ART-08.05 Post/Modernist Architecture

Frank Gehry

Deconstructivist architect, b. 1929. plans his works by creating a a model, cutting it up, and then continually and progressively rearranging the pieces until he achieves his artistic vision.

shared aspects of Modernism and Post-Modernism

Function determined form. movements were defined by the purpose of the building, the intent of the architect, and the environmental context.

Guggenheim Museum (Balboa, Spain)

Gehry. dramatic asymmetry of imbalanced forms is characteristic of Deconstructivism. combination of traditional and contemporary building materials (limestone and titanium) indicates the departure from Modernist architecture.

Neue Staatsgalerie (New State Gallery)

James Stirling (1926-1992), Stuttgart, Germany. Deconstructivist elements: The classical segmented arches and rustication are mixed with bright greens, pinks, and blues. The combination of straight and curvilinear elements meet at strange angles.

Portland Public Services Building

Michael Graves, Portland, Oregon. characteristically Postmodern in its complexity and color. The unique, purely decorative features contrast sharply with the modernist structures and indicate a departure from the previous movement.

Piazza d'Italia

New Orleans, Charles Moore (1925-1993). an open area nestled between downtown high rises, constructed to honor the city's Italian American community. represents Italy's rich artistic heritage: influence of the ancient Roman forum (marketplace) and the presence of all the classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite). circular shape recalls the Renaissance; irregular colonnades are Mannerist. Moore represented the contemporary period in his use of stainless-steel columns and striking juxtapositions of color.

Georges Pompidou National Center of Art and Culture (aka the Pompidou Center)

Paris. six-level building containing a modern art museum, library, theaters, music, industrial design centers, and a restaurant. The work was the personal vision of architects Richard Rogers (English, b. 1933) and Italian Renzo Piano (b. 1937) who sought to "expose" the structure's inner workings. This idea was also reinforced by color: red for people (on the elevator shaft and tubular passageways), green for water pipes, blue for air conditioning ducts, and yellow for electricity tubes.

Notre Dame du Haut

Ronchamp, France. The work, inspired by praying hands, dove wings, and the bow of a ship (the Latin is "nave") replaced an earlier structure on the Medieval pilgrimage site that was destroyed in World War II. The organic, sculptural quality of Le Corbusier's church also creates a mystical atmosphere. Note how the curvilinear shapes along with the thick, plain walls and deeply recessed stained glass windows give qualities of a hermit's cave or isolated medieval monastery.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (NYC)

Wright, New York City. design was inspired by the spiral of a snail's shell and has a sculptural quality with the curves and circles that define the building.

Postmodernist Architecture

a reaction to and a rejection of the impersonal and formal elements of modernism. characterized by complexity and decorative elements with a personal touch. Symbolism returns and an interest in surface colors and texture are popular.

Sydney Opera House

an Australian national symbol. Joern Utzon "sculpted" the organic forms on a truly monumental scale. clusters of concrete shells (resting on massive platforms) recall pointed Gothic arches, seabirds, and the sails of ships- certainly appropriate for a cultural center by the sea.

Seagram Building

designed by Mies van der Rohe (the chair guy). A classical building set back on a broad plaza, sitting squarely on a series of two-story bronze columns and surrounded by a 28-foot high arcade. cubic structure expressed through extruded bronze I-beams imposed on a brooding dark glass curtain wall. The color can change from a dark brown, almost black, to a soft golden brown, depending on the angle of view and the lighting.

Frank Lloyd Wright

known for his organic style, in both shape and the marriage of architecture with a natural environment.

"Less is More"

philosophy of Mies van der Rohe. preferred simple, geometrically rigid designs to organic/"sculptural" works

Le Corbusier

real name Charles Edouard Jeanneret, 1887-1965.

formalism in Modernist Architecture

stressed simplicity through organic sculptural qualities/natural elements or severe geometry.

Postmodernism

term describing art (visual, literary, etc.) that followed after, and deviated from, the 20th-century modernist movements. The new perspective is cool and ironic and tends to concentrate on surfaces, rather than depths, to eliminate the separation of high and low culture.

Deconstructivism

vein of Postmodernism that attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. In these works, the basic elements of architecture are dismantled. buildings appear to lack visual logic, as they often look to be made up of unrelated, disharmonious abstract forms.