Title: Postmodern architecture - Designing Buildings Wiki
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Postmodern architecture
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Last edited 13 May 2021
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Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture, also known as postmodernism (or ‘ pomo ’), is an architectural style that emerged in the late-1960s as a reaction against modernism . Modernist architecture had faced increasing criticism for its rigid doctrines, uniformity and perceived lack of local and cultural context. There were also those who derided the modernism of Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for being too bleak, formal and austere. The failure of building methods and materials, such as the collapse of Ronan Point in 1968, and the gradual deterioration of once-‘utopian’ housing estates, also contributed to the backlash against modernism . In 1966, the architect and theorist Robert Venturi published ‘Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture ’ the catalyst for the postmodern movement. Venturi argued that the ancient cities of Rome spoke in historical layers and vivid juxtapositions rather than one homogenous voice. He also claimed that buildings, as well as being designed objects, were feats of placemaking and should seek to accommodate local conditions of neighbourhood and public behaviour; as individual and rich as the building occupants themselves. In practice, postmodern architecture moved away from the rigid formalities of modernism and began to incorporate stylistic references that were often playful and symbolic, using techniques such as shape, colour and trompe l’oeil; applying elements and structural forms from classical architecture to modern designs .