s two books “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture” (1966) and “Learning from Las Vegas” (1972) do
well to express many of the aims embodied in Post-modernism.
•A prime example of inspiration for postmodern architecture lies along the Las Vegas Strip, which was studied by him in his
1972 book ‘Learning from Las Vegas’ celebrating the strip's varied architecture.
•Many of Venturi’s buildings were small in size, designed for a specific location and site, and only large when necessary.
•Venturi’s interpretations of what Post-modernism should be, included
in which he intended to build.
The cultural history that a community’s citizens share varies intensely from city to city, a realization that Venturi worked to
address through Post-modernism.
Along with the rest of the Postmodernists, he sought to bring back ornament because of its necessity.

Post-modern Architecture may be seen as being constituted of three main phases

The first phase is characterized by Venturi’s,
The second phase is represented by Architects such as and their self consciously
historicist and playfully mannered
The third phase is characterized by a that includes

Fundamentally, post-modernism may best be viewed as any form of which places an emphasis on a
strongly ironic
This, based on preconceived notions of what is proper; but done with a
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Post-modern architecture exemplified by the school known as “Deconstructivist architecture” characterized by ideas
of fragmentation, an interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, non-rectilinear shapes which serve
to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture, such as structure- unpredictability and a controlled
chaos .
It might also place symbolic elements in highly visible and thought-provoking locations, and emphasize loud and
discordant aesthetics.

Contemporary architecture:
•Contemporary architecture is formally defined as the building style of the present day. The term contemporary architecture
is also applied to a range of styles of recently built structures and space which are optimized for current use.
•It is generally recognized that contemporary architecture is an evolution of modern architecture.
•While these two terms are sometimes used synonymously, this usage is not correct. Modern architecture refers to the
building style of the early to mid 20th C.
•Modern architecture featured clean lines and an emphasis on function. Those elements that characterized modern
architecture, however were also sometimes thought to be inert and impersonal. This belief lead to the creation of the
contemporary style as is recognized today.
•Contemporary architecture has various influences but still tries to be aspirational, visionary, uncertain and uses new
materials in an innovative way.
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

•Examples of contemporary architecture therefore do not necessarily have similar or easily recognizable features as in classical
architecture. A precise definition of "contemporary" architecture, therefore, is not so simple to articulate.
•Contemporary Architects attempt to push at the boundaries of materials and technology, and, especially in recent decades,
geometry.
•Like the modern style, contemporary architecture connects indoor and outdoor spaces, but it adds some personal touches and
warmth throughout the living space.
•The use of natural light also plays a large part in defining this style. For this reason, large and expansive windows are a common
and easily recognized feature of contemporary structures.
•Features of a contemporary structures thus may include, an irregular or unusually shaped frame, an open floor plan, oversized
windows, the use of "green" components or organic design.
•Over time, contemporary architecture has developed several offshoots, each with its own characteristics, including Post-
modernism, Neo-modernism, Deconstructivism, Blobitecture, Computer aided design, Critical Regionalism, Sustainable design,
High-tech architecture, Conceptual architecture.

Influential architects of contemporary architecture

• Robert Venturi
• Philip Johnson
• Charles Willard Moore
• Richard Meier
• Frank Gehry
• Michael Graves
• William Pereira
• Norman Foster
• Renzo Piano
• Bernard Tschumi
• Richard Rogers
• Zaha Hadid
• Daniel Leibskind
• Rem Koolhas
• Santiago Calatrava
• Mario Botta
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

•Green building is also becoming a strong component of the

contemporary style.
•Architects today are placing more emphasis on energy efficiency;
they also are using sustainable, natural, and recycled materials,
thus creating eco-friendly structures.
•Contemporary structures are also often thoughtfully integrated
into their natural surroundings (Contextual). This practice is
sometimes referred to as organic architecture.
•This connection with nature extends from the outdoor landscape
to the indoor environment.
•Zoomorphism or Zoomorphic architecture
•Zoomorphism is a movement in building designs, based upon
animals, humans or natural world, belonging to late 20th C.
•The animal may stand as a symbol for the design, or the design
may share elements of an animal in a more functional manner.
•This movement is much more obvious than those animal
metaphors which are employed directly. Structurally, visually or
organically, the buildings owe their forms to the animal kingdom Gehry Partners: “Vila Chetworth Associates:
creating extraordinary shapes and designs which function in new Olympica” Barcelona. “Butterfly House” Surrey
ways.
•Today, with computers and new materials, architects are able to
design and build more freely so they are deeply exploring the
natural world.
Examples:
• Milwaukee Art Museum, Lyon-Satolas Railway station and
Olympic stadium at Athens by Santiago Calatrava
• Waterloo Eurostar terminal by Nicholas Grimshaw

Senosiain Arquitectos: “The Santiago Calatrava’sTGV

Nautilus House” Mexico City station at Lyon-Satolas
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Neo-Classical Architecture
•Neo-Classical architecture is a new birth of the classical
architecture of ancient Greece and Rome produced by the
neo-classical movement that began in the mid-18th C.
•Neo-Classical architecture can be seen in the work of the
renaissance architect Andre Palladio during the 1500s and his Piazza d’Italia at The US Capitol, USA
awakened interest in the architecture of ancient Greece and New Orleans
Rome. Palladio's ideas became the model for architecture
in Europe for many centuries.
•A Neoclassical building is likely to have these features:
•symmetrical shape, tall columns that rise to the full height of the
building, triangular pediment, and a domed roof.
The White House,USA Library at Downing
College, Cambridge
Structuralism or Structural Architecture
•Structuralism as a movement in architecture and urban
planning evolved around the middle of the 20th C.
•Architects and city planners organized buildings and cities on the
basis of communication routes, streets, and squares, what
in a structuralist analysis constitutes the invariant structures of a
city. Pompidou Centre, Paris.
•Buildings and cities are complex, often visualized as a jumble of
corridors, roads, underground-tracks, and footbridges in different Lloyd's building and
levels connected by escalators, stairs, and elevators being stressed Millennium Dome
by their size, color, or material.

Kansai International
Airport, Osaka, Japan
INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY WESTERN ARCITECTURE

Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism (late 1980s) in contemporary architecture stands
in opposition to the ordered rationality of Modernism.
There is a thought that it was started by the group of people called
deconstructivists, who were attracted by the theories of French
Philosopher Jacques Derrida.
Deconstructivism is characterized by: Imperial War Museum North in Manchester
• Ideas of fragmentation.
• An interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or
skin.
• Non-rectilinear shapes which serve to distort and dislocate
some of the elements of architecture, such as structure and
envelope.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

High-tech architecture
High-tech architecture (late 80s), became a bridge between
modernisms and post-modernism. It is the simplification of
Renault Distribution Centre, Swindon form and the elimination of ornament.
Characteristics:
• Prominent display of the building's technical and
functional components, and an orderly
arrangement and use of pre-fabricated elements.
• Arose from the design of industrial premises, where all
HSBC Bank, Central elements of the situation subordinate functions.
Hong Kong • Designed openness, inclusion in the visual series of pipes,
fittings, ducts, the complex structuring of space. Glass
walls and steel frames are few popular materials.