CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

MODULE -4
11. Postmodern Architecture

23 MAY 2024
Module 4

10. High-tech architecture or Structural Expressionism-2:

The High-tech architecture practitioners include Italian architect Renzo Piano (Pompidou Centre, Paris and Menil
Museum, Houston)
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (Lyon-Satolas Railway Station and Olympic Stadium at Athens)

11. Postmodern Architecture: Development of Postmodernism with its origins in the alleged failure of Modern
architecture from 1950s, and spreading in the 1970s and its continuous influence on present-day architecture.

Ideas and works of Michael Graves, James Stirling, Robert Venturi etc.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernism

 Robert Venturi (1934-2015)
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim
 “Less is a bore,”

• Influential American architect and theorist

• inspired the movement of postmodernism, known as “the father of postmodernism”

• In his treatise “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture,” published in 1966,

- argued that ornament, historical allusions and even humor had a place in
modern architecture.

• Known for using familiar elements in unfamiliar combinations.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim

Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia (1964) Sainsbury Wing , London

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim

Fire Station Number 4 Columbus, Indiana (1967) Guild House, Philadelphia (1963)

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Ohio (1976)

Baker-Berry Library, US (2002)

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim
 Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia (1964)

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim

• Built the house for his mother – flat site –isolated by
surrounding trees

• Disregarded consistency in architecture

• Symbolic imagery of shelter through its exterior with its

wide symmetrical gable like a classical pediment – split in
centre, and the chimney poking out in an exaggerated
manner from the back.

• The main entrance is in the center, creating a sense of

symmetry that both is and is not there due to the
placement of the windows

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernism

• These windows - located based on function in the
interior.

• For instance, there is a Modernist ribbon window for the

kitchen and square windows serving the bedroom and
bathroom on the other side of the front facade.

• The main entrance is in the center, creating a sense of

symmetry that both is and is not there due to the
placement of the windows

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim

• Main living space - interior is centered around the
fireplace, placed next to a stair that competes with
the fireplace to be the core of the house.

• The fireplace is void, the stair is solid and both

vertical elements contort in shape to make room
for the other.

• Minimized circulation space in the design of the

house, so that it consisted of large distinct rooms
with minimum subdivisions between them.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernism

• First floor : kitchen and bedroom.
• Second floor : bedroom, storage space, and a terrace.
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernsim
• Rear elevation - an oversized lunette window, which follows the main elements of the exterior that are exaggerated in size.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- Post-modernism

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

MODULE -5
12. Hyper theories of architecture

23 MAY 2024
Module 5

12. Hyper theories of Architecture-1:

Development of postmodern architecture in 1980s is the ideas of Deconstructivism including

1. Frank Gehry (AeroSpace Museum, Santa Monica and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao),

2. Daniel Libeskind (Jewish Museum, Berlin and World Trade Centre, New York )

3. Rem Koolhas(Dance Theatre, The Hague and Netherlands Sports Museum).

13. Hyper theories of Architecture-2:

Ideas of Deconstructivism including,
1. Peter Eisenman,
2. ZahaHadid (The Peak Club, Hong Kong and IBA Housing Block 2, West Berlin),
3. Coop Himmelb(l)au, and
4. Bernard Tschumi

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 Daniel Libeskind (1946)
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
• Polish-American architect, artist, professor and set designer

• In 1965 - was taught by John Hejduk

• Design philosophy – believed that architectural design should look towards

the future but remember the past.

• Synonymous with deconstructivism, famous for designing buildings that

invoke cultural memory - buildings should tell stories and we mustn’t forget
the emotional impact of the buildings around us.

• He collects ideas about the social and historical context of a project, mixes
in his thoughts, and transforms it all into a physical structure representing a
deep symbolic meaning.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 Jewish Museum, Berlin , 1999 Ziota 44, Poland 2007-2016

• His style constitutes a recognizable "brand". The brand consists of sharp, angular, metallic shards, with gravity-defying walls, and conveys the unmistakable
thrill of indiscretion.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

One World Trade Center, Manhattan Libeskind Tower, Milan (2020)

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

Royal Ontario Museum, 2021 National Holocaust Names Memorial, Amsterdam, 2021

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 Jewish Museum, Berlin , 1999
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
• The museum design was the result of an
international competition in 1989. By this time in
history post-modernism was the prevailing school
of thought.

• Expansion to the original Jewish Museum in Berlin

that opened in 1933

• The program wished to bring a Jewish presence

back to Berlin after WWII.

• Implemented a radical, formal design as a

conceptually expressive tool to represent the
Jewish lifestyle before, during, and after the
Holocaust.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

• Wanted to express feelings of absence, emptiness,
and invisibility – expressions of disappearance of the
Jewish Culture

• Act of using architecture as a means of narrative

and emotion providing visitors with an experience of
the effects of the Holocaust on both the Jewish
culture and the city of Berlin

• It is not specifically a Holocaust museum; its purpose

is to illustrate :
a. the intellectual, economic and cultural contributions
of Jewish citizens in Berlin

b. to highlight the void left because of World War II

c. to cultivate a collective memory that goes beyond

Jewish consciousness to all cultures and permeates
the entire social fabric of the city

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

• The disjointed form is actually a thoughtful response to the site, which is long and pie-shaped, connecting two streets.

• Asymmetric linear windows scar the facade creating interesting light and shadow on the interior and are a metaphor for the pain and suffering of
the Jewish existence.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

• The project begins to take its
form from an abstracted Jewish
Star of David that is stretched
around the site and its context.

• The form is established through a

process of connecting lines
between locations of historical
events - resulting in a literal
extrusion of those lines into a
“zig-zag” building form

Semiotics:
• The museum’s striking,
zigzagging form - symbolizing a
broken Star of David, while the
building’s interior spaces evoke
feelings of disorientation, loss,
and hope

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
• Asymmetric linear windows
scar the facade creating
interesting light and shadow
on the interior and are a
metaphor for the pain and
suffering of the Jewish
existence

• Material - zinc plating:

The zinc panels will weather with

time, thus fading the building into
the collective built environment,
much like the Jews are only one
part of Berlin’s history.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
• The idea of movement – a key concept of deconstructivism – informs three axes
that cut across the zigzag plan and organize movement through the building:

1. Axis of Continuity
2. Axis of Exile and
3. Axis of the Holocaust

1. The Axis of Continuity begins with the steps down from the original museum and
leads up a long, high staircase that provides access to the permanent exhibition spaces
on the upper storeys and ends in a blank white wall.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

2. The Axis of Exile is dedicated to the lives of Jews forced to leave
Germany, and leads to the Garden of Exile, where a series of 49 tall,
tilted concrete boxes are topped with plants.

48 contain soil from Berlin and one soil from Jerusalem.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

3. The Axis of the Holocaust contains displays of objects
left by those killed by the Nazis, and leads to a separate,
stand-alone concrete building called the "voided void" or
Holocaust Tower.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 One World Trade Center, Manhattan
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
 ‘‘everything changed in architecture”

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

Memory Foundations for the Sacred Ground :

• The concept titled Memory Foundations, included a number of features, all

interconnected and serving to express his vision of the site as a tribute to the
victims of 9/11 and as a landmark architectural project for New York and the
entire United States.

Master plan:

• 70 feet deep "footprints," or foundations, of the collapsed towers—where

hundreds worked for many months after September 11, 2001, removing
debris and searching for remains—would be left intact as sunken memorial
space.

• Another open space was called the Wedge of Light, a triangular area that,
every September 11, would be bathed in natural light, un-obscured by
shadows from the surrounding buildings, between 8:46 A.M. , when the first
plane struck one of the twin towers, and 10:28 A.M. , when the second tower
collapsed.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 ‘‘everything changed in architecture”
CONTRIBUTIONS BY VARIOUS ARCHITECTS :

TRANSPORTATION HUB
Santiago Calatrava

MEMORIAL MUSEUM PAVILION

Snøhetta

9/11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM

Davis Brody Bond

REFLECTING ABSENCE
Michael Arad and Peter Walker

ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

2 WTC
BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

3 WTC
Richard Rogers Partnership

4 WTC
Maki and Associates

THE PERELMAN CENTER

REX

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 ‘‘everything changed in architecture”
• It had an impact in the sense that people understood that big projects are not only for private development, they belong to citizens

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

 ‘‘everything changed in architecture”

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture
CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE- 12. Hyper theories of Architecture