Bibliography Modernism poster 2
Pre- Raphaelites 3
https://pixel77.com/art-history-modern-design-art-nouveau/ (Adriana 2016) http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/21/entertainment/la-et-cm-world-war-art-20120722 (July 21, 2012|By Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times) http://mappinggothic.org/person/265 (2018) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/20/sainte-chapelle-paris-stained-glass-window-restoration-completed (Kim Willsher in Paris Wed 20 May 2015) http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/modernism-and-nature/ ('Modernism: Designing a new World 1914–1939', on display at the V&A South Kensington from 6 April – 23 July 2006.) http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/european/German-Art-Movements-of-the-Early-20th-Century.html (January 2013)
De Stijl 10
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003vdc5 (Navid Akhtar 17 August 2009) https://www.designboom.com/architecture/bauhaus-new-masterhouses-gropius-moholy-nagy-05-29-2014/ http://www.theartstory.org/movement-bauhaus.htm
Bibliography 1 Le Corbusier 8
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/walter_gropius https://www.architonic.com/en/product/tecta-f51-gropius-armchair/1006660 http://art.famsf.org/ludwig-hirschfeld-mack/untitled-plate-i-pg-61-book-staatliches-bauhaus-weimar-1919-1923-walter http://www.theartstory.org/movement-de-stijl.htm References for Le Corbusier Unite d’habitation power point
Essay planning
Healthy body culture 9
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http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/image/6434052-3x2-700x467.jpg - Exterior image. http://acidadebranca.tumblr.com/post/105954534259/procrete-the-construction-of-unite - Building under construction image. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/401101910551726964/ - Building under construction image. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/403987029052036346/ - Building under construction image. http://www.archdaily.com/85971/ad-classics-unite-d-habitation-le-corbusier - Construction and materials. http://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/story/20130423-design-icon-or-concrete-horror - History Information.
http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus.aspx?sysId=13&IrisObjectId=5234&sysLanguage=en-en&itemPos=58&itemCount =78&sysParentId=64&sysParentName=home - History information.
Manifesto poster
Bauhaus 4
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https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/da/e1/aedae1f067d166e8e7c427cacdbb3a60.png - History image.
https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/09/Unite-d-Habitation-by-Le-Corbusier_Foundation-Le-Corbusier_dezeen_468_0_1000.jpg -Floor plan image. https://www.archdaily.com/85971/ad-classics-unite-d-habitation-le-corbusier/5037e7f428ba0d599b0003b7-ad-classics-unite-d-habitatio n-le-corbusier-site-plan - Site plan image. https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Uhm2.jpg - Section image. https://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/15/le-corbusier-unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse-marseille-brutalist-architecture/ - Exterior image. https://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/15/le-corbusier-unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse-marseille-brutalist-architecture/ - Pilot image. https://misfitsarchitecture.com/tag/unite-dhabitation-marseilles/ - Elevations.
Unite d’Habitation 1952 5-7
https://theartstack.com/artist/le-corbusier/unite-d-habitation-marse-4 - Interior image.
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What is modernism? Modernism is a major 20th century movement in art, architecture, design and literature even culture and tradition. It represents the formal innovation and self-conscious yearning to improve, and reshape the environment, by combining the history or modernist techniques, methods and ideas to new technology to create new designs, that tend to lean towards abstraction. The world we live in today is largely shaped from modernism. Buildings, chairs, designs created by ideology and aesthetics for example, Ladislav Sutnar tea and mocha set (1929-32).
Origin The origin of modernism explores the pivotal point of history for design and architecture. Thomas Pritchard for instance was an important turning point, creating the first ever cast iron bridge and influencing others after him as cast iron later became a very commonly used material for engineering of bridges and buildings. Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, also known as “God’s architect” after designing the famous Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is still under construction 10 years after his death and is estimated to be finished within the next 13 years. It is still half the size that its required to be as the current architects plan to increase its height times two amplitude. Gijs van Hensbergen studied Antoni Gaudi’s life and architectural work and believes the Spanish architect was ahead of his time, “He was a Century Ahead.” This is seen in Antoni’s designs and models of this building. The building was designed as a call to God for the forgiveness of his sins, hence the way the interior appears to be a forest with the pillars built up like trees into the ceiling said to be, “a striking display of Gaudi’s engineering genius.” Gaudi knew that the Sagrada Familia wouldn’t be completed within his life time and after 130 years of construction the inside of the building the interior was the only thing near completion. After dying in 1926 all that was left was the complex models that he created for the architects of today to figure reverse engineer the models to continue on with the construction. This is where Mark Cameron Burry a New Zealand architect that studied at Cambridge realised that Gaudi was ahead of his time as they realised that they required the latest design technology to put together and understand Gaudi’s models after they got broken into pieces in the Spanish civil war as the anarchists invaded the structure. This shows how complex and advanced the “God’s Architect” was reshaping the language of architecture during the time of modernism.
St Philips Cathedral Eugene Emmanuel Viollet le Duc
Modernity and its relationship with modernism
One key person regarding the topic of modernism is Eugene Viollet le Duc who wasn’t only an architect but also a restorer. He had brought back a lot of gothic styled architecture (architecture that includes building high vaults of structure and ornamental features created using medieval techniques and materials in which form followed function) for example the restoration of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in 1940 and furthermore working alongside and having an impact on Jean Baptiste Antonie Lassus (1807-1857) together restoring the Notre-Dame, Paris as they adopted the “rationalist interpretation of architecture in general and gothic architecture.” Interestingly Eugene also went on to exploring nature and looking at organic structures from vegetation such as leaves and skeletal structures of animals more specifically bat wings which he involved massively in his project of the Assembly Hall. Eugene was sceptical to break with precedent with an urge to constantly find a path between new and old and with the influence of gothic architecture and nature designed his buildings as structures that appeared abstract and revolutionary rather than static and monumental.
Modernity begins in the late 19th century to early 20th century. Modernity was described by Marshall Berman an American philosopher and Marxist humanist writer as the “maelstrom of modern life.” This notion of a vicious whirlpool that goes around in a circle between the modernist designs of the past and the current scientific technological and societal changes. The power to discover all life possibilities using the experience of time and space and utilizing new technology alongside past methods and recent techniques to create a more modern value to buildings. Neglecting the past history of architecture means losing all the social value of architecture and people have attempted to disconnect from the history of modernism and they have lost out on architectural tradition which brings about pleasure comfort and a sense of place. Hence it is important to encompass past infrastructure, methods, techniques with new technology as well as formal and informal designs to vision and value new strategies. In a sense adapting technology of material, structure, and, infrastructure to the physical and intellectual value of the past.
Stained glass windows designed by Pre Raphaelites artist Sir Edward Burne Jones, manufactured by the firm of William Morris & Co, installed between 18851897. Artist Edward Burne Jones, risked his education as a exeter angelican clergyman to become and artist. His work at Birmingham Cthedral shows his fantastic Pre raphalites work using an array of colours alongside his late stlye ( elongated bodies with small heads in relation to body length) to convey deep emotions. This design is divided into halves horizontally purposefully to present seperation of heaven from earth in each individual window. Tking the form of the stories of the life of jesus, Burne Jones’s designs present the dazzling beauty of the human face, not to mention the great variety of redhues and skilled use of lead work to create perspective.
Arts movement Described by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “Not just phenomenon of our time and country but rather a part of movement which is across the whole world.” Many movements internationally for example Germany, Berlin during the early 20th century 1900-45. Germany went through two world wars and this brought about a long list of technical and cultural changes and different styles. Der Ring is an example of expressionist architecture, as the building is a “figure self-contained without a head” with a more functionalist approach as the architects where looking to find new ways of building exploring features of industry more. Another interesting arts movement in the Great Berlin Exhibition is the Arbeitsrat fur Kunst (Workers Council for Art) who believe that allowing members of the public to join and help with the project would allow free flowing ideas presenting a more abstract presentation of their ideas. Two major pieces include “Ausstellung für unbekannte Arkitekten” (Exhibition for unknown architects) Berlin un Weimar, and 1919 “Neues Bauen” (New building), Berlin, 1920. There were many other art movements including the US going to south America and south Africa.
Pre Raphaelites are interesting as they present a story through the way faith is integrated in the body language and facial expressions of each character. this makes the viewer take time to reflect as they place themselves in the scene unorder to get a better understanding of G od’s stories.
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Walter Gropius
Bauhaus
Unité D’Habitation By Le Corbusier Marseille, France
“The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art - sculpture, painting, handicrafts, and crafts - as inseparable components of a new architecture.” Bauhaus had a major impact on Europe and the united states bearing in mind it was the most influencial school of art in the 20th century, shaped by different art movement for example Avante Garde and De stijl in the 19th and 20th. With the aim to create reform the world where decoration and montumental structures arent asscoiated with each other. The did this by creating a unity between different components of arts and crafts such as painting, sculpting and architecture . The Bauhaus did not belive that there was a difference between the artist and the craftsman, and therefore aimed to collect all creature features and strive to bring them together, this included discplines of practical art-sculpture, painting , handicrafts, and the crafts-as inspeerable components of new architecture. Another aim was to establish that there wasnt a difference between monumental and decorative art and that either way great structures would be able to be created using the unified arts. Bauhaus taught that art was above all and cannot be taught, while crafts on the other hand could be taught. Craftsmen varied from architects, painters and sculptures teaching students within different working environments such as workshops, and in experimental and practical sites inorder for them to begin to achive artistic production. With these working environments students would be taught craft (stucco and ceramics work, and learning from apprentisceships such as smithery), as well as drawing/ painting (learning how to paint landscapes, figures, plants and still lives etc...), and lastly science and theory (including science of materials, rational painting methods etc...).
Figure 1 F51 Gropius-armchair
Figure 2 Bauhaus masterhouses by walter gropius restored in dessau The Bauhaus school of art in Dessau which reopeened in 16th 2014 was reinterpretted by german practice BFM architekten.
Figure 3 Untitled, Plate I, pg. 61, in the book Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar, 1919 1923 by Walter Gropius (Munich: Bauhausverlag, 1923)
The first thing that comes to mind when anyone looks at the F51 Gropius-armchair is its cubist feature. The armchair is shaped and designed in the form of a cube, Walter Gropius did this on purpose in order to match the armchair to the volume within the cubic building for exmaple the Bauhaus masterhousein figure 2. Walter Gropius did this using his own and other members of the bauhaus designs.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph this building appeared to be very cubic both interior and exterior. The exterior is very intreguing and I particularily like the square windows at the bottom of the building as well as the way the building appears to look like jenga with different cubic forms piled onto each other.
I find this piece of art work very interesting as despite its simplicity is very enegetic. I feel this way because I find myself engrossed in my imagination trying to figure out what this image is trying to portray or present. Why the artist has chosen to fill in some of the shapes and have the others blanks? What is the significance of the orange rectangle? Why the background is coloured in a creamy yellow?
Orthographic drawings
There is a lot of free space within the piece leaving more room for imagination, as I try to imagine what these squares and rectangles could fit together (like a jigsaw) to present. The image itself makes you feel very relaxed almost hypnotising you. There are actually a series of work that comes with this piece aswell.
Walter gropis created furniture as well as buildings. The back of the F51 Gropius-armchair isnt in contact with the ground. Interestingly when the upholstery is removed it appears to look like the precursor of the cantilever chair. Then if it were to be rotated 90 degrees it would look like the Marcel Breuers stool on runners 1925. I find this very interesting because it shows how alot of the Bauhaus designs appear to be very similar and share the same characterists. I presonally like this design becuase it looks like a clean, solid design that could be well presented within a rectiliar room, making the room feel alot more confortable and welcoming. I like the use of the bold red material against the black frame as I feel the colour itself contributes to the mood and atmosphere of the room. Last of all I like the way the chair is raised not by legs but rather a flat hollow base connected to the chair by the framecreating volume and raising the chair.
Site plan
Apartment section & general floor plan
Section plan
The windows are both rectangular and square as it appears on the art piece, Figure 3. Again we can see a distinguishable link between these three bauhaus designs, this idea of creating unity between sculpture, architecure, drawing and painting, and crafts. The interior appears to be a maze with the stairs that dont lead to anyhwere in the second picture and the bridge in the first picture leading to a window. The cubic shapes create amazing persective creating this vanishing point-like apperance. The building is coloured incomplety white creating different shades and tones within the building from the light entering the windows.
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Interior
Exterior
Elevations
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Materials and construction
History of the building • Located in Marseille, France
Reinforced beton-brut concrete – a rough cast concrete, is what is used for the construction of Unité d'Habitation. The reason for this material being used is because post-war, this was the least costly material. The Unité d'Habitation represents an iconic time in history as it was built after the war. The concrete used could be interpreted as representing the state of life after the war, rough and worn.
• Client : The state • Construction finished in 1952 • The idea of the design was that it must be low-cost and quick to build, which was hard considering the work of Le Corbusier
The structure itself is built by using concrete reinforced pile foundations, allowing the building to start its formation with reinforced concrete stilts. By using pile foundations, a large ground level can then be built on top. In addition, the construction of the building shows that there is an access corridor at three levels. Furthermore, Corbusier mainly uses reinforced concrete and glass within the interior and exterior.
• As the state was his client, the possibilities for the design were endless as long as he met price requirements • Le Corbusier’s inspiration behind the design was from his visit to the ‘Chartreuse of Ema’ in Tuscany in 1907 • The Unité d’ habitation was built due to a high demand for housing after world war II – it contains 337 apartments arranged over 12 floors
Link to Le Corbusier’s idea of new architecture
• The design was built as a resident housing for families who didn’t have shelter after there were bombings in France.
Pilots and the roof garden are two of the five points regarding a new architecture used by Le Corbusier for the Unité d’ Habitation at Marseille a modernist residential housing design principle. As well as the way immediate post war building conditions and designs created using new technology.
Building function and spatial layout
Pilots Columns supporting the ground level to allow the building to connect with features such as gardens or parking space and allow space for creating areas of circulation. The actual ground beneath the pilots which suspend the physical structure into space other than capturing the intimacy of the analogous area in the pavilion has the sole purpose of making an area for circulation. On the roof terrace there is also a hollow version of the pilots below which raises the architectural volume creating room for more circulation underneath.
• The main function of this building is to house a large number of people (roughly 1600 residents) because after World War 2 the need for housing was at an unprecedented high. • This was the first of a new housing project series for Le Corbusier that focused on communal living for all the inhabitants to shop, play, live and come together in what he described as a “vertical garden city”. • Communal aspects do not occur within the building; rather they are placed on the roof where there is a garden terrace that has a racetrack, gym and a shallow pool.
The roof Terrace One major domain of the Unité d’ habitation is the roof terrace a new level of ground in the air. This idea of the garden being elevated to the structure and having it as a communal area for people to sit, relax, and enjoy their time as their children play.
Spatial Layout • One of the most important aspects of the building is the spatial organisation of the residential units. Unlike most housing projects that have a “double-stacked” corridor, Corbusier designed the units to span from each side of the building, as well as having a double height living space reducing the number of required corridors to one every three floors. • By narrowing the units and allowing for a double height space, Corbusier was capable of efficiently placing more units (apartments) in the building.
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Key aspects of Le Corbusier
Charles Eduardo Jeanneret
One of the major architects in modernism Early innuences and practice- Classical innuences Purism
Use of gemetric patterns which appear to look harmonious. The structure is made up of a reinforced concrete skeleton . There are four pillars each 50 x 60 cm as well as interior walls with partitions.
Domino Five Points
Dance, sport, exercise/ mass exercise. Women were encouraged to ‘conserve and improve their physique by doing excersie everyday. Insigniicance to become physically t,instead the purpose was to preserve a youthful appearance. Many architects’ work was inspired by dance reeected in their designs.
Urbanism
Five points towards new architecture.
An architectural design Well lit Easy to clean space, air and light is purity. abstraction rather than representation. Glass gure allowed for internal bone structure to be seen. Natural sunlight, felt that the sun gave off energy and was seen as a theraputic power, given medical credibility.
Altering the body
1. Pilotis Creating volume under the building 2. The roof garden Inversion of natural order, elevating the garden instead of keeping it on the ground. 3. The free plan Disagrigation of structure. 4. The horizontal strip window Creating assymmetry. 5. Free facade creating a free design with independant walls
Desire for beauty also lead to cosmetic surgery. Use of make up increased dramitcally (1920’s) Machinese were introduced offering cures + new energy for the body. Exposing the clothed and naked body to the air and the sun because a widespread practice in the inter year war. Body revealing clothing bringing attention to the body.
Healthy Body Culture Auguste Perret Plan is structured with thick reinforced concrete walls. The design is free plan and has a domino structure. French classical education. ca Ise of pilotis a cantilever and using a Hennebique frame (1892) It was designed like this inorder to create a plan with exibilty created for housing types in the 1930s to be mass produced.
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Identity/ What is a healthy body culture today? Ide Identity including sexual and culture sharpened and increased as women became more independant and people began to take control and react with the environment. A concern for health profoundly shaped the appearance of mass housing. Health lay at the very core of modernism.
An ideology(ornament or the machine or science) Humachine the idea that we can control and regulate our bodies like a machine
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De Stijl De Stijl, which is dutch for “the style�, like any other avante garde movement was created in order to re build the society after the Horrors of World War I. In order to do this the memebers of De Stijl embraced utoptian vision art as they felt it had the potential and allowed them to view art as a means of social and spiritual redemption. This movement encorporated the use of the primary colours red, yellow and blue paired with geometric forms such as squares, lines, and, rectangles. The combination between the two well represented the utopian vision, when in reality this wasnt really attainble and this is what brought about the failure of this group. Despite this what made it pull through in the end was the work of the Piet Mondrian. Theo van Doesburg founded the contemporary art journal De Stijl in 1917, which included a dutch group of artists and architects that of which was based on leading members Piet Mondrian, J. J. P. Oud and Vilmos Huszar.
I however find the work of Vilmos Huszar very interesting more specifically the piece Mecano-Dancer (1922). This piece of work catches my eye, despite its lack of colour, because it uses the geometric forms diagoanlly, horiztally, and vertically to create the form of a human figure, using a cube as the head. This piece appears to be influenced by Dada and Italian Futurism as it looks robotic. De Stijl began to adopt many visual elements from Cubism and Suprematism, the anti-sentimentalism of Dada, and the Neo-Plastic mathemtical theory of M. H. J Schoenmakers. This art movement was to be more that just a visual element but encorporate a variation of different influences and media within not only fine arts, but architecture, industrial design, urban planning etc... aswell. This was needed in order to begin to craft a society that could function in harmony once the aftermath of the World War I settled. Using the De Stijl art movement I have created a poster addressing the political issue of the Britain leaving the Europian Nations. I chose this because I feel as like the changes that are to come with Britain becoming indepedant will create a change in the econonic and political factor of the country. As well as this I feel as if the younger population had no control over the end result as they wanted to stay in the EU but were outvoted by the elderly suggesting that we dont really have power and that there is some form of a hierarchy. I used mainly primary colours as well as black and white taken from the inspiration of De Stijl. The artists Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg shared acquired a very similar taste of De stijl, howeve there were some differences. For example in Composition A (1920) Mondrian lays the geometric forms like tiles horizontally and vertically using primary colours aswell as white black and grey. This piece is presented in this way as it is non objective. Where as the Counter Composition V (1924) by van Doesbury includes all the features that Compostion A such as the colour scheme but it also encorporates the beginning of elementarism. Introducing the idea of positive and negative space making the geometric shapes diagonal aswell as horizonal and Vertical.
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Essay Poster Plans Introduction “I don’t like postmodernism?” Should I?” Must I?” A question to pull the reader in. Overview of postmodernism. Address main features of the essay derived from the question before flowing into the first paragraph.
Paragraph 1: Origins of Postmodernism
Paragraph 2: Piazza d’Italia
Paragraph 3: American postmodernism
Describing the characteristics of Modernism comparing it to Postmodernism to begin to understand how this style emerged.
Evaluation the work of American architect Charles Moore, analysing the postmodern building, Piazza d’Italia
Looking at other significant pieces of American Postmodernism that are interesting and challenge the barriers of modernism.
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• • a) Write down in your own words what you think the assignment is asking you to do. The Assignment is asking me to explore the different features of Postmodernism evaluting how it evolved from modernism. In order to do this I need to understand the characteristics of modernism and what caused it to fail and become Postmodernism. As well as this I need to evaluate an example of postmodernism showing my understanding of the topic. b) What do you already know about the subject matter of the essay? I know that Robert Venturi is a key figure of postmodernism and it is his work as well as other architects such as Charles Moore that allowed this style to evolve. Furthermore postmodernism is all about being innovative and stepping out the boundaries of modernism which limited architect to simple structures following Ludwig Mies van de Rohe’s principle of “Less is More” c) What background information do you need to help you to complete this essay? I need to be able to understand American postmodernism in abit more depth as this is where I have decided to focus my essay upon. d) How do you think this essay differs from or is similar to other assignments that you are working on at the moment? It involves a lot more research that is more specific to the question that we have been given. Unlike other assignments we don’t have to follow a brief but simply have been given a choice between four questions. This is similar in a sense as we are able to chose which direction we would like to take in order to forefill the assignment. We’ve also been given a limted amount of words were as other assignments it is up to us to determine how much we need to do to forefill our criteria. e) How are you going to choose your reading material? I will chose my reading material firstly by chosing postmodernist architectural books by Charles Jencks in order to get a general understanding of the topic. Then I will find books based upon American postmodernism in order to give my essay more depth and background. ¬ f) As you begin to read for your assignment, try to read and take notes with the essay in mind.
Great American architect Ludwig Mies Van de Rohe a pioneer of modernist Architecture believed, “Less is more” using pure forms and stripping a building of complicated designs to allow for a better understanding of the functions and systems. Robert Venturi then replied sarcastically “Less is a bore” Complexity and Contradiction “learning from Las Vegs” which explains how modernism’s disregard of ornamentation was a crime as he creates a void between the idea of a “duck” and a “decorated shed”
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American architect Charles Moore (31st October 1995 – 16th December 1993) a large colourful circular Piazza creating negative form as it surprises the audience from the comparison of the surrounding modernist American architecture. because it is in fact only a façade not realism, but a stage set with a new modern context creating a mixture of feelings. A place for people to gather but also a place of excitement and games and what’s so bad about that?
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Venturi and Moore’s work including Xanadune and Krege College began to Inspire more Architects Michael Graves, Portland Building Marcel Breuer and Associates, Whitney museum of American Art New York 1963-66
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Conclusion What I’ve learnt about Postmodernism in general and reflect upon what I’ve said and how it makes me feel personally.
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Architecture in North America since 1960 – Alexander Tzonis, Liane Letaivre,
Post Modernism and its Discontents – theories, practices – E. Ann Kaplan
Architecture in North America since 1960 – Alexander Tzonis, Liane Letaivre,
Post Modrnism style and subversion, 1970-1990 – Edited by Glenn Adamson and Jane Pavitt
http://www.willtemple.com/teaching/culture_seminar_07/Complexity%26Contra dictionArchitecture.pdf
Post modern Visions – Drawings Paintings and models by contemporary architects – Heinrich Klotz, Volker Fischer
Jencks Charles Post Modernism architecture. The new classicism in art and architecture The New Moderns The Language of Post Modern Architecture The Story of Post Modernism (Surname of Author, year published), if directly quoted (Surname, year, page
American Architecture 1607-1976 – Marcus Whiffen and Fredrick Koeper. Rout Cedge and Kegan Paul
number) no need of foot- or endnotes
Architecture from Pre History to Post Modernism – Marvin Trachtenberg
In order of authors surnames
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