A R T 1Post Structuring the World

I think all the buildings in this selection have some form of postmodernism, and bits and pieces of contemporary architecture.

Postmodernism resulted from the failure of Modern Architecture. Modernism failed because it was so rational and neat, with no ornaments; it lacks the human need for comfort both for the eye and the body.

All of the buildings selected here are made within the 90s.

Some characteristics included in postmodernism is the use of sculptural forms, ornaments, anthropomorphism, and materials which form trompe l’oeil -> creating illusion of space and depthOften, there is double coding; the building conveys 2 meanings at once.

The Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, CaliforniaArchitect: John Portman

Often being said as postmodern architecture; a famous case study for postmodernism.Bonaventure Hotel looks like a glass spaceship, with 3 cylindrical towers, and it boasts a biggggg shopping area, however, it is now deserted and only sells crappy shit. We see, then, that the economic shift to finance capital and the subsequent deterritorialization -- the butterfly fleeing the base of the "material" world -- changes the world. Using the experience of stores within the physical embodiment of this deterritorialization, however, this change can viewed as detrimental to capitalism's own cause. Capitalism, therefore, attempts to conceal this deterritorialization by re-marking or re-signifying this new space -- labeling it based on the diachronic space of the old world.

The interior is very dark and moody; it seems like fortress, all jailed up. It doesn’t look inviting. “Bonaventure ought not to have any entrances at all, since the entryway is always the seam that links the building to the rest of the city: for it does not wish to be part of the city…” according to Frederic Jameson.It has become a concentrated representation of the city around it, reflecting the manufactured spaces of Los Angeles. Edward Soja believes that much like the economy LA, the hotel is a paradox. Inviting from the outside, but once inside, it becomes a daunting experience, difficult to get out. Fragmented and fragmenting. Homogenous and homogenizing.

Its mirrors on the towers tries to imply that the building is not trying to distinguish itself, much rather blend in with the other buildings in the sides, so what we see is ‘reflections’ of the buildings in the skyline.

The building is a physical manifestation of the late capitalistic society, a mini city within the city itself. It’s designed to fit its surrounding environment, but when you enter, it’s a different world, a new outside world.

Late capitalism can be seen as a new level of economic abstraction, which, in turn, affects people's thoughts and perceptions and creates postmodernism. Within postmodernism's physical manifestation in architectural space, we, quite possibly, may find that that the disorienting hyperspace and its deterritorialization may be a resistance, or, at least, a hindrance to capitalism. The best evidence of this resistance may, in fact, be capitalism's reaction to this proposed threat: inscribing signifiers that act to re-establish the referents of the old world

Sydney Opera House, Sydney

Architect: Jorn UtzonUtzon uses his experience from traveling as an inspiration for the design. Though he had never visited the site, he used his maritime background to study naval charts of Sydney harbor. His early exposure to shipbuilding provided the inspiration for the Sydney Opera House ‘sails’ and would also help him solve the challenges of their construction. From his travels to Mexico, he had the idea of placing his building on a wide horizontal platform, inspired by Mayan architecture from his travels.

Apparently, the curves for the sails of the opera house has different curvatures, which is not possible yet that time because computer engineering has not existed.

The distinctive roof comprises sets of interlocking vaulted ‘shells’ set upon a vast terraced platform and surrounded by terrace areas that function as pedestrian concourses.

The two main halls are arranged side by side, with their long axes, slightly inclined from each other, generally running north-south. The auditoria face south, away from the harbor with the stages located between the audience and the city. The Forecourt is a vast open space from which people ascend the stairs to the podium. The Monumental Steps, which lead up from the Forecourt to the two main performance venues, are a great ceremonial stairway nearly 100 metres wide.

The vaulted roof shells were designed by Utzon in collaboration with internationally renowned engineers Ove Arup & Partners with the final shape of the shells derived from the surface of a single imagined sphere. Each shell is composed of pre-cast rib segments radiating from a concrete pedestal and rising to a ridge beam. The shells are faced in glazed off-white tiles while the podium is clad in earth-toned, reconstituted granite panels. The glass walls are a special feature of the building, constructed according to the modified design by Utzon’s successor architect, Peter Hall. 

Ove Arup, another Danish, helped him in the construction of the opera house. Arup couldn’t prevent construction from starting before the design was finalized. Premier Cahill insisted that the building should start building before the March 1959 election. Political imperatives trumped all other needs.

The podium wasn’t strong enough due to the rush, and the shells needed 6 years to resolve. As work went on political pressure mounted, fanned by an opposition that used the Sydney Opera House as a major tool in its campaign to destabilize the government.

Time was needed to solve the many technical issues. The Askin opposition grew increasingly vitriolic. Inflation, the artificially low starting budget and the fixes necessitated by the too-early start, pushed the numbers well over the estimates and were seized on to accuse Jorn Utzon of incompetence, poor management and even dishonesty.When the Askin government gained power in 1965 Davis Hughes, the minister in charge of public works, simply withheld money from Utzon, either delaying or refusing payment time after time. Until Jorn Utzon could no longer pay his staff, pay for testing of his ideas, or even pay his own taxes, which, in the absence of a tax treaty between Australia and Denmark, were being levied on him by both countries. It became, or perhaps was always, an issue of control. Political control versus architectural. And politics won.

Neither Askin nor Hughes cared for the opera house, they just use it for immediate political gain with no concept of any wider importance. They cut down the fees for the opera house, and owed Utzon $100 000 in fees. Utzon quitted and left Australia along with his family.

In 2000 Utzon revised the design of the opera house, and made future guidelines so that future architects won’t ruin his masterpiece.

In 2003 Jorn Utzon was awarded architecture's highest honor, the Pritzker Prize. His masterpiece, the Opera House in Australia, received its own prize. Recognized as one of the world's famous structures, it was listed as one of the UNESCO world heritage sites in 2007.

Oslo Opera House, Bjorvika, Oslo, Norway

Architect: Snohetta (won the design contract.)The Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property, oversaw the project, which has been billed as the biggest boost for culture in Norway since the medieval Nidaros Cathedral was built in Trondheim.

The opera house is the first element in the planned transformation of this area of the city. In 2010, the heavy traffic besides the building will be moved into a tunnel under the fjord. Due to its size and aesthetics, the opera house stands apart from other buildings in the area. The marble-clad roofscape forms a large public space in the landscape of the city and the fjord.

There are 3 basic elements to the opera house; the wave wall, the factory, and the carpet. The most striking feature is the white slopping marble roof. There are over 1100 rooms, and has one of the best horseshoe-shaped auditorium.

Norway wants to spotlight its cultural aspect, making this opera house a landmark. The architects collaborate with lots of artists for the building.

Dancing House, Prague, Czech Republic

Architect: Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry

In August 1990, Vaclav Havel, newly appointed president of Czechoslovakia invited the Rolling Stones to come and perform in Prague. More than 100 000 people attended despite the rain. Many people were happy they get to watch the Rolling Stones live, after being suppressed by the communist regime for decades. The Velvet Revolution, in 1989, is what freed them from communism.

Milunic then proposed to President Havel to establish an art gallery nearby the Prague Castle, home to Bohemia’s rulers. Milunic won the commission, as Havel is a very artistic person, and loved his proposal.

Thus was born the concept for what would become Dancing House, Prague's postmodern masterpiece designed in partnership by Frank Gehry and Mr. Milunić. With Dancing House, Gehry and Milunić succeeded in giving architectural form to Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, marking a singular moment of national transition and celebration.

Gehry was partnered with Milunic because the company that bought the space he wanted wants a more famous architect to be leading the restoration project, so they ended up collaborating. The two hit it off well.The dancing house is made up of 2 towers. Fred, a masculine cylinder of concrete, stretches up and out, simultaneously leading the rest of the building into the abutting intersection and serving as an anchor for Fred's show-stealing partner. The distorted cylinder is topped by a bird's-nest-shaped mesh sculpture named "Medusa."

Ginger, a feminine frame cinched at the waist and wrapped in a billowing glass dress, angles away from Fred in several directions at once, her spindly concrete legs poking through her dress and planting themselves aggressively along the very edge of the street. Dynamic and anthropomorphic, Ginger reflects Mr. Gehry's evolved interpretation of Mr. Milunić's revolutionary female form. This graceful piece of sculpture is also fully functional: The tower plays host to several levels of conference rooms, along with a restaurant and bar on the top two floors that provide expansive views of the Vltava.

They were nicknamed after the famous dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. At that time, many people lambasted the building, saying that it is irrelevant to the skyline and its environment. Today, this line of criticism seems wildly off the mark. Mr. Milunić spent a great deal of time advising Mr. Gehry on the site's context, and the two delivered a final product that richly pays homage to Prague's architectural leitmotifs. Start with the towers themselves: Prague's older city blocks are almost always bookended by towers of one kind or another, often topped by an ornamental cupola. Mr. Gehry followed the area's prevailing tradition by putting the focus on the corner, and by topping Fred with his decorative "Medusa" sculpture, whose form playfully echoes that of several onion domes sitting atop adjacent corner towers. The dancing house is a symbol of a time when an entire nation shook off its nothingness and decided to be ‘fun’. (communist -> liberal)

The Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain

Architect: Frank Gehry, 1997

Bilbao is the 4th largest city in Spain, and during the 90s it was reconstructing. Once an industrial town, it was trying to beautify itself, by adding new airports, a subway system, and such. These ambitions were fitting with Gehry’s ideology. He wanted to push the boundaries of postmodernism. Gehry won the commission to the Guggenheim design. He started thinking about fish, and how its curve still remained even if it is static. This inspired him in designing the Bilbao Guggenheim.

Although the metallic form of the exterior looks almost floral from above, from the ground the building more closely resembles a boat, evoking the past industrial life of the port of Bilbao. Constructed of titanium, limestone, and glass, the seemingly random curves of the exterior are designed to catch the light and react to the sun and the weather.  Fixing clips make a shallow central dent in each of the .38mm titanium tiles, making the surface appear to ripple in the changing light and giving an extraordinary iridescence to the overall composition.

Built in limestone, glass, and titanium, many people do perceive it as a bouquet of fishes. It looks crisp, clean, and gives a sense of function.

Perhaps Gehry's building's real legacy is the ardor with which post-industrial, lackluster or just plain uninspiring cities around the world commission a new cultural building, in the hope that they too will achieve what's come to be known as, 'the Bilbao effect'. In the first 3 years the Guggenheim was open, over 4 million tourists visited the museum, which gave an economic boom to the city.