New Formalism

ニュー・フォーマリズム建築 / 1955–1975 / Style / Modern Architecture

An American architectural style of the mid-1950s through the 1970s that recast classical order in modern structures. Symmetrical masses, colonnades, raised bases and patterned screens make ceremonial fronts for civic and commercial buildings. Its monumentality comes from modern proportions and repeated slender forms rather than a literal reconstruction of an ancient order.

New Formalism — Minoru Yamasaki — Pacific Science Center arches; photo: Dietmar Rabich — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 — Minoru Yamasaki — Pacific Science Center arches; photo: Dietmar Rabich — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

New Formalism — Pacific Science Center at night — photo: Joe Mabel — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 — Pacific Science Center at night — photo: Joe Mabel — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

Visual cues

A symmetrical single volume on a raised base
Repeated slender columns or arches
A broad flat roof over geometric screens
Smooth stone or concrete with sculptural thin structures

Best used for

Giving a cultural or ceremonial space a formal approach and colonnaded front
Creating a monumental exhibition entrance through an axis, repetition and patterned screens

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Dictionary entry

Type: Place a modest, orderly title on the main axis and relate its spacing to the columns.
Composition: Raise one rectangular volume on a base and organise its approach and colonnade symmetrically.
Material: Combine pale smooth stone or concrete, slender screens and a restrained reflective surface.
Caution: Symmetry alone is insufficient. Look for classical order translated into modern construction, and distinguish this architecture from pre-war Stripped Classicism and the literary movement of the same name.
Further study: Minoru Yamasaki — Pacific Science Center / Edward Durell Stone — modern classicism / DAHP — New Formalism's civic and banking examples

Related entries

Stripped Classicism (ストリップト・クラシシズム)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare New Formalism and Stripped Classicism
International Style (インターナショナル・スタイル)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare New Formalism and International Style

Cite this entry

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Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-formalism
Markdown: [New Formalism — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-formalism)
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