Test Your Knowledge of Deconstructivism and Critical Regionalism in Postmodern A...

Deconstructivism in Postmodern Architecture since the 1980s:

• A postmodern architectural movement that emerged in the 1980s characterized by fragmentation, absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry, and controlled chaos.

• Deconstructivism is a portmanteau of Constructivism and "Deconstruction", a form of semiotic analysis developed by Jacques Derrida.

• Architects associated with deconstructivism include Zaha Hadid, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi, and Coop Himmelb(l)au.

• Deconstructivism manipulates the structure's surface skin and deploys non-rectilinear shapes that distort and dislocate established elements of architecture.

• The movement came to public notice with the Parc de la Villette architectural design competition in 1982 and the Museum of Modern Art’s 1988 Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition in New York.

• Deconstructivism opposes the ordered rationality of Modernism and Postmodernism, rejecting the idea of ornament as an after-thought or decoration.

• Deconstructivist philosophy is influenced by Jacques Derrida's ideas of the metaphysics of presence and deconstruction, and the dialectic of presence and absence.

• Constructivism and Russian Futurism influenced the graphic sense of geometric forms of deconstructivist architects such as Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au.

• Minimalism and cubism have also influenced deconstructivism, with its tendency toward deformation, dislocation, and disconnection from cultural references.

• Deconstructivism has been criticized for being too concerned with form over function and for its lack of social or political agenda.

• Computer-aided design is an essential tool in deconstructivist architecture due to the movement's complicated spaces and modular elements.

• Not all buildings that look odd are deconstructivist, and the movement has been both praised and criticized for its fragmentation and controlled chaos.Deconstructivism and Critical Regionalism

• Deconstructivism is a movement in architecture that was first identified in the 1980s.

• Deconstructivism is a development of postmodernism, characterized by ideas of fragmentation, non-linear processes, and a lack of coherence.

• It is a form of critical theory, which is a philosophical approach to culture and society that seeks to understand and critique the structures that shape our world.

• Deconstructivism is characterized by a tendency to re-examine and critique other works or precedents, as well as a tendency to set aesthetic issues in the foreground.

• Critical regionalism, on the other hand, is a movement that seeks to reconcile modernist architecture with local differences.

• It is characterized by a reduction in the overall level of complexity involved and a clearer analysis of the local context.

• Critical regionalism displays a lack of self-criticism and a utopianism of place, while deconstructivism maintains a level of self-criticism and a dystopianism of place.

• Critics of deconstructivism see it as a purely formal exercise with little social significance.

• Some architects identified with the movement, notably Frank Gehry, have actively rejected the classification of their work as deconstructivist.

• Today there is a sense that the philosophical underpinnings of the beginning of the movement have been lost, and all that is left is the aesthetic of deconstructivism.

• Other criticisms reject the premise that architecture is a language capable of being the subject of linguistic philosophy.

• Others question the wisdom and impact on future generations of an architecture that rejects the past and presents no clear values as replacements and which often pursues strategies that are intentionally aggressive to human senses.