GGR217H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Shortage, City Beautiful Movement, Ikea
11 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Professor Katharine Rankin Oct. 24, 2016
GGR217 LECTURE 6
POSTMODERNISM
1) ANTI-PLANNING POPULISM FROM JANE JACOBS
- “eyes on the street”
- role of markets (not just real-estate markets)
- there were many sites for subverting modernism to the market (such as American
cities)
- remember the Bauhaus school (just 80 years later, IKEA is one of the largest
suppliers of home furniture—somewhat relevant, but huge transition)
2) POST-MODERNISM AND ITS REJECTION OF MODERNIST PRINCIPLES
• “Housing was seen as the critical subject of the new architecture”
• modern architecture in North America found its broadest application in the corporate
atmosphere (rather than political, private housing, etc.)
• “stripping away of the radical social agenda” and “American Qualification of modern
Architecture” (Colin Rowe); corporations adopted Modern Architecture because
- it was cheaper
- easy to construct due to standardization
- fewer internal walls meant easier reconfiguration of space
- steel frame construction = more space
- projected a futuristic image
• Critique of Modernism
- Modernist plans are experienced by some as oppressive; people don’t like to live
in modernist spaces
- Problem of VANGUARDISM authoritarian, elitist
- Problem of CREATIVE DESTRUCTION to build the new, you have to
destroy the old; this is hard on people
- Tragic side of modernism can be used for reactionary, regressive purposes
Ex. Mussolini and Hitler’s uses of the City Beautiful
- Corporate power = main beneficiary
- Problem of repressed demand for ornament and personal/individual
decorativeness
- Ignores the vernacular
- Context independent buildings look alike no matter where they are located
• KEY ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURAL POST-MODERNISM
1. Return of the local and reclamation of place historic preservation,
gentrification
2. Architecture as a symbol and learning from the vernacular
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Architecture (colin rowe); corporations adopted modern architecture because it was cheaper easy to construct due to standardization fewer internal walls meant easier reconfiguration of space steel frame construction = more space. Projected a futuristic image: critique of modernism . Modernist plans are experienced by some as oppressive; people don"t like to live in modernist spaces. Problem of creative destruction to build the new, you have to destroy the old; this is hard on people. Tragic side of modernism can be used for reactionary, regressive purposes. Mussolini and hitler"s uses of the city beautiful. Problem of repressed demand for ornament and personal/individual decorativeness. Historicism/contextualism front is historical, back is contemporary: charles jencks. Eclecticism is the natural evolution of a culture with choice (1977) addresses defensible architecture , or stealth houses (they hide their wealthy, sumptuous interior behind a crude exterior) Ex. corrugated steel, chain-link fence, plywood on architect gehry"s residence in.
