The Postmodern

Movement
 • Postmodernism is an
intellectual discourse
defined by an attitude
of skepticism toward the grand
narratives and ideologies of
modernism as well as
opposition the stability
of meaning.
• It questions or
criticizes viewpoints
associated with
Enlightenment
rationality dating back to the
17th century, and is
characterized
by irony, eclecticism, and its

What is Postmodernism? rejection of the "universal

• validity" of binary oppositions,
stable identity, hierarchy,
and categorization.
Brian Duignan
Changes of thinking in the XXth
Modernism Post modernism
(1900-1960) (from 1960 until
Trust the authorities
today)
Questions goverment and authorities

What I can see, I can prove. Questions the the established rules
Rely in facts Diferent moral codes

Rationalism and Capitalism Opening of the thinking ( “think out

of the box”)
Society as a group Individuality and Perception

Rejection of tradition Revalues tradition and culture

Century

Believe in progress through science and Science is not necesarily true

research.
Depends on the point • Postmodernists are
"skeptical of explanations
of view which claim to be valid
for all groups, cultures,
traditions, or races," and
describe truth as relative.
• It can be described as
a reaction against attempts
to explain reality in an
objective manner by
claiming that reality is a
mental construct.
• Objectively rational
knowledge is rejected on the
grounds that all
interpretations are
contingent on when they are
made.
• Brian Duignan
 Philosophical
movement
• Postmodern critical approaches became
popular in the 1980s and 1990s and have
been adopted in a variety of academic
and theoretical disciplines, including
cultural studies, philosophy of
science, economics, linguistics, architecture,
feminist theory, and literary criticism, as
well as art movements in fields such
as literature, contemporary art, and music.
 Associated
with
relativism
• Postmodern thinkers frequently
describe knowledge claims and value
systems as contingent or socially-conditioned,
framing them as products of political,
historical, or cultural discourses and
hierarchies. Common targets of postmodern
criticism
include universalist ideas of objective
reality, morality, truth, human
nature, reason, science, language, and social
progress.
How did Postmodernism
became architecture?
Answering the needs of contemporary
cities
 We know there was an architectonical
crisis
• There were Team X
two proposals • Flexibility and adaptability in architectural design. The work of each architect
that had a should be designed to allow another architect to continue the building
theorethical process of the buiding or the city afterwards.
approach and • Cities are Dynamic. The essential phenomenom in cities is change, not grow.
openly Therefore, architects should design urban structures intended to change
rejected the and grow
CIAM’s
principles,
saying they Japanese Metabolism
were not • Metabolism is a theory movement that breaks with Modern Movment
working for postulates.
the needs of • According to their vision, architecture should be:
the time. • Versatile, Detachable, Flexible and adaptable to the needs of the user.
 • Pruitt–Igoe was a large urban housing
project first occupied in 1954 in the
U.S. city of St. Louis, Missouri.
• According to the planning principles of Le
Corbusier and the International
Congresses of Modern Architects,
residents were raised up to 11 floors
above ground in an attempt to save the
grounds and ground floor space for
communal activity
• The complex totaled 2,870 apartments,
one of the largest in the country. The
apartments were deliberately small,
with undersized kitchen appliances.
"Skip- stop" elevators stopped only at
the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth
floors, forcing residents to use stairs in
Pruitt–Igoe an attempt to lessen congestion. The
same "anchor floors" were equipped
with large communal corridors, laundry
departments: Icon of failure of rooms, communal rooms and garbage
chutes.

urban renewal and

Symbolic death of Modern
Architecture
(Rationalism +International Style)
• Residents cite a lack of maintenance almost from the very beginning, including
the regular breakdown of elevators, as being a primary cause of the deterioration
of the project. Local authorities cited a lack of funding to pay for the workforce
necessary for proper upkeep of the buildings.
• In addition, ventilation was poor, and centralized air conditioning
nonexistent. The stairwells and corridors attracted muggers. The project's parking
and recreation facilities were inadequate; playgrounds were added only after
tenants petitioned for their installation. Living conditions in Pruitt–Igoe began to
decline soon after its completion in 1956. By the late 1960s, the complex had
become internationally infamous for its poverty, crime, and racial segregation.
• All authors agree that by the end of the 1960s, Pruitt–Igoe was nearly
abandoned and had deteriorated into a decaying, dangerous, crime-infested
neighborhood.
• Its 33 buildings were demolished with explosives in the mid-1970s.
Decay of Modern
Architecture

Modern architects forgot two essential

facts:

1. Function is submitted to social

and cultural influences.
2. The shape of a building should be an
answer to its context.
• International Style’s urban ideas were a disaster in many historic cities.
• As they tried to solve only the basic functional issues, they weren’t an
answer to cultural, economic and social situations.
• Postmodern Architecture
promotes a return to
forgotten values of the past
as a way to recover local
culture and traditions.

59th street between 52 and 54

streets. Downtown Mérida.
 Postmodern architects
design with the • Europe Photograph
sourruonding buildings to House,
Europe
avoid descontextualization.
• Marais, París Photograph
House,
• Yves Lion, 1990-96 Marais,
París
Yves Lion,
1990-96
 Comparison between architectures

• There was a lot of

experimentation in Modern Post Modern
portmodern
architecture,
therefore, buildings Based on a You can have your own system..or not.
and projects are not system Is up to you
easy to clasify. Systems, procedures, methods that Dissapointed from modernism results,
• We recognize a you should follow to get a result criticizes,not necessarily gives
postmodern buiding Standarization of building
solutions.
Vernacular building techniques and
whe we see a unique, Industrial materials.
techniques. materials
complex solution for
the context, tailored Prevail of the new. Rejection Revalues Architectural
to the needs of the of tradition. Heritage, tradition and
client. culture.
The building as a unique piece. The building as part of a Context.
 Building in historical
context
• There is a big controverse among those who care about
the context, when the topic is building in historical
neighborhoods.
• Adaptability is essential, based in a particularized
interpreation of the context.
• Respect to surrounding buildings and a dialogue
employing materials and architectonical elements.

Jewellery Store Schullin II, Vienna, Austria,

Hans Hollein 1983
Postmoder
n
architectur
• Breaks with Modern
e Architecture, looking for the
architectural tradition.
• Symbolism with historic reference
and modern details and materials.
• Employs light modern
materials to
emulate big heavy structures.
• The facade takes a new prevail,
as a medium between the
building and the street.

Dra. María Teresa Lozano

Soto
Pei’s glass pyramid was meant to mesh with
the
landscape—not fight with it.
Dra. María Teresa Lozano
Soto
Louvre
Museum
Adition, IMPei.
• A complex program uderground
Napoleon Court.
• When designing the pyramid, architect I.M.
Pei was mindful to keep the structure below
the surrounding buildings, ensuring the
modern addition would be as unobtrusive
as possible.
• Designing the framework was no less
laborious. Pei wanted to match the metal
to the color of the roofs of its surrounding
buildings.
• Finally, the size. A study was conducted on
the height of the pyramid in relation to the
existing buildings. The pyramid, per Pei,
was designed to fall beneath a certain line,
so it wouldn’t stick out above rooftops.

Dra. María Teresa Lozano

Soto
Haas Haus Located downtown
Vienna
Dra. María Teresa Lozano
Soto
 Haas
Haus,Vienna
Austria.
• The intrusion of a contemporary glass and
stone building was met with a resistance,
much to do with its location in the shadow
of Vienna’s oldest and greatest
architectural masterpieces – St. Stephen’s
Cathedral.
• If anything, the building’s locale in St.
Stephens Square is most complementary
to the antique cathedral; the contours of
the church are brilliantly mirrored on the
Hass Haus’ facade and display that
modern architecture can be momentous,
as well as unobtrusive to its historical
context.
Dra. María Teresa Lozano
Soto
Haas Haus,Vienna Austria.
1990 Hans Hollein
A building conceived according to the historical
surroundings
 Haas
Haus,Vienna

• This multi-use facility offers

modern conveniences, without
ruining the old-world feel of
Stephansplatz.
• The genesis of the project
considered urban analysis,
extensive studies for the
façade and atrium.
Wallmart-Suburbia Paseo de
Montejo exterior design
 Dra. María Teresa Lozano Soto

Wallmart-
Suburbia Paseo
de Montejo.
Duarte Aznar
Architects.
The urban image project
considered urban analysis
ensuring the modern
addition would be as
unobtrusive as possible.
Colors, proportions and
materials of surrounding
Victorian mansions’s
exteriors were reinterpreted
to create a façade for the
 Gossary of Post Modern terms in architecture
•The circumstances that form the setting for an event or
Context situation in terms of which it can be fully understood and
• The study of architectural building types
assessed. Typology
•Culture, history, location, orientation.

•Qualities of sameness in relation to a person's connection to

Identity others and to a particular group of people. Genius Loci • Building inserts in context in such a way that you can’t
•Qualities, beieffs, features and expressions. coinceive one without the other

Collective •Memories shared by a social group.

• The action of interpreting architectural style or rules
•Can be constructed, shared, and passed on by large and Reinterpretatio
memory small social groups.
n
in a new way or different point of view.

Social •An idea that has been created and accepted by the people
Referenc
• The action of mentioning or alluding to something.
in a society. • In architecture, it might be a typology or a previous
construct e architectonical solution, without coping.

Sense of •Involves the feeling, belief, and expectation that one fits in
the group and has a place there, a feeling of acceptance by Eclecticism • The practice of deriving ideas, style, or taste from
a broad and diverse range of sources.
belongingness the group, and a willingness to sacrifice for the group.