Postmodern Architecture

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 Introduction: What is Postmodernism?

• Postmodernism was the dominant architectural

theory and practice during the 1970s and 80s.

• The pioneering architect of postmodernism was

Robert Venturi.
• Other important postmodernists include Michael
Graves, Charles Moore, Robert Stern, and Arata
Isozaki.

Thematic House,
Charles Jenks , 1979-1984 2
• Post oder is h phe ated as post-
oder is i older te ts a e riefl
defined as the art of quoting without
quotation marks,

• the postmodernist would ask – who

can I quote and how can I make the work
into an ironic or witty reference?

Portland Building 1982,

Michael Graves
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• The Villa Rotonda by Palladio 1566-69, the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier 1928-31 and the Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi 1961-5. All three houses conform to
the Palladian villa typology. The modernist Villa Savoye does this abstractly through its geometry and its relation to the site, while postmodern Vanna Venturi House
does this overtly by mimicking the Palladian triangular pediment and the symmetry of the facade.

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• Another often quoted definition of
postmodernism comes from the French
philosopher Jean-François Lyotard who says,

si plif i g to the e tre e, I defi e

postmodern as incredulity toward
metanarratives.

Metanarratives, also alled grand narratives

The Sony Canari (formerly AT&T

building) in New York City, 1984, by
Philip Johnson
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• Therefore in place of the
oder ists’ si gle u i ersal
account, postmodernism
introduces various little stories
that may and often do contradict
each other.

Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, London

, Venturi 1991

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Characteristics of Postmodern Architecture

• The prominent features of postmodern architecture are mainly adapting

diverse aesthetics which gives emphasis on unique forms.
• Postmodern features are the striking counterpoint of traditional
architecture and all its preceding movements..

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• Diversity of expression defines the core philosophy of postmodern
ideals.

• Buildings are designed not only to deliver conventional function but

also combined with characteristics of meaning such as pluralism, irony,
paradox, and contextualism. (For example, postmodern skyscrapers are
adorned with non-conventional ledges or classical columns, something
unusual for a skyscraper to have).

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• Colors of post oder ar hite ture do ot e essaril follo the olor heel
la ut there is a ertai har o fro it. Ofte , olors are irregular,
though following a theme. An example for this is the Team Disney Buildings
desig ed Mi hael Gra es i 1991. “ o White’s “e e D ar es are the
ai attra tio of the uildi g’s e tra e. The d ar es ere olored light
brown, away from the colorful characters people used to watch.

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• An important aspect of postmodern architecture is that it uplifts the
architecture as both functional and artistic in nature.

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Modern Architecture

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Modern Architecture

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Postmodern Architecture

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• anthropomorphismnoun the showing or treating of animals, and objects as if they are human
in appearance, character, or behaviour:
• The books "Alice in Wonderland", "Peter Rabbit", and "Winnie-the-Pooh" are classic examples of
anthropomorphism.

• Trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye", is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to
create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Forced perspective
is a comparable illusion in architecture.
• Or: a painting that is cleverly designed to trick people into thinking that the objects
represented in it are really there:
• He is said to have painted a trompe l'oeil of grapes which was so realistic that birds tried to peck
at them.

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• Paradox: a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult
to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics:
( It's a curious paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you
feel thirsty).

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Postmodern Beauty versus
Modernist Sublime
• The most rigorous and perhaps also most
useful definition of postmodernism comes
from L otard’s short essa What is
Post oder is that for s the appe di to his
The Postmodern Condition book .

• Here Lyotard makes use of the 18th century

German Critique of philosopher Immanuel Kant
a d the o ept of the su li e fro Ka t’s
Judgement

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• Whereas the beautiful is the unity of the
faculties of thinking (the concept) and
perception (the representation), the sublime
is the conflict of those faculties. So
• for example, if we have an idea of what a
beautiful face is and we see someone in the

• street that matches that idea then that will

give us pleasure.

The Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart,

Germany 1984, James Stirling 18
• But if we have a concept for which there can be
no representation, heaven on earth, the fourth
dimension or a ghost who walks down a busy
street for example, then there will be a mismatch
between the idea and all our attempts to
represent it, and this is what Kant calls the
sublime.

• The sublime gives us both pleasure and pain,

pleasure in the concept and pain in our inability
to adequately represent it.

Carlo Scarpa, Brion Cemetery,

Italy 1970-72

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• Quite clearly modern art and architecture strives for the
su li e, thi k of Male i h’s a stra t pai ti gs a d Mies
van der Rohe’s less-is-more architecture. Both try to
represent the unrepresentable, the fourth dimension for
Malevich and silence for Mies.

• In contrast, postmodern art and architecture quite

consciously strive for a unity between the idea and the
object.

• Postmodernists use forms from popular culture and

history to make sure that the public will find their work
agreeable and therefore beautiful.

Public services Building, Portland, Oregon,

USA, 1992
Michael Graves

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 Postmodern Beauty versus Modernist Sublime

Modern – Sublime Postmodern- Beautiful

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• Lyotard makes one further useful distinction within the
sublime.

• We can either place the emphasis on the power of the

concept or the weakness of the representation. Novatio
He calls the former (innovation) and the latter
melancholia (sadness).

• This is a useful distinction because it allows Lyotard to

differentiate between a positive postmodernism which is
sublime, as a continuation of the modernist project of
novatiofrom a negative postmodernism that simply tries
to be beautiful.

• .

Les Espaces Abraxas Marne la Valle Paris22France

Ricardo Bofill
• This helps explain why postmodernism is
attacked and defended in equal amounts It is
attacked
• for being a superficial surrender to what is
popularly perceived as being beautiful, and

• it is defended for its sublime innovation, for

being a continuation of modernism.

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 The Historical Context for Postmodernism
• So in the architecture of the period we have, to use the humorous summation of Frederic
Jameson,

• a baroque postmodernism (Michael Graves),

• a rococo postmodernism(Charles Moore and Robert Venturi),
• a classical and neo-classical postmodernism (Aldo Rossi and Christian de Portzamparc),
• and even a High- Modernist postmodernism (Peter Eisenman and Rem Koolhaas) because
modernism itself became just another historical style to be used or abandoned according to
individual preference.

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• Modernist Mies van der Rohe is associated
ith the phrase less is more ; i o trast
Venturi famously said, "Less is a bore."

• Postmodernist architecture was one of the

first aesthetic movements to openly
challenge Modernism as antiquated and
"totalitarian", favouring personal
preferences and variety over objective,
ultimate truths or principles.

Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, London

, Venturi 1991

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 Post modern Architecture
• In 1949 the term was used to describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture and led to
the postmodern architecture movement,

• perhaps also a response to the modernist architectural movement known as the International
Style.

• Postmodernism in architecture is marked by

❖the re-emergence of surface ornament,
❖reference to surrounding buildings in urban architecture,
❖historical reference in decorative forms, and non-orthogonal angles.

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• For example, the Disney
Corporation has been
hiring famous
postmodernist
architects for the last
few decades. The Eisner
Building was designed
by Michael Graves. It
features the Seven
Dwarfs in place of the
caryatids found in
Ancient Greek buildings.

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• This is how the device looks in
genuine ancient Greek architecture
- the Erechthium at Athens, which
has columns sculpted into the form
of female figures.

• Michael Graves has appropriated

this device, but altered it to create
in a parody of Classicism.

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