Postmodern architecture
In 1966, Robert Venturi published a book titled Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture through the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This text served as a gentle manifesto for architects who felt stifled by the rigid rules of modernism. Venturi wrote that he preferred messy vitality over obvious unity. He argued against the idea that less is more, stating instead that less is a bore. His words challenged the prevailing belief that buildings should be pure and clean. Instead, he welcomed elements that were hybrid rather than exclusive. Denise Scott Brown, his wife and partner, helped him develop these ideas further. Together they wrote Learning from Las Vegas in 1972 with Steven Izenour. They urged architects to celebrate existing architecture rather than imposing utopian fantasies. Their work drew from both high-style history and vernacular traditions. In Italy, architect Aldo Rossi launched a similar revolt around the same time. He criticized rebuilding cities destroyed during World War II using only modernist styles. Rossi insisted on preserving historical fabric and local traditions. Christian de Portzamparc joined this call in France while Ricardo Bofill did so in Spain. Arata Isozaki brought these ideas to Japan.
Philip Johnson began his career designing pure modernist structures like the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, completed in 1949. By the late 1970s, he turned dramatically toward postmodernism with the AT&T Building, now known as 550 Madison Avenue, constructed between 1978 and 1982. The building features a purely decorative top modeled after Chippendale furniture. This design made it stand out among Manhattan's modernist skyscrapers. Michael Graves designed the Portland Building, one of the first major postmodern structures, which opened in 1982. Later, he created large retail stores for chains like Target and J.C. Penney that influenced city center designs. Charles Moore built the Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans in 1978, an exuberant public square combining Italian Renaissance pieces. Frank Gehry broke traditional design rules with his own house in Santa Monica, completed in 1978, giving it an unfinished look using prefabricated industrial materials. His Schnabel House in Los Angeles ran from 1986 to 1989, breaking into individual structures for every room. César Pelli designed the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, completed in 1997, sheathed in stainless steel reflecting Islamic motifs.
Postmodern architecture spread across Europe with distinct local adaptations. James Stirling designed the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Germany, running from 1977 to 1983, featuring colorful public housing projects. Helmut Jahn constructed the Messeturm skyscraper in Frankfurt, Germany, adorned with a pointed spire resembling a medieval tower. In London, Terry Farrell designed the SIS Building in 1994, described by Deyan Sudjic as combining high seriousness with unwitting humor. The Belgian firm Atelier d'architecture de Genval created the Espace Leopold complex including the European Parliament in Brussels. Aldo Rossi won the Pritzker Prize in 1990 for works like the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands, completed in 1995. Ricardo Bofill built residential complexes in Spain and France, including Les Espaces d'Abraxas in Noisy-le-Grand finished in 1983. In Japan, Tadao Ando traveled widely before opening his studio in Osaka in 1969, later teaching at Yale University starting in 1987. He introduced traditional Japanese elements into buildings like the Museum of Wood Culture completed in 1995.
Postmodern buildings embraced complexity and contradiction instead of modernist simplicity. They featured curved forms, decorative elements, asymmetry, and bright colors unrelated to structure or function. James Stirling described the style as representation mixed with abstraction, monumental yet informal, traditional combined with high-tech. Fragmentation broke large buildings into several different structures representing various functions. Claude Parent and Paul Virilio designed the church Saint-Bernadette-du-Banlay in Nevers, France, in 1968 as a massive concrete block leaning to one side. Polychromy used colored glass, ceramic tiles, or stone to give façades variety. Luis Barragán's Mexican buildings offered bright sunlight color that brought life to forms. Humor appeared in structures like Frank Gehry's Binoculars Building in Venice, Los Angeles, constructed between 1991 and 2001. The gateway formed an enormous pair of binoculars through which cars entered the garage. Camp humor based on irony made bad things appear good, such as buildings seeming about to collapse. Trompe-l'œil created illusions of space where none existed, seen in Michael Graves' Portland Building pillars represented on the side but not real.
Critics noted that modernism abandoned teaching architectural history as a causal factor for its reductionism. Princeton University's School of Architecture maintained recourse to history in design training during the 1940s and 1950s. This focus influenced major players shifting away from modernism. History courses became more typical and regularized across institutions. Dalibor Vesely and Joseph Rykwert offered the Advanced Masters-Level Course in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Essex between 1968 and 1978. It was the first program of its kind. MIT and Cornell created PhD programs in the mid-1970s followed by Columbia, Berkeley, and Princeton. Bruno Zevi founded the Institute for the History of Architecture in Venice while Stanford Anderson and Henry Millon worked at MIT. Alexander Tzonis led efforts at the Architectural Association and Anthony Vidler taught at Princeton. Manfredo Tafuri instructed students at the University of Venice. Kenneth Frampton directed programs at Columbia University. Schools hired professionally trained historians like Margaret Crawford with a PhD from UCLA at SCI-Arc starting in the 1970s. Elisabeth Grossman held a PhD from Brown University at Rhode Island School of Design.
Common questions
When did Robert Venturi publish the book that started postmodern architecture?
Robert Venturi published Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture in 1966 through the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This text served as a gentle manifesto for architects who felt stifled by the rigid rules of modernism.
What is the significance of the AT&T Building designed by Philip Johnson?
Philip Johnson constructed the AT&T Building, now known as 550 Madison Avenue, between 1978 and 1982 to mark his turn toward postmodernism. The building features a purely decorative top modeled after Chippendale furniture which made it stand out among Manhattan's modernist skyscrapers.
Which architect won the Pritzker Prize in 1990 for postmodern works like the Bonnefanten Museum?
Aldo Rossi won the Pritzker Prize in 1990 for works including the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands, completed in 1995. He insisted on preserving historical fabric and local traditions while criticizing rebuilding cities destroyed during World War II using only modernist styles.
How did postmodern buildings differ from modernist structures in terms of design elements?
Postmodern buildings embraced complexity and contradiction instead of modernist simplicity by featuring curved forms, decorative elements, asymmetry, and bright colors unrelated to structure or function. They utilized fragmentation to break large buildings into several different structures representing various functions.
When was the first program teaching architectural history theory established at the University of Essex?
Dalibor Vesely and Joseph Rykwert offered the Advanced Masters-Level Course in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Essex between 1968 and 1978. It was the first program of its kind before MIT and Cornell created PhD programs in the mid-1970s.