Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
the esthetic itself
More great tidbits from the 80's about 80's architecture in the nytimes.
ARCHITECTURE VIEW; MODERNISM REAFFIRMS ITS POWER
By PAUL GOLDBERGER
Published: November 24, 1985
The moral force of modernism, its determination to see the world in a new way and remake it accordingly, had ebbed; what was left was the esthetic itself, stripped of its ideological baggage. [...]
The neo-modernism of the mid-1980's does not look like the modernism of an earlier generation. Consistent with its interest in esthetic matters over social meaning, it is more mannered, more complex visually than most earlier modernism: the work of Richard Meier is sufficient testament to that.
ARCHITECTURE VIEW; MODERNISM REAFFIRMS ITS POWER
By PAUL GOLDBERGER
Published: November 24, 1985
The moral force of modernism, its determination to see the world in a new way and remake it accordingly, had ebbed; what was left was the esthetic itself, stripped of its ideological baggage. [...]
The neo-modernism of the mid-1980's does not look like the modernism of an earlier generation. Consistent with its interest in esthetic matters over social meaning, it is more mannered, more complex visually than most earlier modernism: the work of Richard Meier is sufficient testament to that.
externally applied decoration
In my hunt for the connections between 80's architecture styles and the (modernist) International Style has come this frank perspective from the nytimes.
ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN; Skycrapers Shouldn't Look Down on Humanity
By MOSHE SAFDIE
Published: May 29, 1988
Today we come full circle to post-modernism only to discover that this reaction to modernism was also primarily stylistic. The spice of life, missing in modernist designs, was to be achieved through externally applied decoration. [...]
A great alliance was forged between the world of real estate developers, advertising and corporate merchandising with a new breed of architects who could respond with memorable, eye-catching, novel tall buildings. The merchandisers were quick to realize how easy it was to achieve a readily marketable product of great promotional value by means of a skin-deep styling treatment of buildings. [...]
With minimum investment - decorative skin patterns, elaborate tops and sometimes bottoms - one could achieve the appearance of a varied and rich architecture. [...]
Beyond its own form, the tall building challenges us with a problem of how it fits into its urban setting with little precedent to go on. [...]
ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN; Skycrapers Shouldn't Look Down on Humanity
By MOSHE SAFDIE
Published: May 29, 1988
Today we come full circle to post-modernism only to discover that this reaction to modernism was also primarily stylistic. The spice of life, missing in modernist designs, was to be achieved through externally applied decoration. [...]
A great alliance was forged between the world of real estate developers, advertising and corporate merchandising with a new breed of architects who could respond with memorable, eye-catching, novel tall buildings. The merchandisers were quick to realize how easy it was to achieve a readily marketable product of great promotional value by means of a skin-deep styling treatment of buildings. [...]
With minimum investment - decorative skin patterns, elaborate tops and sometimes bottoms - one could achieve the appearance of a varied and rich architecture. [...]
Beyond its own form, the tall building challenges us with a problem of how it fits into its urban setting with little precedent to go on. [...]
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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