Title: What Is Postmodern Architecture?
Headings: What Is Postmodern Architecture?
What Is Postmodern Architecture?
History of Postmodern Architecture
Key Characteristics of Postmodern Architecture
Notable Examples of Postmodern Architecture

Content: The Portland Building Steve Morgan / Wikimedia Commons
History of Postmodern Architecture
Postmodernism arose in the 1960s and '70s as an architect-driven critical reaction and response to the prevailing Modern architecture of the mid-20th century, which postmodern architects perceived as placeless and rigid, built from sleek modern materials like steel and glass and lacking in ornament and emotion. Postmodern architects believed that the utopian ideals of Modernism as a democratic form of accessible architecture for the masses had failed and that its cultural moment had passed (an assertion which, judging by the enduring 21st century popularity of modernist aesthetics, has not weathered the test of time). Whereas Modernism was devoted to order and simplicity, postmodernism embraced complexity and contradiction, as argued in an influential 1966 book by American postmodern architect Robert Venturi titled: Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture . The most successful postmodern buildings exude personality, wit, and an ironic take on past architectural elements and movements, eschewing conventional beauty and notions of what constitutes good taste. Using a pastiche of disparate styles, postmodern buildings can be challenging for the uninitiated, veering toward kitsch and camp. Postmodernism flourished during the economic boom of the 1980s and continued into the 1990s, leaving any number of loud, proud, genre-defying architectural monuments in its wake, first in the United States, and then around the world in places like Europe, Japan, and Australia where its influence spread. Postmodernism influences contemporary architecture to the present day. VictorHuang / Getty Images
Key Characteristics of Postmodern Architecture
Mishmash of architectural styles and periods
Sculptural forms
Frequent embrace of bright color, sometimes in the form of ceramic tiles or colored glass
Liberal use of classical ornamental details taken from past architectural movements, often mixed and matched in unconventional ways
Use of abstraction
Characterized by playfulness, whimsy, humor, irony
Use of trompe l'oeil
Idiosyncratic rule-breaking forms that defied the dogmatic codes of Modernism
Wikimedia Commons
Notable Examples of Postmodern Architecture
The Portland Building, designed by the late architect Michael Graves, is a municipal office building in Portland, Oregon that made waves for its unconventional use of color, surface materials, and decorative flourishes when it opened in 1982, challenging the definition of what an office building was supposed to look like. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.