Looking Into Postmodernism Architecture
What are Postmodernism and its Influence in Architecture
Post-modernism is a way of thought that emerged in the late of 20th century to mark the end of the modern era, where it is a term used for ideas, thoughts, or movement of various thinkers or philosophers, that works as a central feature in human culture of the 21st century. The widespread of post-modernism in almost all aspects of human life is clearly inevitable, in the field of art, architecture, literature, communication, fashion, technology, and lifestyle in general greatly influenced by this way of thinking. The main patrons of this contemporary philosophy are names such as Jacques Derrida (1970), Jean Francois Lyotard (1979), and Jean Baudrillard (1981), whereas Charles Jencks (1972) inspired and greatly influenced the movement of post-modern architecture.
In architecture, post-modernism characterized the movement away from the so-called failure of modern architecture: uniformity, loss of local identity, emphasis on efficiency in mass production, and the industrialization of building components. Historian Mary McLeod defined the movement as “a desire to make architecture a vehicle of cultural expression.”
Reading Postmodern Architecture: Historicist Postmodernist
A postmodernist will develop actions, thought, and desires by the proliferation, juxtaposition, and disjunction and prefer what is positive and multiple, the difference over uniformity, flows over unities, and mobile arrangements over systems. Believe that what is productive and not Inactive, but nomadic. Postmodernism believes in the necessity of a plurality of elements in phenomena and, in fact, in pluralism. It considers relativism, eclecticism, self-awareness, textuality, and individualism as characteristics of postmodernism, but it seems that eclecticism is similar to the conceptual art of the West. They are interested in technology but do not deny that “public” art is an art that exists in the hypertext of their works. This pluralism is the biggest challenge to unravel postmodern architecture syntax in my opinion.
Robert Stern, Robert Venturi, and Charles Moore were the founders of postmodern historicism. They theoretically turned the focus on modern independent formalism toward a search for the meaning. Stern considered three main realms of these postmodern architects’ focus on meaning production: view, city, and the idea of cultural memory. He called these three “fields of activity” or “principles” which emphasize attention: “decoration, contextually and gesture-oriented”
In the theory of intertextuality, the text is considered without an independent meaning. It does not have clear boundaries and it does not clearly define its forms based on previous texts or its contemporaries. Therefore, any work of art has several layers of meaning. To understand it and get its meaning, there is no choice but to find the intertextual relationships. Without considering the hidden text layers in the formation of the artwork, the act of reading seems incomplete. Intertextuality can provide knowledge to understand phenomena and it seeks to discover the deeper layers of meaning. In this section, to better understand Historicist postmodernism, let’s analyzed three works examples among architects; Vanna Venturi House, Piazza d’Italia, and AT&T building.
Vanna Venturi House of 1961– 1964 designed by Robert Venturi for his mother. This is known as postmodern architecture which is based on “a symbolic conception”. It is centered on the idea of the chimney, the hearth, from which-and you can feel space is pulled. Space is distended from that hearth as the mass of the chimney rises to split the house. Here, the principle of condensation becomes extremely complex and exciting. In addition to its unique formal and functional qualities, the house is rich in references to historic architecture. The monumental street facade alludes to Michaelangelo’s Porta Pia in Rome and the back wall of the Nymphaeum at Palladio and Alessandro Vittoria’s Villa Barbaro at Maser. On the other hand, the broken pediment recalls the “duality” of the facade of Luigi Moretti’s apartment house on the Via Parioli in Rome.
The second is Piazza d’Italia designed by Charles Moore and completed in 1978. Piazza d’Italia expresses Moore’s belief in architecture’s ability to manage fantasy and induce humor. “Its eclectic use of materials (neon, stucco, marble, steel), the combination of classical and pop-culture elements, irony, and its fanciful celebration of place, the Piazza is a crystallization of postmodernism.”
The third one, AT&T Building designed by Philip Johnson in protest against modern skyscrapers. “As designed, Johnson’s vision for the company created an icon on a grand and heavy scale. The broken pediment perched atop the building became the single most identifiable signifier of the AT&T Building and the new image is sent out to the world. The façade consists of granite panels, which in places are up to ten inches thick, adding up to about three times as much material than was standard at the time it was built.”
Postmodernism Architecture Relevancy in 21st Century
In short, postmodernism’s anti-foundationalism and skepticism make it inconsistent and unreliable. This does not mean that postmodernism has not made any useful contributions, it has the potential to greatly aid critical theory and analysis, while its input has largely been ignored or dismissed. These contributions shouldn’t simply be dismissed due to the issues inherent within the postmodern perspective. Rather, they have much to offer critical political analysis, and postmodernism can teach critical theorists a great deal and help to find a way of thinking that uses creativity, cultural context, desire to approach social exclusion and marginalization.
Reference
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- Hutcheon L. Postmodernism, In l. Makaryk, ed, Encyclopedia of contemporary literary theory:[approaches, scholars, terms, 612, Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1993.
- Saberi R. Meaning and principles of postmodernism in today’s art and architecture, Journal of Visual Arts, 2001, №11, pp. 115–117.
- Nesbitt K. Theory of postmodern architecture, 1st volume: prologue, Kasra Book Gallery, Tehran, 2014
- Jenkins K. Re-thinking history (2003), Routledge, London, 1991.
- Stanislaus VM. Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown: Buildings and Projects, New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1987.
- Philip J. The constancy of change, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009
- Moore Ch. Architecture and fairy tales, The Place of Houses, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
- Kristeva J. The Bounded Text, In Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Ed. Leon S. Roudiez, (Intro.), Colombia University Press, New York, 1980.
