Thread by @Furmadamadam, THREAD: Postmodern architecture, now an umbrella term for an extremely diverse array [...]

THREAD: Postmodern architecture, now an umbrella term for an extremely diverse array of creative, imaginative & evocative approaches to building design spanning the world from the 60s to the 90s, is much maligned... it shouldn’t be, & here’s why...

The last image & this r Arata Isozaki’s Team Disney Building in Orlando, Florida, from 1990, 1 of many iconic buildings commissioned by that 20thCentury-defining brand of the contemporary collective imaginary. Photos by Xinai Liang

This thread is a smorgasbord collection of buildings, all of which are interesting, I ask that you not judge too quickly, just look, and, if you can, appreciate and enjoy (u get kudos if u do)...

This is the vast Les Espaces D’Abraxas by the virtuoso Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, in Noisy-le-Grand near Paris, 1978-83

These photos & the last post are by Harald Jahn

A few more images of Abraxas...

The piazza of the Tsukuba Cultural Centre, Tsukuba, japan, 1980-5, by Arata Isozaki, a hugely influential crossover figure between Japanese & European/American architectural culture, who recently, very deservedly won the Pritzker Prize

This is one of the many incredible moments in the complex, which is a swirling vortex collage of amazing stylistic bravado, the Tsukuba Cultural Centre, Tsukuba, japan, 1980-5, by Arata Isozaki

Hans Hollein’s (a giant figure in this discussion) hugely contentious Haas House in Vienna, which -if you can believe it- faces directly onto the medieval cathedral... 1987-1990 The interior was sadly demolished a few years ago

Another highly controversial but brilliant masterpiece that was very controversial in its day, & in this case is now listed, is James Stirling’s No1 Poultry in London, which faces directly at the Royal Exchange, and replaced a Mies Van der Rohe scheme that was blocked. 1987-1997

Michael Graves’ Humana Building, 1985, in Louisville, Kentucky

In London Terry Farrell built what were known as his 3 “grand projets” the Charing X station development, the Alban Gate tower, and most famously, the Secret Services HQ, seen repeatedly destroyed in the Bond films...

John Outram’s Judge Institute in Cambridge, 1991-5... Outram is a towering, highly singular and distinctive figure, with a vast intellectual and mythological framework underpinning all of his designs, as well as incredible material & technical daring...

Cambridge University being quite a conservative place, Outram was restrained there in his use if colour, however in Duncan Hall at Rice University in Houston, he was allowed to do as he wished... 1996
-
Photo by Jay Lee on Flickr, link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/baldheretic/25799615358

One Bowdoin Square, Boston, Graham Gund Architects, 1989

Arquitectonica's completely iconic Atlantis Condominium in Miami from 1980-82

& its famous jacuzzi-palm void
-
Both images from https://architizer.com/idea/1089436/

They had some even wilder proposals for nearby that were sadly not realised

Well, except for a couple of great moments... Entrance to The Palace, Miami, Arquitectonica, 1978-80

This is their Mulder House (Casa Los Andes), Lima, Peru. Circa 1985.
-
http://www.arquitectura.com/arquitectura/latina/obras/vivienda/arquitectonica/losandes.asp

If you’d like to read more on them, here’s an article I wrote for citylab https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/09/the-architects-who-made-miami-magic/569245/

The Architects Who Made Miami ‘Magic’

No one has expressed Miami’s glamour, boldness, and precarious beauty quite like Arquitectonica.

https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/09/the-architects-who-made-miami-magic/569245/

Aldo Rossi’s (another somewhat singular figure, the intl face of Italy’s Tendenza ‘movement’, but not really) hugely influential (and for me, utterly terrifying) essay in primary-form-melancholy, the San Cataldo Cemetery in Modena, Italy, 1971-8

Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu

Helmut Jahn, the wildly characterful Pomo heir to Mies the Modernist in the great architectural city of Chicago, and his beautiful One and Two Liberty Place in Philadelphia 1985-90
-
Image unknown source

Hopping forwards to probably the apotheosis of highrises from the category, SOM’s almost-dissolving filigree that is its Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai 1994-9
-
Photo from http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/jin-mao-tower/189

Casa de Retiro Espiritual, Cordoba, Spain. Designed in '75, built 2000, By Argentine Emilio Ambasz, a great thinker, curator, and poet-architect
-

Images http://curatorialproject.com

Casa Azul, Edgardo Jimenez, 1970-2, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Images from the artist’s site

If you’re enjoying this thread, consider buying Revisiting Postmodernism, an authoritative book I wrote with Terry Farrell chronicling it’s development around the world to today, & its continuing relevance. Lots of text, and tonnes of great images https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/185946632X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_d8uEDb4PS6K9A

The park of the Argentina Televisora Color building, F Manteola, J Sanchez Gomez, J Santos, J Solsona and R Viñoly, Buenos Aires, 1978-76 (yes there was an obsession with grids & undermining grids... i address that in the book

)

The park of the Argentina Televisora Color building, F Manteola, J Sanchez Gomez, J Santos, J Solsona and R Viñoly, Buenos Aires, 1978-76 (yes there was an obsession with grids & undermining grids... i address that in the book )

The great Charles Correa’s, British Council, New Delhi, 1993
-
Image via Archdaily

It was a period marked by diversity, with many distinct groupings, and maverick figures. Botta led an alpine school of monumental forms and articulated masonry... Cantina Pietra Winery, Suvereto, Tuscany, Italy, Mario Botta, 2001-4.

Image unknown source

This is the interior of Botta’s Church of St john the baptist, Mogno, Maggia valley, Switzerland, 1986-1998

Photo by Randolph Langenbach, 2010

Botta’s Kyobo Tower in Seoul, Korea, 1999-2003

Photo from http://www.archimagazine.com/abokyobo.htm

Cesar Pelli’s pop-arch (another Argentine, who came from Eero Saarinen’s office) Pacific Design Center (aka the Blue Whale) Los Angeles, 1975

Image from https://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2007/08/grab-bag-the-pd.html

Illinois Regional Library for The Blind and Physically Handicapped, Chicago, Stanley Tigerman, 1978

From the architect’s site

House in Highland Park, Illinois, designed by Tigerman McCurry, 1982-4
-
Image from the architect’s site

Perhaps the world’s greatest postmodern Civic Building, Helmut Jahn’s State of Illinois Center (1985) in Chicago is, like many buildings of this period, under threat of demolition...
-
Second photo from https://archpaper.com/2018/11/sale-of-chicagos-iconic-thompson-center-delayed-through-2019/ first unknown source

Here’s an article I wrote on it for Icon Magazine

Manuel Núñez Yanowsky‘s distinct, highly figurative architectural language created several powerfully composed buildings in France & Belgium. This is a Police station, featuring Michelangelos Dying Slave in serial, in Rue Rambouillet, Paris, '85-88

Image unknown source

Les Caryatides, Isle de France, Manuel Núñez Yanowsky, 1992

Psychopedagogical Institute, School 4 mentally & physically handicapd children, Nuñez Yanowsky, Wasnes, Belgium, '82

"Place Picasso", 1980-84, Manuel Nunez Yanowsky, Noisy le Grand, near Paris

Photo by Harald Jahn

He also had a more polychromatic, geometric streak, this is "Mapad", a Nursing Home in Grand Paris (the Met region) Manuel Nunez Yanowsky, France, 1983-5

Pavillon Paul Delouvrier, Parc de la Villette, Beautiful Paris, Oscar Tusquets 1988-90
-
Image unknown source

Torre Triana, Seville, by one of Spain’s (many) great architects, Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, 1993
-
Images unknown source

This is his Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, in Santander, Spain, Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza, 1986-90

First photo from Wikipedia, second from: https://www.wegow.com/en-gb/venues/palacio-de-festivales-de-cantabria

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, James Stirling, 1988
-
Image unknown source

Melbourne has a most remarkable and unique school of architecture that seems to have kicked off around the time this was built... im so excited to be visiting in a few weeks. RMIT 8, Melbourne, Edmond Corrigan, 1993

Various buildings by Fernando Peixoto, Bahia, Brazil

And some more buildings by Peixoto

Gary Group Office Building, Culver City, California, Eric Owen Moss, 1990... Moss has built almost all his projects in Culver, which is a catalogue of his evolving architectural ideas

Images from the architect's site

708 house, Eric Owen Moss, Los Angeles, 1979-82

Morphosis, 2468 House, Venice, California, 1978

Image unknown source

Charles Moore Is a hero of mine, here is his Whitman Village, Huntingdon, New York, 1974

Charles Moore’s House in New Haven, Connecticut, 1969
-
Images unknown source

Murray House by Charles Moore, Cambridge, MA, 1969... Supergraphics by Mary Ann Rummey
-
Image via @gys44

Oceanside Civic Center, Charles Moore, California, 1990
-
Photos from https://deliriousla.com/2017/03/15/oceanside-civic-center/

& of course his iconic Piazza d’Italia, New Orleans, Charles Moore, 1975-1980
-
Photo by Joevare on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/joevare/5731561311

Jonathan Jerde, the guru of outdoor malls and experience designer extraordinaire’s Horton Plaza in San Diego, 1985, which is sadly probably now going to be turned into an Apple Store lookalike

Image from https://www.curbed.com/platform/amp/2019/6/5/18652340/horton-plaza-san-diego-postmodern-jerde

This is Jerde’s rather mind-bending Canal City in Hakata, Japan, from 1996

Not to mention his involvement in the paradigmatic design of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
With the architecture being by The Jerde Partnership, & the Graphic design by Sussman/Prejza (Deborah Sussman & Paul Prejza)

Hotel Il Palazzo, Fukuoka, Japan, Also Rossi & Morris Adjmi, 1989

Second image by Naoya Fujii from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/naoyafujii/7168327233

This is the bar Oblomov by Shiro Kuramata at the Hotel Il Palazzo in Fukuoka, 1989

And this is the Zibbibo Bar in the same hotel by Ettore Sottsass

Wall House II, Groningen, The Netherlands, John Hejduk, 2001 (28 years after it was designed)

Aveiro Stadium, Portugal, 2003, Tomás Taveira

Olaias Metro Station, Lisbon, Tomas Taveira, 1998. Photo by Paolo Bastos

Amoreiras Centre, Lisbon, Tomas Taveira 1985

Image from http://www.pensarlisboa.com/2013/10/

Richard England’s Aquasun Lido, Paceville, Malta, 1987, this has become a certain generation’s igram and moodboard ultra-fodder, i believe i may be to blame for having posting it on tumblr a few years ago...

This is Richard England in more civic monumental mode, the Qawra Parish Church, dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, Qawra, Malta. 1991-1995.

Images unknown source

Back in scenographic mode, this is Richard England’s Garden for Myriam in St. Julian's, Malta. Images from Architectural Digest, February 1990.

A hop over the sea to Israel for the utterly exquisite Supreme Court of Israel Building in Jerusalem by Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects & Ram Karmi, 1992

http://www.archdaily.com/184543/supreme-court-building-in-jerusalem-ada-karmi-melamede-architects

And some more images of Israel’s sublime Supreme Court

In quite a different register is the nearby Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Ahmed Mito, Cairo, 2000

And to skip over to Poland for another Supreme Court, in Warsaw, by Marek Budzynski, from 1996-1999

Image unknown source

San Antonio Public Library, Ricardo Legorreta, 1991

Monterrey Central Library, Monterrey, Mexico, Ricardo Legorreta, 1994

Images unknown source

The BEST stores by James Wines & SITE were prominent examples of conceptual practices from fine art making their home in the fervently creative architecture field of the 70s, ruminating on notions of ephemerality &decay. All were built between 1972-85. This is the Houston outlet

Here are some of the others...

Images via Archdaily

The Pyramid, monument on the border between Catalonia & France, Ricardo Bofill, 1978
-
Images from the architect’s site

Dani Karavan‘s metaphysical poetic landscape sculptures are always beautiful spaces of reflection... Kikar Levana, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1977

This is his Axe Majeur de Cergy in Pontoise, Paris. Dani Karavan, France, 1980

I’ve always found Martha Schwartz‘s King County Jailhouse Garden in Seattle, from 1987, to have a similar quality, but using colour, pattern and texture as well
-
Image from the landscape architect’s site

Like Surrealism, under its umbrella a host of individual endeavors of private world-building are included in Post Modernism, the archi-equivalents of magical realism... This is sculptor Xavier Corberó's house in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona 1968-2007

Images unknown source

Ricardo Bofill’s own office/home ruin/factory/fortress can be included in that category...

Casa Zermani, Varano (Parma), Italy, Paolo Zermani, 1997

Photos by Mauro Davoli http://www.maurodavoli.com/

Tzvi Hecker’s rigorous understanding of complex geometries, combined with a remarkable ability to create worlds of impromptu material experiments & delights has left us masterpieces like his Spiral Apartment House in Ramat Gan, Israel, 1984-1989.

The nearby 2 Trumpeldor Street by Zvi Harel in Tel Aviv

More info here: http://www.project-tlv.com/buildings/trumpeldor/2

There’s always been a surreal thread running through some practitioners work, this is the Tête Carrée, Nice, France, 1997-2002 Sculptor Sacha Sosno and Architect Yves Bayard. The 14m by 14m cube contains the offices of the Municipal Library of Nice.

Image unknown source

A famous example is Gehry’s Chiat/Day Building in Los Angeles, aka the Binoculars Building done in collaboration with Claes Oldenburg

Photo by Xinai Liang

Just chucking in Ruy Ohtake‘s Instituto Tomie Ohtake, in Sao Paolo, from 2001, cos its awesome

Images unknown source

The great virtuoso Philippe Starck did many epoch defining product & interior designs, but less well known is that he was one of the most inventive architects of the era... this is his Le Baron Vert, Osaka 1992

This is his Asahi Beer Hall in Tokyo from 1990

The Groninger Museum by the late great Alessandro Mendini, a father of Italian Postmodern & radical design, Groningen, The Netherlands, 1992-4

Image unknown source

This is the central spiral staircase inside

Mendini sometimes polemically, wildly dissolved forms through a pontilist use of granular colour

Stairs in the Groninger Museum, Alessandro Mendini, 1990-4

Photo by fototon2010 on Flickr

This is the central spiral staircase inside Mendini sometimes polemically, wildly dissolved forms through a pontilist use of granular colourStairs in the Groninger Museum, Alessandro Mendini, 1990-4Photo by fototon2010 on Flickr

Steintor Tram & Bus Stop, Hannover, Alessandro Mendini, 1992

And this is me with one of his pieces, a long long time ago... but shows the

And this is me with one of his pieces, a long long time ago... but shows the

The ruined highrise coliseum that is Moshe Safdie‘s Vancouver Public Library, 1993-5

Images unknown sources

The biblically-proportioned double-ramps in Safdie’s Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, 1997-2004

Bench by the great Gae Aulenti

Design for a Best Products Showroom, Robert Stern, 1979

Late entry for the Chicago Tribune Competition, Robert Stern

Residence and Pool House, Llewelyn Park, New Jersey, Robert Stern, 1981-2

Lehel Market Hall, 13th district. Budapest, Hungary by Rajk László, Jr. 2002.

Madonna di Fatima Church, Buseno, Switzerland, Mario Campi & Franco Pessina, 1990

Solpol Department Store, Wroclaw, Poland, Wojciech Jarząbek, 1993

Seminary of the Resurrection (Centrum Resurrectionis), Krakow, Poland, Dariusz Kozlowski, 1985-1996

Kamienica, Wojciech Jarząbek, Wrocław, Poland, 1996

Photo by Kasia Ślęzak

Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jerzy Nowosielski & Bogdan Kotarba, Biały Bór, Poland, 1992-97

University of Warsaw library by Marek Budzynski

One of my favourites is the Etcetera Theatre, Moscow, 2005, by Andrey Bokov

Here is another image

I’m coming back to him late as people tend to bring him & Sottsass up first, but here is Michael Graves’, Denver Public Library, 1995

Images unknown source

The Swan & Dolphin Resorts, Orlando, Florida, Michael Graves, 1990

Images unknown source

Yours truly in front of the Abrams House by Venturi Scott Brown, in Pittsburgh, from 1979, which is sadly now being demolished

Also in Pittsburgh, one of the best skyscrapers from the period anywhere is Johnson Burgee’s sublime chrome-neo-gothic PPG Place, 1981-84

Tourist Accommodation, Irakleio, Crete, Greece, Antonis & Vangelis Stylianidis, 1985-1987

Multi-Use Building, Peristeri, Athens, Greece, Demetrios Issaias and Tassis Papaioannou, 1983

Image vis Spyros Kaprinis from http://issaias-papaioannou.gr

Tijuana Cultural Center, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, 1982, Mexico

Images unknown source

Mississauga City Hall, Great Hall Interior, Canada, Jones & Kirkland, 1982-7

Mississauga City Hall, Canada, Jones & Kirkland, 1982-7 This really is one of the great civic complexes of the era

Mississauga City Hall, Mississauga, Canada, Jones & Kirkland 1982-7

Grey Point Residence, Vancouver, Canada, Franklin Allen (The Corner Group.) 1989

Pavillion Soixante-Dix, Quebec, Canada, Righter, Rose and Lankin 1976-78.

Heres me in 2015 holding the only fully surviving egg from on top of Terry Farrell’s iconic TVAM building (that I went to school v close to)

Here are some picture of Farrell’s iconic 1982 TVAM Building in Camden Town

And one more of its high awesomeness

Oh and heres me on one of the four surviving original TVAM chairs...

Roche & Dinkeloo's mirror-tastic Union Carbide restaurant, Danbury, Connecticut

Original red & blue striped design for the UN Plaza building by Roche-Dinkeloo 1969-75

The public lobby of 60 Wall Street, Roche & Dinkeloo, New York City, 1987-9

A great photo of 60 Wall Street under construction (I don’t know who the photo is by), Roche & Dinkeloo, 1988

Park Mews, Wellington, Roger Walker, 1975

Britten House, Karataka Bays, Wellington, Roger Walker, 1972

University of Auckland, School of Music, Hill Manning Mitchell, 1986
Auckland, New Zealand.

Graves' St Coletta school 4 children with disabilities

https://www.archdaily.com/88771/ad-classics-st-coletta-school-michael-graves

Schulman House by Michael Graves, Princeton, NJ, 1976.

Photo by @gys44

Clos Pegase Winery, Napa Valley, California, Michael Graves, 1987

Image unknown source

Model of the Republic Bank Building, San Antonio, Texas, Michael Graves, 1982

Thomson Consumer Electronics Americas HQ, Indianapolis, Indiana, Michael Graves & Haldeman, Powell & Partners, 1992

Images unknown source

The NYC nightclubbing, hotel, restaurant & bar scene of the 1980s was one of the most vivid & innovative outpourings of design creativity of the era... El Internacional Restaurant, Antoni Miralda, Tribeca, NYC, 1984

Photo by Jose Morales

Here is another shot of the ‘total piece of art’ (from cuisine, to performances, happenings, decor, art & its ppl) that was the incomparable El Internacional

This is Isozaki’s iconic Palladium nightclub, New York City, 1985

1of2 Here is a great essay on it: "An Organisation of Hedonistic Pleasures: The Palladium"

From Log 41 by Ivan L Munuera

2of2

Hung Kuo Headquarters Building, Taipei, CY Lee, 1989

Morgan Plaza, Beijing, CY Lee, 2008

Image by De la Pena on Flickr

Kitakyushu International Conference Centre, Arata Isozaki, Japan, 1992

Inntel Hotel, By WAM Architecten, 2010. Zaandam, Netherlands.
Photo: Stefano Perego.

Facade of the Biblioteca dell'Angelo, Paolo Portoghesi, Calcata, Italy, 2002

Casa Cei, Empoli (the town name that Italians use when saying the letter "E" spelling something over the phone... in english most say "Echo"), Italy, by Ettore Sottsass

The Acme house in Maui by Ettore Sottsass

750 7th Avenue, Roche-Dinkeloo, NYC, 1989

Watari-Um, Tokyo, Mario Botta, 1985-90

Image unknown source

Residential building, Netanya, Israel, Gabi Tetro and Rachel Getanio, 1990s

Residential building in Nasr city, Cairo by Tamer Gabali

The Hoagie House, Washington DC, Jersey Devil, 1987. Photo by Kenneth M Wyner

Archizoom Associati, "The Neutral Surface", Habitable cupboard, 1972

"Teatre D'Hades" Residence, Le Grand Hornu, Belgium, Manuel Nunez Yanowsky, 1978-1981

Staff Dacha at the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia, designed by Dave Sellers.

Huis van Roosmalen, Antwerp, Bob Van Reeth, 1985.

Carnegie Hall Tower, Cesar Pelli, 1991, & Pelli dressed up in its image.

Philip Johnson’s stunning PPG Place, Pittsburgh, 1981-4, and Johnson dressed up as it from an edition of vogue from 1984

The Azrieli Centre Towers, Tel Aviv 1996-9 by Eli Attia & Yaski Sivan Architects

Some more models & drawings of Hiroshi Hara’s highrise masterpiece, the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka, 1988-93, last image with my reflection in it

Whitman Village, Huntingdon, New York, Charles Moore, 1974

Aldo Rossi & Morris Adjmi’s Scholastic Building in Soho, New York, 2001

The Lighthouse Theatre, Toronto, Aldo Rossi, 1987.

Cathedral of Ville Nouvelle d’Evry, France, Mario Botta, 1988

Grahall House, Cavendish, VT, Michael & Elizabeth Graham 2000

The Mayan-temple-topped Heritage Plaza, Houston, M. Nasr & Partners, 1987

Image unknown source

Apartment building on HaYarkon street, Tel Aviv, Israel, Uri Blumenthal, 1993

Star of the Sea neighborhood, Netanya, Israel, Zvi Mosessco, 1990s

Karl Lagerfeld in his Memphis designed flat in Monaco, 1985

Karl Lagerfeld in his Monte Carlo, Memphis-furnished flat, 1981. Photo by Jacques Schumacher

Bookshop Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, Stirling & Wilford, 1991

And one more pic (i love this thing...)

House by Graham Gund (who did that amazing office building in Boston earlier in this thread) on Fishers Island, New York, known locally as the "Upside down Teacup", 1980s

Photo is part of the project "A Good Dog Is Our Best Friend" by Los Angeles based artist Ke Peng.