CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Contemporary architecture is, in broad terms, the architecture of the present day.

Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture. Postmodernity in architecture is said to be heralded by the return of "wit, ornament and reference" to architecture in response to the formalism of the International Style of modernism

As with many cultural movements, some of Postmodernism's most pronounced and visible ideas can be seen in architecture. The functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the modernist style are replaced by diverse aesthetics: styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake, and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound. Perhaps most obviously, architects rediscovered the expressive and symbolic value of architectural elements and forms that had evolved through centuries of building which had been abandoned by the modern style

POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE

Postmodern architecture has also been described as ‘neo-eclectic’, where reference and ornament have returned to the facade, replacing the aggressively unornamented modern styles. This eclecticism is often combined with the use of non-orthogonal angles and unusual surfaces

Modernist architects may regard postmodern buildings as vulgar, associated with a populist ethic, and sharing the design elements of shopping malls, cluttered with "gew-gaws“

Postmodern architects may regard many modern buildings as soulless and bland, overly simplistic and abstract

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 postmodernism is a rejection of strict rules set by the early modernists and seeks meaning and expression in the use of building techniques, forms, and stylistic references

The Postmodernist movement is often seen (especially in the USA) as an American movement, starting in America around the 1960s–1970s and then spreading to Europe and the rest of the world, to remain right through to the present Double coding meant the buildings convey many meanings simultaneously. The Sony Building in New York does this very well. The building is a tall skyscraper which brings with it connotations of very modern technology. Yet, the top contradicts this. The top section conveys elements of classical antiquity. This double coding is a prevalent trait of Postmodernism

The characteristics of Postmodernism were rather unified given their diverse appearances. The most notable among their characteristics is their playfully extravagant forms and the humour of the meanings the buildings conveyed

ROBERT VENTURI

Robert Charles Venturi, Jr. (born June 25, 1925) is an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major architectural figures in the twentieth century. Together with his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown, he helped to shape the way that architects, planners and students experience and think about architecture and the American built environment Venturi was awarded the Pritzker Prize in Architecture in 1991; the prize was awarded to him alone despite a request to include his equal partner Denise Scott Brown Robert is also known for coining the maxim "Less is a bore" a postmodern antidote to Mies van der Rohe's famous modernist dictum "Less is more"

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE

The design of "Mother's House", as architect Robert Venturi frequently calls the house, was affected by Vanna (née Luizi) Venturi as both the client whose needs had to be met, and also as the mother who helped develop the architect's talent and personality.

The five room house stands only about 30 feet (9 m) tall at the top of the chimney, but has a monumental front facade, an effect achieved by intentionally manipulating the architectural elements that indicate a building's scale. A non-structural applique arch and "hole in the wall" windows, among other elements, together with Venturi's book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture were an open challenge to Modernist orthodoxy. Architectural historian Vincent Scully called it "the biggest small building of the second half of the twentieth century.”

 The designs for the house by Robert, Jr. evolved over four years, but the architect noted only two indications of disagreement from his client. When the work was about three-fourths complete, she looked at the traditional 19th-century house next door and remarked "Oh, isn't that a nice house."

Front facade (view from north-east)

View from the rear of the house (south)

View from the side (south-east)

ARCHIGRAM

Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s - based at the Architectural Association, London - that was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical projects. The main members of the group were Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Ron Herron, Dennis Crompton, Michael Webb and David Greene. Designer Theo Crosby was the "hidden hand" behind the group Their works offered a seductive vision of a glamorous future machine age; however, social and environmental issues were left unaddressed Unlike ephemeralisation from Buckminster Fuller which assumes more must be done with less material (because material is finite), Archigram relies on a future of interminable resources

The avant-garde (from French, "advance guard" or "vanguard", literally "fore-guard") are people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics. The avant-garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism

PLUG-IN-CITY, PETER COOK, 1964 Plug-in-City is a mega-structure with no buildings, just a massive framework into which dwellings in the form of cells or standardised components could be slotted. The machine had taken over and people were the raw material being processed, the difference being that people are meant to enjoy the experience.

THE WALKING CITY, RON HERRON, 1964 The Walking City is constituted by intelligent buildings or robots that are in the form of giant, self-contained living pods that could roam the cities. The form derived from a combination of insect and machine and was a literal interpretation of Corbusier's aphorism of a house as a machine for living in. The pods were independent, yet parasitic as they could 'plug into' way stations to exchange occupants or replenish resources. The citizen is therefore a serviced nomad not totally dissimilar from today's executive cars. The context was perceived as a future ruined world in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

INSTANT CITY Instant City is a mobile technological event that drifts into underdeveloped, drab towns via air (balloons) with provisional structures (performance spaces) in tow. The effect is a deliberate overstimulation to produce mass culture, with an embrace of advertising aesthetics. The whole endeavor is intended to eventually move on leaving behind advanced technology hook-ups.

OTHER PROJECTS Tuned City, in which Archigram's infrastructural and spatial additions attach themselves to an existing town at a percentage that leaves evidence of the previous development, rather than subsuming the whole.

THE NEW YORK FIVE

The New York Five refers to a group of five New York City architects (Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier) whose photographed work was the subject of a CASE (Committee of Architects for the Study of the Environment) meeting at the Museum of Modern Art, organized by Arthur Drexler and Colin Rowe in 1969, and featured in the subsequent book Five Architects, published by Wittenborn in 1972, then more famously by Oxford Press in 1975 These five had a common allegiance to a pure form of architectural modernism, harkening back to the work of Le Corbusier in the 1920s and 1930s, although on closer examination their work was far more individual. The grouping may have had more to do with social and academic allegiances, particularly the mentoring role of Philip Johnson

MICHAEL GRAVES

Michael Graves (born July 9, 1934) is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves was known first for his contemporary building designs and some prominent public commissions. Since designing domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States, he has become more widely known.

Graves was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Broad Ripple High School, receiving his diploma in 1952. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He earned a master's degree in architecture from Harvard University

Michael Graves has also become well known in the internet meme community for creating a tea kettle that supposedly resembles Hitler

Graves kettle, 1984

THE PORTLAND BUILDING

The Portland Building, alternatively referenced as the Portland Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 and was considered architecturally groundbreaking at the time. The building houses offices of the City of Portland and is located adjacent to Portland City Hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011

The distinctive look of Michael Graves' Portland Building, with its use of a variety of surface materials and colors, small windows, and inclusion of prominent decorative flourishes, was in stark contrast to the architectural style most commonly used for large office buildings at the time,[7] and made the building an icon of postmodern architecture. It is the first major postmodern building, opening before Philip Johnson's AT&T Building, and its design has been described as a rejection of the Modernist principles established in the early 20th century

In May 1983, the building won an American Institute of Architects honor award

Paul Goldberger said: For better or for worse, the Portland Building overshadows other things. It is more significant for what it did than how well it does it. It had a profound effect on American architecture and brought a return to classicism that brought us better buildings.

Pietro Belluschi said: "I think it's totally wrong. It's not architecture, it's packaging. I said at the time that there were only two good things about it: 'It will put Portland on the map, architecturally, and it will never be repeated.‘

Travel + Leisure magazine called the Portland Building "one of the most hated buildings in America"

ST. COLETTA SCHOOL

2001 - 2006 Washington, DC, United States

The nonprofit charter school St. Coletta serves individuals with cognitive disabilities, autism, and physical disabilities. Guided by the school’s philosophy that all children are special, MGA addressed formal, functional, social and ecological concerns in the design, and created a facility with such success that it is promoted as a national model. The 99,000-SF building’s largest elements -- the entrance and common facilities -- are located along Independence Avenue and expressed as geometric pavilions clad in colorful glazed tile. Instructional suites for 50-70 students are articulated as a series of “houses” with private gardens and relate to the scale of the adjacent residential neighborhood along 19th St. Internally, the houses front onto a double-height common space called the “village green.” The interior of each house is painted a different color, which becomes a way-finding device and also helps the students identify with their “community,” a vital part of the school’s teaching philosophy.

CHARLES MOORE

Charles Willard Moore (October 31, 1925 – December 16, 1993) was an American architect, educator, writer, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and winner of the AIA Gold Medal in 1991

Moore preferred conspicuous design features, including loud color combinations, supergraphics, stylistic collisions, the re-use of esoteric historical-design solutions, and the use of non-traditional materials such as plastic, (aluminized) PET film, platinum tiles, and neon signs, As a result, his work provokes arousal, demands attention, and sometimes tips over into kitsch. His mid-1960s New Haven residence, published in Playboy, featured an open, freestanding shower in the middle of the room, its water nozzled through a giant sunflower.

Such design features (historical detail, ornament, fictional treatments, ironic significations) made Moore one of the chief innovators of postmodern architecture, along with Robert Venturi and Michael Graves, among others. Moore's Piazza d'Italia (1978), an urban public plaza in New Orleans, made prolific use of his exuberant design vocabulary and is frequently cited as the archetypal postmodern project

In addition to his influential work as an architect and university educator, Moore was a prolific author, publishing a dozen books. Many other books, monographs, and articles document his designs.

-The Place of Houses (with Gerald Allen and Donlyn Lyndon)-Dimensions (with Gerald Allen)-Body, Memory and Architecture (with Kent Bloomer)-The Poetics of Gardens-The City Observed: Los Angeles (with Peter Becker and Regula Campbell)-Water and Architecture -Chambers for a Memory Palace (with Donlyn Lyndon)

"Body, Memory, and Architecture," written with Kent Bloomer during the Yale years, is a plea for architects to design structures for three-dimensional user experience instead of two-dimensional visual appearance. "The City Observed: Los Angeles" remains an excellent guide to Los Angeles' significant architecture

PIAZZA D'ITALIA

The Piazza d'Italia is an urban public plaza located at Lafayette and Commerce Streets in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. It is controlled by the Piazza d'Italia Development Corporation, a subdivision of New Orleans city government. Completed in 1978 according to a design by noted post-modernist ‘Charles Moore’ and Perez Architects of New Orleans, the Piazza d'Italia debuted to widespread acclaim on the part of artists and architects. Deemed an architectural masterpiece even prior to its completion, the Piazza in fact began to rapidly deteriorate as the development surrounding it was never realized. By the turn of the new millennium, the Piazza d'Italia was largely unfrequented by and unknown to New Orleanians, and was sometimes referred to as the first "postmodern ruin". The conversion of the adjacent Lykes Center to the Loews Hotel, New Orleans, completed in 2003, was accompanied by the full restoration of the Piazza d'Italia (accomplished by 2004).

In design, the Piazza d’Italia and Charles Moore are firmly associated with Postmodernism. At least into the 1950s, the Modern movement was the dominant theory in design. Architects such as Robert Venturi and Charles Moore pushed against Modernism, feeling that it defined what design should be and excluding everything that did not fall within that definition. Postmodernism rejected absolute distinctions, strict definitions, and restrictive rules. Moore in particular was concerned about what was excluded by Modernism. He preferred to consider what could be included by design, not excluded. In this light, Postmodernism embraced the ornament and historical architecture that had been explicitly rejected by Modernism The Piazza d’Italia was both acclaimed and reviled by critics.  Ten years later, Charles Moore acknowledged both his supporters and detractors, feeling that both the amount and ferocity of the debate indicated the importance of the subject.  This is the essence of the paradigm shift initiated by Postmodernism.  With its use of historical elements and ornament in a distorted or playful way, Postmodernism resembles a Mannerist style more than a defined movement.  Its exaggerated approach demands response and invites discussion.  This shift has had an enduring impact in architecture. 

CHARLES JENCKS

Charles Alexander Jencks (born 21 June 1939) is an American architecture theorist and critic, landscape architect and designer. His books on the history and criticism of modernism and postmodernism are widely read in architectural circles. He studied under the influential architectural historians Sigfried Giedion and Reyner Banham. Jencks now lives in Scotland where he designs landscape sculpture

In The Story of Post-Modernism, Charles Jencks, the authority on Post-Modern architecture and culture, provides the defining account of Post-Modern architecture from its earliest roots in the early 60s to the present day. By breaking the narrative into seven distinct chapters, which are both chronological and overlapping, Jencks charts the ebb and flow of the movement, the peaks and troughs of different ideas and themes

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation at Portrack House, near Dumfries, Scotland

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation, designed in part by Jencks and begun in 1988, was dedicated to Jencks' late wife Maggie Keswick Jencks. Jencks, his wife, scientists, and their friends designed the garden based on natural and scientific processes. Jencks' goal was to celebrate nature, but he also incorporated elements from the modern sciences into the design. The garden contains species of plants that are pleasurable to the eye, as well as edible. Preserving paths and the traditional beauty of the garden is still his concern, but Jencks enhances the cosmic landscape using new tools and artificial materials. Just as Japanese Zen gardens, Persian paradise gardens, and the English and French Renaissance gardens were analogies for the universe, the design represents the cosmic and cultural evolution of the contemporary world. The garden is a microcosm - as one walks through the gardens they experience the universe in miniature. According to Jencks, gardens are also autobiographical because they reveal the happiest moments, the tragedies, and the truths of the owner and family

Jencks is synonymous with his writings on postmodernism in architecture. He discusses his theories of postmodern architecture in his best-selling book The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977). Jencks discusses the paradigm shift from modern to postmodern architecture. Modern architecture concentrates on univalent forms such as right angles and square buildings often resembling office buildings. However, postmodern architecture focuses on forms derived from the mind, body, city context, and nature.

His book The Iconic Building examines trend setting and celebrity culture. He writes that the reason that our culture seeks the "iconic building" is because it has the possibility of reversing the economic trend of a flagging “conurbation”. An iconic building is created to make a splash, to generate money, and the normal criteria of valuation do not apply. He says that “enigmatic signifiers” can be used in an effective way to support the deeper meaning of the building

'Life Mounds' by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland, West Lothian, Scotland

THE GARDEN OF COSMIC SPECULATION, DUMFRIES

Forty major areas, gardens, bridges, landforms, sculptures, terraces, fences and architectural works. Covering thirty acres in the Borders area of Scotland, the garden uses nature to celebrate nature, both intellectually and through the senses, including the sense of humor. A water cascade of steps recounts the story of the universe, a terrace shows the distortion of space and time caused by a black hole, a "Quark Walk" takes the visitor on a journey to the smallest building blocks of matter, and a series of landforms and lakes recall fractal geometry.

WU CHI, OLYMPIC FOREST PARK, BEIJING, CHINA

A rotating black hole using real gravity to pull you into the centre. A large oval space is tilted by a river. Visitors spill into either side towards a central rotating black hole where a turntable, with a visual illusion of a sucking vortex, provides a further sensation of gravity.

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