ROBERT VENTURI

Radical Counter Proposal To Modernism

Introduction
 Robert Venturi, born in 1925, always planned to become an architect.

 In 1950, three years after graduating, he received his Master of Fine

Arts, also from Princeton.

 Venturi eventually went on to work with some of the great architects of

the day, including Louis Kahn and Eero Saarinen.
 Following that, he spent two years as a fellow architect at the
American Academy in Rome before he opened his own firm in
Philadelphia and started teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Venturi is also known for coining the maxim "Less is a bore", a
postmodern antidote to Mies van der Rohe's famous modernist
dictum "Less is more".
• Venturi has been considered a counter-revolutionary.
• Beginning in the 1960s he spearheaded the "Post-Modern" revolt
against the simplicity and pure functionalism of modernist
architecture.
• In both his buildings and his writings he championed an
architecture rich in symbolism and history, complexity and
contradiction
Complexity and Contradiction In Architecture
• He published his "gentle manifesto, "Complexity and Contradiction in
Architecture" in 1966.
• The book demonstrated, through countless examples, an approach to
understanding architectural composition and complexity, and the resulting
richness and interest.

• Architecture is different because it does not

adapt to the opportunity of variety.
• Venturi suggests that architecture is
rationalized through rejecting and excluding
the complexities that emerge in architecture
Complexity and Contradiction In Architecture
• The object as well as the aim of the book is straight forward: a
theory of design providing an alternative to ‘orthodox
modernism’.
• The book demonstrated, through countless examples, an
approach to understanding architectural composition and
complexity, and the resulting richness and interest.
Complexity and Contradiction In Architecture
• the nature of the relationship between the interior and exterior design of a
building.
• the importance of location and context surrounding the building.
• the contrast between the interior and exterior designs.
• contradictory interior spaces does not go against the idea of continuity
asserted by modern architecture.
• designing from both the inside and the outside means that the wall becomes
the point of change and contact between the two works.
• architecture requires a balancing of our vision, that it not be too specific or
too general and this requires considering all factors at play – the context,
location, and purpose of the building overall and each component.
Vanna Venturi House
• One of the first prominent works of
the postmodern architecture
movement
• Located in the neighborhood of
Chestnut hill in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
• Aim was to create a building that
would not only be functional but also
capable of producing a sense of
artistic tension.
The architect mixed contradictory
features:
Design
• the exterior shape of the house is
simple, yet the interior plan is
complex
• while the overall facade is
symmetrically conceived, symmetry
is broken by unbalanced windows
and an off-center chimney.
1.South east view 2.view from south
• although the scale of the house is
quite small, many of the details
(doors, chair rails, fireplace
mantels) are huge
 Design

• the basic elements of the house are a

reaction against standard modernist
architectural elements:
• pitched roof rather than flat roof, emphasis
on central hearth & chimney,
• closed ground floor "set firmly on ground"
rather than modernist columns & glass
walls which open up the ground floor.
• on the front elevation the broken pediment
or gable & a purely ornamental applique
arch reflect return to mannerist
architecture and a rejection of modernism.
• house is a composition of rectangular,
curvilinear, and diagonal elements coming
together (or sometimes juxtaposing each
other) in a way that inarguably creates
complexity and contradiction.
• in order to create more
contradiction and complexity,
Venturi experimented with scale.
• inside the house certain elements
are “too big,” such as the size of
the fireplace and the height of the
mantel compared to the size of
the room.
• doors are wide and low in height,
especially in contrast to the
grandness of the entrance space.
• Venturi also minimized circulation
space in the design of the house, so
that it consisted of large distinct
rooms with minimum subdivisions
between them.
Exterior Views
Plan
Rear elevation Front elevation
Provincial Capitol Building
• the capitol is the heart of the municipal
administration of the French city of
Toulouse.
• the building consists of an administrative SITE PLAN
and legislative complex including offices,
the legislative assembly chamber, public
services, various public and governmental
support spaces,
• three levels of underground parking for
public and staff,
• and outdoor and indoor ceremonial
spaces.
Architectural Features
• the building is 2 narrow 6 story wings
joined together by two glass-clad
bridges,
• glass curtain walls were unique at that
time for Toulouse which is mostly brick
town.

• the current façade, 135 metres long

and built of the characteristic pink
brick in neoclassical style,

• the eight columns represent the original

eight capitols
• these linear administration buildings frame
a pedestrian way, a "civic street" that
crosses the site diagonally and connects
the site to a historic city gate near the canal
du midi bridge replicated with two
columns.
• at the center of the site one wing bows
outward to create the crescent-shaped
public space along this civic street, the
focus of buildings.
Plan