Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a style until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day
architecture.
Postmodernity in architecture is said to be heralded by the return of "wit, ornament and reference" to architecture in response to the formalism of the
International Style of modernism. As with many cultural fashions, some of Postmodernism's most pronounced and visible ideas can be seen in architecture. The
functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the
modernist style are replaced by diverse
aesthetics: styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake, and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound. Perhaps most obviously, architects rediscovered the expressive and symbolic value of architectural elements and forms that had evolved through centuries of building which had been abandoned by the modern style.
Influential early large-scale examples of postmodern architecture are
Michael Graves'
Portland Building in Portland, Oregon and
Philip Johnson's
Sony Building (originally AT&T Building) in New York City, which borrows elements and references from the past and reintroduces color and symbolism to architecture.
Postmodern architecture has also been described as "
neo-eclectic", where reference and ornament have returned to the facade,...
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