POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

SAPNA SINGH
SAIMA AKHTAR
ARCHANA SINGH
 POST MODERNISM

• Postmodernist architecture, emerging in the 1950s and 1960s, rejected the formal and
functional designs of modernism, as well as any idealist crusade to change the
principles of human society through the arts.
• Postmodernist architecture tends to be highly decorative and somewhat whimsical,
focusing on design over function. Perhaps its most defining feature, however, is the
refusal to draw inspiration from a single source.
NEED OF AN ALL NEW MOVEMENT…

• Many felt the buildings failed to meet the human need for comfort both for
body and for the eye, that modernism did not account for the desire for beauty.
• The problem worsened when some already monotonous apartment blocks degenerated int
o slums. In response, architects sought to reintroduce ornament, color, decoration and hu
man scale to buildings.
• Form was no longer to be defined solely by its functional requirements or minimal
appearance.
CHARACTERISTICS
• GABLE ROOFS
Shedding water away from the center of the building ,such a roof form
Always served a functional purpose in climate with rain and snow , and
Was a logical way to achieve longer spans with shorter structural members ,but
It was nevertheless relatively rare in modern houses.

• COLUMN CAME BACK INTO EXISTENCE

The revival of the column was an aesthetic, rather than a technological,

necessity.
EXTERIORS AS A WHOLE
Postmodernist building were a stack of varies design elements for a single
vocabulary from ground level to the top, ( tapering or "wedding cake"
design).Modernist high-rise buildings had become monolithic.

DOUBLE CODING

• The building is a tall skyscraper which brings with it connotations of

very modern technology.
• While the top section conveys elements of classical antiquity. This
double coding is a prevalent trait of Postmodernism
ILLUSIONISTIC BUILDING TECHNIQUES

• Postmodern buildings sometimes utilize trompe loeil, creating the illusion of

space or depths where none actually exist, as has been done by painters since the
Romans.
• The Portland Building (1980) has pillars represented on the side of the building
that to some extent appear to be real, yet they are not.
 “L
FATHER OF E
POSTMODERNISM (ROBERT S
VENTURI) S
June , 25, 1925 ,Philadelphia(U.S.)
The greatest mannerist architect of I
his time, picking up elements from S
the past and stretching them,
changing them, and combining them
in entirely new ways, just as B
Michelangelo and Giulio Romano did O
to create Mannerism out of the R
architecture of the Renaissance. E”
 Postmodern architects incorporate design elements from several different
architectural styles into a single structure, breaking down the boundaries between
styles. Thus, it is one of the most eclectic forms of architecture, focused on the joy of
design and rejecting formal rules of style.
• Metaphor
Postmodernism is a design-driven style, drawing inspiration from a wide number of
sources. This has led to a trend of metaphoric architecture, in which structural
designs are based on non-architectural forms. One of the most famous examples is
the Lotus Temple of New Delhi, India. This religious structure is based on the shape
of a lotus flower, with the form of the building defined by petal-like components.
Other famous examples include Australia's Sydney Opera House (based on the sails
of ships) and the TWA Flight Center in New York (based on a bird's wing).
 PHILIP JOHNSON

• PHILIP CORTELYOU JOHNSON (JULY 8, 1906 – JANUARY 25, 2005) WAS AN

INFLUENTIAL AMERICAN ARCHITECT
EARLY CAREER
• IN 1930, HE FOUNDED THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN AT
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK CITY.
• PRODUCED THE LANDMARK SHOW ―THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE:
ARCHITECTURE SINCE 1922‖ AS AN INTRODUCTION OF MODERN
ARCHITECTURE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
• IN 1978 HE WAS AWARDED AN AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS GOLD
MEDAL AND IN 1979 THE FIRST PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE.
• HE WAS A STUDENT AT THE HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN.
• JOHNSON DIED IN HIS SLEEP WHILE AT THE GLASS HOUSE RETREAT.
• HE LIVED WITH HIS LIFE PARTNER OF 45 YEARS, DAVID WHITNEY ,WHO DIED
LATER THAT YEAR AT AGE 66.
IN 1988, OR 56 YEARS LATER,
WITH ANOTHER MOMA EXHIBITION
HE CONSECRATED THE FRACTURED
ARCHITECTURE OF
DECONSTRUCTION • Characteristic
PHILIP JOHNSON‘S STYLE WAS EVER-
CHANGING STYLISTIC ADHERENCES, • EMPHASIS ON ARCHITECTURAL VOLUME OVER MASS
WHICH PASSED FROM MODERNITY TO
(PLANES OVER SOLIDITY).
DECONSTRUCTION THROUGH ABSTRACT
CLASSICISM AND HISTORICIST • REJECTION OF SYMMETRY.
POSTMODERNITY:
• REJECTION OF APPLIED DECORATION.
IN 1932, WITH AN EXHIBITION IN THE NEW
YORK MOMA, HE INTRODUCED IN THE
UNITED STATES WHAT HE AND HENRY-
RUSSELL HITCHCOCK NAMED
―”INTERNATIONAL STYLE”
 GLASS HOUSE
• THE GLASS HOUSE OR JOHNSON HOUSE, BUILT IN 1949 IN NEW
CANAAN, CONNECTICUT, WAS DESIGNED BY PHILIP JOHNSON AS
HIS OWN RESIDENCE.
• IT WAS AN IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL PROJECT FOR JOHNSON
AND FOR MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
• THE BUILDING IS AN ESSAY IN MINIMAL STRUCTURE, GEOMETRY,
PROPORTION, AND THE EFFECTS OF TRANSPARENCY AND
REFLECTION.
• THE HOUSE IS AN EXAMPLE OF EARLY USE OF INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS
SUCH AS GLASS AND STEEL IN HOME DESIGN.
• INSPIRED BY MIES VAN DER ROHE‘S FARNSWORTH HOUSE, THE
GLASS HOUSE BY PHILIP JOHNSON, WITH ITS PERFECT
PROPORTIONS AND ITS SIMPLICITY, IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE
FIRST MOST BRILLIANT WORKS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
• JOHNSON BUILT THE 47-ACRE ESTATE FOR HIMSELF IN NEW
CANAAN, CONNECTICUT. NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT HOUSE
WAS THE FIRST OF FOURTEEN STRUCTURES THAT THE ARCHITECT
BUILT ON THE PROPERTY OVER A SPAN OF FIFTY YEARS.
BRICK HOUSE

THE BRICK HOUSE SERVED AS A GUEST

HOUSE
 SONY TOWER
Built in

1981 – 1984

Remodeled in 1993, Floors-37

Height 19,32 m, Width 29.87 m, Length 60.96 m

Location

550 Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York, United States

THE SONY TOWER, FORMERLY THE AT&T BUILDING, IS A 647
FEET (197 M) TALL, 37-STORY HIGHRISE SKYSCRAPER LOCATED
IN THE NEW YORK CITY BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN.
IT IS THE HEADQUARTERS OF SONY CORPORATION OF
IT BECAME IMMEDIATELY CONTROVERSIAL FOR ITS ORNAMENTAL TOP
AMERICA. (SOMETIMES MOCKED AS "CHIPPENDALE", BUT ENJOYED FOR ITS
THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT PHILIP SPECTACULAR ARCHED ENTRANCEWAY, MEASURING ABOUT SEVEN
STORIES IN HEIGHT.
JOHNSON AND PARTNER JOHN BURGEE, COMPLETED IN WITH THESE ORNAMENTAL ADDITIONS, THE BUILDING CHALLENGED
1984, AND CLOSE - IN CONCEPT - TO THE 1982 HUMANA ARCHITECTURAL MODERNISM'S DEMAND FOR STARK FUNCTIONALISM
AND PURELY EFFICIENT DESIGN.
BUILDING BY MICHAEL GRAVES.