Post-Modernism

Post Modernism was founded in 1978 after that the designers from the Modern Movement found the latter style to be fundamentally meaningless and boring. As it was mentioned in the previous post, during the Modern Movement there was the quote "Less is more", in Post-Modernism there was another quote that said "Less is a bore".

During this period there was a global recession in the early 1990s, materials were becoming less expensive and therefore there was a better chance to experiment with more rational designs. In this time there was the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour. These are called the "Semiotics" where Roland Barthes beleived that "if objects and buildings were full of symbolism, the viewers and consumers will relate more to them". 

Post-Modernism first took over the architecture and it was then moved to industrial products, furniture and later fashion. One of the architects who is known for this movement is Michael Graves. He introduced a new aesthetic by the mid 1970s and in 1982 he designed the Portland Building. 

Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini began to produce work within this movement where they applied decoration to their products unlike the Modernism. Later on the group Memphis was created  were designers produced monumental and colourful Neo-Pop Designs.

Regarding the Memphis group, this will be discussed further in the next post.

Going back to Michael Graves and Ettore Sottsass, they both had worked for Alessi. They were two of the eleven designers who worked on a series of limited edition "Tea and Coffee Piazza". This range had motivated architecture in miniature.

As Michael Graves was inspired from the cubist interpretations of Le Corbusier, he designed his limited edition Piazza in cubic forms. Also, Post-Modernist designs can be compared with the style of Art Deco, De Stijl and Deconstructivism.

               Octagonal Tea Set, Art Deco, 1932


Michael Graves, 1983

Post-Modernism never stopped and is still active nowadays.

The image on the side shows "The Villa" in Netherlands constructed in 2008 that revived the post-modernism goals of architecture and the popular culture.

References:

Kevin West, n.d. Michael Graves. [image online] Available at: http://www.citelighter.com/art-architecture/architecture/knowledgecards/michael-graves [Accessed 7th January 2014]

Anon, 2011. Memphis-Milano Movement. [image online] Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memphis-Milano_Movement.jpg [Accessed 7th January 2014]

Anon, n.d. Antique Silver Octagonal Tea & Coffee Set. [image online] Available at: http://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/detail/316 [Accessed 7th January 2014]

RA Forum, 2011. Radical Post-Modernism Today. [image online] Available at: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/events/talks/radical-postmodernism-today,1783,EV.html