The Architecture of Post Modern Architecture
Pluralism, pluralism, pluralism — Charles Jencks
March 16, 1972, at 3 and a half pm believed as the end of the Modernism era and a new era of Postmodernism begin to emerge as a reaction to Modernism and the Modern Movement and the dogmas associated with it. However, in the mid-1960s, books and thoughts already emerge to challenge the lack of character and meaning in Modernism or Modernist misdirection goals in urban planning and development. By the 1970s Modernism had begun to seem elitist and exclusive, despite its democratic intentions. The failure of building methods and materials (shown in the collapse of Ronan Point, a tower block in east London in 1968) and alienating housing estates was a focus for architects and critics in the early 1970s.
Postmodernism is a plural, diverse, and unstable concept that has denoted particular aesthetic approaches in many dimensions, from art, architecture, to armed battle. As resistance to modernist, by using architecture language to send complex messages. The Postmodern movement emerges with a linguistic analogy of architecture. Metaphor, semiotic, syntax, and semantic are styles that are often mentioned in Postmodernism. There are also some characteristics of Post-modern architecture; fragmentation, architecture as image, complexity, contradiction, ‘camp’, and veneer-ism. Post-modernism is an eclectic, colorful style of architecture and the decorative arts that appeared from the late 1970s and continues in some form today.
In architecture, Postmodernism is commonly understood as a stylistic phenomenon. Yet it should be understood first in the context of what movement opposed, and second in what is affirmed. Postmodernism term indicated the distinction enthusiast for the new approach intended in the early 1970s, an architecture differentiated from and following in the wake of Modernism. Venturi pointed key influence on the development of Postmodernism: the ambiguities, inconsistencies, and idiosyncrasies of the Mannerist and Baroque architecture of Rome, but also celebrated popular culture and the ordinary architecture of the American Main Street.
Post-modern architecture is a Postmodern Architecture style that pays to the history of Modern and pre-Modern Architecture. Pre-modern Architecture is considered as a resource in form making and art, while Modern Architecture as its technique (scientific). Not every element of its architecture combines both styles in an equal manner. Classic and modern feel are shown, whether from its façade, material, construction, or other architectural elements.
Reading a Post-modern Architecture work
In reading post-modern architecture, there are several points that we must pay attention to. We have to make sure that the architectural work is built/designed in the modern or post-modern era. Then we can observe whether the work has a meaningful intention or not. Meanings can be conveyed directly through form and space or deliberately hidden in an analogy. The challenge is that often the architect does not imply a pure interpretation of the design. So that readers cannot compare whether the speculation he has runs straight with the original intention or against. In fact, this is not a problem in interpreting post-modern architecture. But confirmation of an argument will certainly lead to a sense of satisfaction in itself.
Relevance of Post-modern Architecture in 2020
In this pandemic era, like the beginning of the emergence of modernism, supported also by the economic crisis, the post-modern architecture may experience a setback. The market demand for functional buildings on tight budgets is likely to peak. We may return to the principles of modernism regarding production and efficiency to revive a slumping economy. But after much discourse on why modern architecture fell, the principles of plurality and contextuality may here to stay.
References
Ghirardo, D. (1996). Architecture after modernism. New York, N.Y.: Thames And Hudson.
Jencks, C. (1991). The language of post-modern architecture. London: Academy Editions.
Roth, L.M. and C, A. (2014). Understanding architecture : its elements, history, and meaning. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
Rybczynski, W. (2011). Was the Architectural Movement That Gave Us This Wacky Teakettle Any Good? [online] Slate Magazine. Available at: https://slate.com/culture/2011/11/postmodern-architecture-its-most-important-legacy.html#return [Accessed 17 Nov. 2020].
Stern, R.A.M. and Gastil, R. (1988). Modern classicism. New York: Rizzoli.
The Royal Institute of British Architect (2011). Postmodernism. [online] Architecture.com. Available at: https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/postmodernism.
Victoria and Albert Museum (2018). What is Postmodernism? YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x4ntciHTXU.
Wirakusumah, E.F. (2020). Modern Architecture, Rise and Fall. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@elang.farizka/modern-architecture-rise-and-fall-68c2917e405c [Accessed 17 Nov. 2020].
