History of Architecture (AP313) | Essay | 2014POST-MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE

Essay for History of Architecture (AP131)

Arnab Ghosh

Roll Number: 02216901611Sushant School of Art and Architecture

PAPERPOST-MODERNISMBASIC TRENDS AND FEATURES:Combining new idea with traditional forms ,post-modernism may startle ,surprise and even amuse .Post-modernist architecture evolved from the modernist movement yet contradicts many of the modernist ideas. Familiar shapes and details are used in unexpected ways. Buildings may incorporate symbols to make a statement or simplify to delight the viewer .Post-modernist architecture began as an international style (initiated in 1950s) and became a proper movement in 1970s .It began in America around 1960s-1970s and then it spread to rest of Europe and the world , to remain right through to the present . Post- modernism in architecture is said to have highlighted a return of wit, ornamentation and reference to architecture in response to the formalism of the international style of Modernism . The function and formalized shape and form Is adopted for its own sake of expressive and symbolic value of architectural elements are rediscovered .EVOLUTION FROM MODERN ARCHITECTUREPostmodernism has its origins in the apparent failure of Modern Architecture. Its obsession with functionalism and economical building meant that ornaments were done away with and the buildings were cloaked in a plain rational appearance. Many felt the buildings failed to meet the human need for comfort both for body and for the eye, that modernism did not account for the aspiration for beauty. The problem worsened when some already monotonous apartment blocks degenerated into slums. In response, architects sought to reintroduce ornament, color, decoration and human scale to buildings. Form was no longer to be defined solely by its functional requirements or minimal appearance.Modern architecture died in St Louis Missouri on July 15th 1972 when the infamous Pluitt Igoe scheme or rather several of its slab blocks were given the coup de grace by dynamite .Previously it was subjected to high intensity vandalism , mutilation etc by its inhabitants. Built accordingly to the most progressive ideas of CIAM( Congress of International Modern architects) it was an ideal example of late modern style of architecture .The International style of modernism was a later stage of Modernism , where the modernist style of architecture based on neat and clean geometric shapes , symmetry and balance and perfection conglomerated into the GLASS-BOX (eg: Chrysler building , Seagram building by Van Der Rohe)Such rigidity in principles of architecture designing adopted by the modernist (Less is More-Mies Van Der RoheForm follows function- Louis SullivanTruth to MaterialOrnament Is crime) resulted in a failure for the modern architects to communicate with their users , resulting in modern architecture only responding to the elite classHence modern architects themselves started deviating from the standard norm an started adopting certain traditional methods . Thus there was a growing shift away from modernism towards a combination of modern and pre modern methods resulting in the evolution of post modern architecture . it tried to create a language partially comprehensive with the users and the existing elite class Post modern architecture is double coded - a dual language-populist but elitist using modern technology but going back to the roots , half modern and half conventional , in its attempt to communicate with both the public and a concerned minority , usually architectsCHARACTERISTICS OF POST MODERN ARCHITECTUREThe prominent features of postmodern architecture are mainly adapting diverse aesthetics which gives emphasis on unique forms. Postmodern features are the striking counterpoint of traditional architecture and all its preceding movements.. There is no room for structural ideas and conventional designs when speaking of postmodernism. Diversity of expression defines the core philosophy of postmodern ideals. Buildings are designed not only to deliver conventional function but also combined with characteristics of meaning such as pluralism, irony , paradox .. For example, postmodern skyscrapers are decorated with non-conventional ledges or classical columns, something unusual for a skyscraper to have. Colors of postmodern architecture do not necessarily follow the "color wheel law" but there is a certain harmony that exudes from it. Along with the designs, sustainability issues are likewise addressed in postmodernist designs. The quality and origin of the materials are assured to be sustainable. Creating a structural definition and fixed characteristics for postmodern architecture may be a rather difficult task, as the designs do not necessarily follow a principle. An important aspect of postmodern architecture is that it uplifts the architecture as both functional and artistic in nature. The intentional discontinuity of designs and conscious irony best defines the movement as a whole. EXAMPLES OF POST MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE:PORTLAND BUILDING:Designed by Micheal Graves , American architect and deigner born on 9th July 1934 .He was a Representative of new urbanism and new classical architecture an formerly designed post modern buildings .Basic design principles are:LinesColourContrastUse of geometric shapesUse of mathematical concept , repeatation of patterns of 2d geometric shapes . Portland Building Photo: MICHAEL GRAVES Meredith L. Clausen/ Cities/Buildings Database1st major built work of post modern architecture . The design of this building displays numerous symbolic elements on its monumental faade .Stands in purposeful contrast to functional modernist architecture that was dominant at that time .Its a symbolic gesture , an attempt to re-establish a language of architecture and values that are not a part of modernist homogeneity .The building creates a continuum between past and present .A symmetrical block with 4 off white stucco covered rectangular faade featuring re-interpreted classical elements such as over scaled keystone , pilasters and belvederes . Micheal graves added symbolism through colour: green for ground , blue for sky etc in order to tie the building to its environment and location .The roof of the Portland Building is covered with a green roof, installed in 2006. The roof was proposed in 2005 , part of an experiment through Oregon State University to test Sedum spathulifolium as a water-absorbing plant for the northwest . The new roof will help the building's heating, cooling, and storm-water runoff systems. Monumental facadesA pedestrian colonnade lines three sides of the base; shops and the lobby entrance stand inside the gallery . Covered colonnades were traditional in the cast-iron buildings of nineteenth-century Portland; in the extreme weather, and inside/outside area is practical as well as aesthetic. But Graves colonnade has none of the grace of its nineteenth-century predecessors; the chunkiness of the building has manifested itself in the low, overly broad proportions.

Sitting atop the base, above the Fifth Avenue entrance, is the sculpture Portlandia . Graves proposed Portlandia (formerly ie pre-Graves Lady Commerce), and after considerable wrangling with the city council, approval was given for a sculpture competition .The body is far more coherent that the foot. The march of square windows provides a disciplining grid. The pilasters supporting the keystone are meant to suggest the internal programme city offices below support commercial activities above in rental offices . The reflective glass used to surround the pilasters and capitals is one of the less successful elements: it succeeds in defining the centre of the building, but its perfectly smooth appearance lack the strength the texture of the rest of the exterior. The cropped head is but a pale reminder of the pavilion-populated roofscape of the original drawings. A rectangular box containing services rests inside the square of the penthouse floor. Inside the building is not lively as compared to the exterior. In the lobby up/down lighters serve as column capitals. The lobby is paved with black terrazzo tiles. Other accommodation on the ground floor includes six commercial shops, a coffee shop and a city building-permit centre. The first floor contains three meeting rooms and an art gallery in the area overlooking the lobby. The offices are standard spec offices. The windows, in contrast to a modern window-wall, frame all views, making certain the distinction between inside and outside. Even behind the blank reflective glass the square windows have been imposed; an opaque screen creates the disjuncture between exterior appearance and interior reality . VANA VENTURI HOUSEDesigned by Robert Venturi ,American architect and one of the major architectural figure on post modernism .Born June 25th he is the founder principal of the firm Venturi , Scott Beon and associates .It is an icon of post-modernism , created for the architects mother and one of the first important project of the architect . ROBERT VENTURI VANA VENTURI HOUSE , 1964 Philadelphia , PAIt is a small house that uses big scale to counterbalance the complexity . The plan is symmetrical but distorted at places to accommodate particular needs . Inside spaces are complex both in shape and inter-relationships . Outside is simple and consistent , front creates a symbolic image of a house . The walls are layered to indicate enclosure yet punctured for openness . PLAN OF THE BUILDINGA manifesto for Postmodern architecture, the Vanna Venturi house is a composition of rectangular, curvilinear, and diagonal elements coming together din a way that inarguably creates complexity and contradiction.The house is rich in historical references: the street faade alludes to Michelangelos Porta Pia in Rome and back wall of Nymphaeum at Palladio . Broken pediment recalls duality of the faade at Luigi Morettis apartments . Wit and humour are evident in the unconventional use of a flight of stairs which doesnt lead anywhere thus opposing the standard function of a staircase .Approaching the Vana Venturi house, symbolic imagery of shelter through its exterior can be detected with its wide symmetrical gable like a classical pediment, which in this case is split, and the chimney poking out in an exaggerated manner from the back. The main entrance is in the center, creating a sense of symmetry that both is and is not there due to the placement of the windows. These windows are located based on function in the interior. The interior is centered around the fireplace . The plan contains only five functional rooms, and on the outside it relates to public scale, seeming much larger than it actually is. The fireplace is actually placed next to a stair that competes with the fireplace to be the core of the house. The fireplace is void, the stair is solid and both vertical elements contort in shape to make room for the other.

THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSEUpon entering there is the main living space , the kitchen and the bedroom. The ground floor contains entrance hall, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms and bathroom. Top floor has a study, a small health center, bedroom, storage space, and a terrace. A nowhere stair on the second floor also integrates itself into the core space. It rises up at an awkward angle, and its function on one level is completely useless due to its steep slope, while on the other level it serves as a ladder to clean the high window on the second level. At the bottom the ladder is extended to facilitate the function of seat, but in his latest installment follows a wayward course to nowhere, as it does not reach any point of arrival, losing any functional relationship to become an element made extravagant and lacking more than practical help to clean some windows and store objects in the tank.

THE NO-WHERE STAIRVenturi referred to the exterior as a layering system. The effect intended was to make the exterior walls both walls and screens. For example, the east glass wall is recessed in order to form a covered yard screened by the back wall. This same idea is used on a smaller scale for the bedroom on the other side of the house.PARC DE LA VILLETTEThe Parc de la Villette is one of the biggest parks in Paris, located at the northeastern edge of the 19th arrondissement. The park houses is one of the largest concentration of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cit des Sciences et de l'Industrie (City of Science and Industry), Europe's largest science museum, three major concert venues and the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris.The park was designed by Bernard Tschumi, a French architect of Swiss origin, who built it from 1984 to 1987 in partnership with Colin Fournier, on the site of the huge Parisian slaughterhouses and the national wholesale meat market, as part of an urban redevelopment project.

Parc de la Villettes design is full of points, lines (concept used for the main movement in the park) , and surfaces (green spaces) . Tschumi, the designer of the park, claimed that his design of the park was meant to be a post-modern deconstructivism . Tschumi also explained that Parc de la Villette was not a conventional park whose intend was for relaxation and self-indulgence, but rather that it was created as a park that allowed activities and interactions.The 135 acre site is organized spatially through a grid of 35 points, or what Tschumi calls follies. The series of follies give a dimensional and organizational quality to the park serving as points of reference. The repetitive nature of each folly, even though each one is unique and different, allow for the visitors to retain a sense of place through the large park. Tschumis lines are essentially the main demarcated movement paths across the park. Unlike the follies, the paths do not follow any organizational structure; rather they intersect and lead to various points of interest within the park and the surrounding urban area. Of the 135 acres, 85 acres are dedicated to the green space, which are categorized as surfaces. The large open green spaces give Parisians space to interact, play, relax, and gather. The open space is typically used for large gatherings and even in the summer it becomes a large open air cinema.THE THREE DESIGN STRATEGIES SURFACES ( GREEN SPACES) LINES INTERSECTING AT SEVERAL POINTS THROUGHOUT THE SITE

Bibliography1. Bernard Tschumi, Cingramme folie: le Parc de la Villette (Princeton Architectural Press, 1987) p. 32.2. Bernard Tschumi Disjunctions (MIT Press, 1987.) p. 108-119 3. pg 118, "Complexity and Contradiction" Robert Venturi 1966Jump up ^ Stanislaus von Moos, Venturi, Rauch, & Scott Brown building4. Morris, Rebecca (February 19, 1990). "30 Years of Planning Produce City for '90s". The Oregonian. pp. A01.

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