An illuminating look at a controversial architectural style – and its finest examples Post-modernism was the 1980s' counter to Brutalism but fell out of fashion until its best buildings began to disappear. Now is the time to reassess its values. Historians Geraint Franklin and Elain Harwood discuss its background and key architects before celebrating Britain's finest examples. Individual entries are beautifully illustrated, many with new photography, including the SIS Building made famous by James Bond, John Outram's awe-inspiring pumping station in London's Docklands and Judge Institute in Cambridge, and the late works of James Stirling and Michael Wilford, including No.1 Poultry – an extraordinary corner of the City that in 2016 became England's youngest listed building.

A curated collection of Postmodern architecture in all its glorious array of vivid non-conformity This unprecedented book takes its subtitle from Postmodernist icon Robert Venturi's spirited response to Mies van der Rohe's dictum that 'less is more'. One of the 20th century's most controversial styles, Postmodernism began in the 1970s, reached a fever pitch of eclectic non-conformity in the 1980s and 90s, and after nearly 40 years is now enjoying a newfound popularity. Postmodern Architecture showcases examples of the movement in a rainbow of hues and forms from around the globe.

Revisiting Postmodernism offers an engaging, wide-ranging and highly illustrated account of postmodernism in architecture from its roots in the 1940s to its ongoing relevance today. This book invites readers to see Postmodernism in a new light: not just a style but a cultural phenomenon that embraces all areas of life and thrives on complexity and pluralism, in contrast to the strait-laced, single-style, top-down inclination of its predecessor, Modernism. While focusing on architecture, this book also explores aspects such as urban masterplanning, furniture design, art and literature. Looking at Postmodernism through the lens of examples from around the world, each chapter explores the movement in the UK on the one hand, and its international counterparts on the other, reflecting on the historical movement but also how postmodernism influences practices today. This book offers the insider’s view on postmodernism by the author, a recognised pioneer in the field of postmodern architecture and a prestigious and authoritative participant in the postmodern movement.

Modernist architecture in Britain brought honesty to the structure of buildings and clean lines free of historical ornament to the style, establishing new ideas on how people could live and work. Where did this architecture come from? And who were the British and emigre architects creating Modernism in the UK? This book tells the story of Modernist architecture, from nineteenth-century Chicago to post-war Britain, concluding with a look at the continuing evolution of architectural style, from Post-Modern to the work of Zaha Hadid. Supported by over 150 photographs of buildings and design features from around the world, coverage includes: new methods from Chicago in the 1890s, opening up building options for Modernist architects in the new century; Frank Lloyd Wright and development of the Prairie Style; how Modernist architecture evolved in Britain; the progress of European Modernist architecture; the significance and far-reaching influence of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and finally, post-war development in Britain.

The term 'Brutalism' is used to describe a form of architecture that appeared, mainly in Europe, from around 1945-75. Uncomprimisingly modern, this trend in architecture was both striking and arresting and, perhaps like no other style before or since, aroused extremes of emotion and debate. Some regarded Brutalist buildings as monstrous soulless structures of concrete, steel and glass, whereas others saw the genre as a logical progression, having its own grace and balance. In this revised second edition, Alexander Clement continues the debate of Brutalism in post-war Britain to the modern day, studying a number of key buildings and developments in the fields of civic, educational, commercial, leisure, private and ecclesiastical architecture. With new and improved illustrations, fresh case studies and profiles of the most influential architects, this new edition affords greater attention to iconic buildings and structures. Now that the age of Brutalism is a generation behind us, it is possible to view the movement with a degree of rational reappraisal, study how the style evolved and gauge its effect on Britain's urban landscape. This book will be of interest to architecture students, design students and anyone interested in post-war architecture. Fully illustrated with 160 colour and 4 black & white photographs.

Modernism in architecture and urban design has failed the American city. This is the decisive conclusion that renowned public intellectual Nathan Glazer has drawn from two decades of writing and thinking about what this architectural movement will bequeath to future generations. In From a Cause to a Style, he proclaims his disappointment with modernism and its impact on the American city. Writing in the tradition of legendary American architectural critics Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs, Glazer contends that modernism, this new urban form that signaled not just a radical revolution in style but a social ambition to enhance the conditions under which ordinary people lived, has fallen short on all counts. The articles and essays collected here--some never published before, all updated--reflect his ideas on subjects ranging from the livable city and public housing to building design, public memorials, and the uses of public space. Glazer, an undisputed giant among public intellectuals, is perhaps best known for his writings on ethnicity and social policy, where the unflinching honesty and independence of thought that he brought to bear on tough social questions has earned him respect from both the Left and the Right. Here, he challenges us to face some difficult truths about the public places that, for better or worse, define who we are as a society. From a Cause to a Style is an exhilarating and thought-provoking book that raises important questions about modernist architecture and the larger social aims it was supposed to have addressed-and those it has abandoned.

In Making Dystopia, distinguished architectural historian James Stevens Curl tells the story of the advent of architectural Modernism in the aftermath of the First World War, its protagonists, and its astonishing, almost global acceptance after 1945. He argues forcefully that the triumph of architectural Modernism in the second half of the twentieth century led to massive destruction, the creation of alien urban landscapes, and a huge waste of resources. Moreover, the coming of Modernism was not an inevitable, seamless evolution, as many have insisted, but a massive, unparalled disruption that demanded a clean slate and the elimination of all ornament, decoration, and choice. Tracing the effects of the Modernist revolution in architecture to the present, Stevens Curl argues that, with each passing year, so-called 'iconic' architecture by supposed 'star' architects has become more and more bizarre, unsettling, and expensive, ignoring established contexts and proving to be stratospherically remote from the aspirations and needs of humanity. In the elite world of contemporary architecture, form increasingly follows finance, and in a society in which the 'haves' have more and more, and the 'have-nots' are ever more marginalized, he warns that contemporary architecture continues to stack up huge potential problems for the future, as housing costs spiral out of control, resources are squandered on architectural bling, and society fractures. This courageous, passionate, deeply researched, and profoundly argued book should be read by everyone concerned with what is around us. Its combative critique of the entire Modernist architectural project and its apologists will be highly controversial to many. But it contains salutary warnings that we ignore at our peril. And it asks awkward questions to which answers are long overdue.

Since its first appearance in 1981, critical regionalism has enjoyed a celebrated worldwide reception. The 1990s increased its pertinence as an architectural theory that defends the cultural identity of a place resisting the homogenising onslaught of globalisation. Today, its main principles (such as acknowledging the climate, history, materials, culture and topography of a specific place) are integrated in architects’ education across the globe. But at the same time, the richer cross-cultural history of critical regionalism has been reduced to schematic juxtapositions of ‘the global’ with ‘the local’. Retrieving both the globalising branches and the overlooked cross-cultural roots of critical regionalism, Resisting Postmodern Architecture resituates critical regionalism within the wider framework of debates around postmodern architecture, the diverse contexts from which it emerged, and the cultural media complex that conditioned its reception. In so doing, it explores the intersection of three areas of growing historical and theoretical interest: postmodernism, critical regionalism and globalisation. Based on more than 50 interviews and previously unpublished archival material from six countries, the book transgresses existing barriers to integrate sources in other languages into anglophone architectural scholarship. In so doing, it shows how the ‘periphery’ was not just a passive recipient, but also an active generator of architectural theory and practice. Stylianos Giamarelos challenges long-held ‘central’ notions of supposedly ‘international’ discourses of the recent past, and outlines critical regionalism as an unfinished project apposite for the 21st century on the fronts of architectural theory, history and historiography.