20th Century Architecture

Part II

Dictum of Modern Architecture

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe:

“Less is more.”

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Seagram Building, New York, 1954-58

Robert Venturi

“Less is a bore.” (1966)

(Fiero 978)

Charles JencksPostmodern architecture is characterized by a "double coding": two or more styles which co-exist in contradiction and/or self-mockery. http://architecture.about.com/library/bl-postmodern.htm

Postmodern architectureSense of "anything goes": Forms filled with humor, irony, ambiguity, contradiction

Juxtaposition of styles: Blend of traditional, contemporary, and newly-invented forms

Exaggerated or abstract traditional detailinghttp://architecture.about.com/library/bl-postmodern.htm

Postmodern FeaturesClash of scalesPostmodern architecture often includes elements that are clearly out of scale with the rest of the building.

This is most obvious where the building borrows from other styles. The mixing of large and small classical orders, the distortion and exaggeration of motifs, can make a building seem dramatic and grand.

Architects also played with scale to introduce surprise and a sense of fun.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/architecture/style_level3.php?id=256&parent=260&area=0

Les Espaces d’Abraxas, France, 1979-82

Postmodern featuresThin façadesSome Postmodern buildings have thin fronts that are clearly distinct from the rest of the building.

In some cases the thinness is exaggerated as a visual joke. For example, the facade may dissolve into the windows at the side of the building.

On other buildings, the façades are treated as little more than billboards or stage backdrops. This allowed architects greater freedom of expression in the design of the building front.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/architecture/style_level4.php?id=256&parent=260&object=213&area=0&ext=.swf

China Wharf, London, 1986-88

Postmodern FeaturesClassical referencesPostmodern buildings often used elements of classical architecture.

In most cases the use is decorative not structural. Nor is it 'correct'. Postmodern architects did not follow the strict principles of the classical style. For example, they deliberately combined and exaggerated columns, arches and rough masonry. They took elements from Greek temples and applied them to buildings that had entirely modern functions.

The effect is often quirky and playful.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/architecture/style_level4.php?id=256&parent=260&object=214&area=0&ext=.swf

Kengo Kuma, M2Tokyo, 1991

Kengo Kuma, M2Tokyo, 1991

Kengo Kuma, DoricTokyo, 1991

A precursor?

Claude-Nicholas Ledoux, Royal Saltworks, 1774-79

Gatehouse with entrance portico

Claude-Nicholas Ledoux, Royal Saltworks, 1774-79Director’s House

Robert VenturiIn favor of messy vitality in architectureBelieved in aesthetic ambiguity and visual tensionPostmodern vision: “both-and” rather than “either-or”

A conventional building

Venturi, Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia, 1962

Venturi, Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia, 1962

Venturi, Gordon Wu Hall, Butler College, Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ1980

Michael Graves

Public Services Building, Portland, Oregon, 1980-82

Michael GravesHumana Building (Louisville)1986

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

Disney Center

MICHAEL GRAVES, Walt Disney World, Swan Hotel, Florida, 1987

MICHAEL GRAVES, Walt Disney World, Swan Hotel, Florida, 1987

MICHAEL GRAVES,Walt Disney World-Dolphin Hotel

MICHAEL GRAVES,Walt Disney World-Dolphin Hotel

Philip Johnson

P. Johnson & J Burgee: AT&T Building,  NYC, 1979-84

Philip Johnson and John Burgee: PPG Place, Pittsburgh, PA 1979-84

Philip Johnson and John Burgee: PPG Place, Pittsburgh, PA 1979-84

P. Johnson & J Burgee: International Place, Boston, 1985

Charles Moore

Charles Moore, Piazza d’Italia, New Orleans, USA, 1976-79

Charles Moore, Piazza d’Italia, New Orleans, USA, 1976-79

Frank Gehry

Gehry, Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany, 1987 to 1989

Gehry, Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany, 1987 to 1989

Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1997

Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, at Bilbao, Spain, 1997

Gehry, Experience Music Project, at Seattle, Washington, 1999 to 2000

Frank Gehry,Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington, 1999 to 2000

I. M. Pei

Las Vegas

High-techExposed structureGlass Tension structures

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/architecture/style_level3.php?id=255&parent=260&area=0

High-techPompidou Center,

Paris, 1971-77

The End