Postmodernism & Expression
In reaction to Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture contesting Mies van der Rohe's "Less is more" Venturi says, "Less is a bore", other architects such as Michael Graves, Rem Koolhaas, and many more were also beginning to reject the bare, unadorned, and strict architectural language of the Modernists. They began seeking a more diverse repertoire of architectural forms that would be more accessible to the public. Post-modernism was a rejection of modernity's strict rules of architectural expression. Their use color, small windows, classical elements, decoration, and clashing geometries that were informed by the building's program, all in protest of modernity.
OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Netherlands Dance Theater (1988)
Rendering by: Madelon Vriesendorp
Michael Graves, The Portland Public Service Building (1982)
For me, post-modernist don't answer the question of why? I remember a professor in Barcelona said once that architecture isn't a question of "why not" but "why"... That being said, I believe some postmodernists answer that question but others don't. O.M.A. does a good job of this. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDelete-Ginny