Post Modernism Architecture

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The categorization of architecture in the twentieth century has been an ongoing process that relies, to a certain extent, on the subjective input of the classifier. Post-modernism in particular has only one definite classification; it is the movement of architecture that emerged following the Modernism of Europe and the International Style of the world. This literal definition is not only an implication of its chronological order in architectural history, but the notion of post-modernism itself depicts the twentieth century movement as a complete rejection of Modernist architecture. The era of definite guidelines and abandonment of meaning in architecture during a time when urban advancement had climbed to its peak was eventually rejected and …show more content…

The symbol became a catalyst for bringing architecture back „to life‟, in an approach that contrasted entirely with the plain, straight-edged architecture that towered in
American Modernism. In turn, post-modern architecture in the twentieth century became a counter-argument; an oppositional movement with a sole purpose to be anything but Modern.
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As the introduction of a counter-argument made itself apparent to the Modern movement, metaphors and metaphysics eventually became incorporated into American architecture. This was because Modernism had an “inability to deal with or pose general questions of architectural meaning: what was the architecture ‘to be about’ […] Architecture must have a signifying reference” (Jencks 112). The notion that architecture must have an underlying history behind it sparked the discussion of metaphysics in architecture—more specifically, how explicit and implicit metaphors could be integrated into buildings, so that the architecture spoke in more ways than a singular form. Post-modernism posed the question of what the form of architecture signified, instead of what ways the form itself could be prioritized in architecture. The suppression of symbolism and metaphors in the Modern movement followed by their …show more content…

By doing so, it has a lasting relevance to architecture today, because of its boundless ideologies and inclusiveness of form, space, concepts, atmosphere, and symbols that did not demonstrate a particular emphasis on only one. This freedom to design structures that were not limited to a set of rules and incorporated narratives into buildings was a liberating moment in architectural history. The Public Library built by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in 2004 is a strong illustration of the freedom post-modernism allowed—each respective area in the library has its own atmosphere, with
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Architecture after the Cold War). The freedom to exemplify meaning through the form of architecture is what gives this building a post-modernist label. Furthermore, symbols were used in structures that did not focus on form, but on the narrative of the building. Daniel

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