Postmodern Architecture

ポストモダン建築 / 1960s–1990s / Style / Modern Architecture

Rebels against modernism's universality, reintroducing historical quotation, ornament, sign, color and irony to city and building.

Postmodern Architecture — Graves Portland Building 1982 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · © Steve Morgan
Graves Portland Building 1982 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Steve Morgan
Postmodern Architecture — Johnson former AT&T Building (CC BY 2.5) · © David Shankbone ; cropped by Beyond My Ken ( talk ) 13:28, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Johnson former AT&T Building (CC BY 2.5) · CC BY 2.5 · © David Shankbone ; cropped by Beyond My Ken ( talk ) 13:28, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Postmodern Architecture — Moore Piazza d'Italia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · © Infrogmation
Moore Piazza d'Italia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Infrogmation

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Historical quotation
  • Ornament returned
  • Strong color
  • Double meanings

Best used for

  • Retail and theater fronts that must read as a sign from the street.
  • Additions in historic districts that quote local types while still declaring themselves new.

Use this style

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Dictionary entry

Type
Set headings in serif capitals and treat them as ornament with their frames.
Composition
Build a strong front, marking center and entrance with pediment and pilaster.
Material
Tinted stucco, colored stone, metal trim switching color plane by plane.
Caution
Pasting on pediments and pilasters without knowing what they quote loses the irony and leaves a dated theme park facade, so read what in modernism is criticized and who the building addresses.
Further study
Robert Venturi / Denise Scott Brown / Michael Graves

Related entries

More from Modern Architecture

Continue through styles in the same Modern Architecture family, prioritised by shared effects.

Browse all Modern Architecture entries

Cite this entry

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https://indexstyle.org/styles/postmodern-architecture
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[Postmodern Architecture — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/postmodern-architecture)
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<a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/postmodern-architecture">Postmodern Architecture — IndexStyle</a>

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