Postmodernism

Around 1978, a group of architects broke with the hard, angular forms of modernism. They no longer wanted to build in monochrome boxes, right angles, and with strict emphasis on simplicity. They wanted to use whatever shapes, colors, and lines they pleased. Postmodernism thus became a mix of new and old styles, borrowing freely from architecture around the world. Forms were played with, and elements were borrowed from any source of inspiration.

»Form follows fantasy,« declared postmodern architect Bernard Tschumi. His statement directly opposed functionalism’s »form follows function.«

Architectural quotations

A common feature of postmodernism is the use of quotations from other works and styles. For instance, the columns of the Parthenon might appear alongside a steel structure from functionalism.

The architect selects shapes he likes without concern for their original meaning. A triangular pediment from a temple gable might serve as the entrance to a hot dog stand. Or why not place a Gothic church spire on a residential building? This reuse of forms gives postmodernist architecture an ironic, playful tone.

Equivalence

Seemingly meaningless or peculiar inventions often appear. A staircase may lead nowhere. And who says a gateway must be passable, if its shape alone suffices? All forms and materials are treated as equal – in the sense that they hold the same value. A classical column is no more important than a plastic pipe. Some architects even use rubble in their buildings to underline this equivalence of forms.

Colors and stripes

Color strongly reinforces the inversion of architectural borrowings in postmodernism. Columns might be painted bright red, or a dome might be covered in stripes of every kind. In this way, forms are not only reused but also reinterpreted, stripping them of their former significance.

The exterior – and the interior

It is especially the outside of a building that becomes the playground for postmodern experiments with form, material, and color. The facade is often purely decorative, bearing no relation to the building’s interior or its function. Inside, a flamboyant postmodern structure may contain perfectly ordinary rooms.

Old, yet new

Postmodernism’s tendency to recycle past architecture sometimes went so far as to produce entire new buildings in old styles. In Sweden, for example, an entire new town was built with half-timbered houses like those of the past. Many associate half-timbered houses with coziness and rural idyll, and that is the meaning conveyed by reusing the style on the outside. Inside, however, everything is modern and functional. The half-timbering is nothing more than a facade, disconnected from the building’s interior.