We are living through a moment in which architecture is once again for many pundits at the centre of tense and contentious debates about identity, meaning and values, with warring sides staking claim to the mantle of virtue and rectitude for their preferred approach and aesthetic, the “traditionalists” on one side and the “progressives” on another. This binary has plagued architectural debate for generations, and in Postmodernism: Architecture That Changed Our World, renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell and designer Adam Nathaniel Furman (co-editor of Queer Spaces) bring to life a period in which many explicitly sought another way, an alternative route in which contemporary identity and modernity was brought back into dynamic dialogue with tradition, locality and the past, a Postmodern alternative which, as Owen Hopkins points out in his foreword, is of stinging relevance in today’s polarised public discourse on the subject.
Originally published in 2017 as Revisiting Postmodernism, this completely reworked edition takes a fresh look at the design movement that broke all the rules. Seeing postmodernism as a cultural phenomenon that embraces complexity and diversity, one that has not only made its mark on just architecture, but also in design, urban planning and placemaking, the book covers this postmodern period in architecture from two complementary personal perspectives, from that of a key protagonist (Terry) for whom it was a personal experience, and from the perspective of a millennial for whom it is a historical period to look back and inquire as to the meaning of in relation to the world we find ourselves in now.
Featuring a new foreword and bursting with even more beautiful photography from around the world, Postmodernism: Architecture That Changed Our World expands on the history of the movement and its continuing influence on design practice today. Through its compelling dual-narrative, it considers “what was interesting, beautiful and unique about the architecture which emerged from this unusually fertile moment in history.”
James Taylor-Foster, writer, curator and broadcaster commented: “Farrell and Furman shed light on a movement of trends and fascinations that has – for almost four decades – sliced architectural discourse down the middle. They demonstrate that Postmodernism is as rich, diverse, and flamboyant as its legacy suggests – but also precise, intense, and highly refined.
“This book documents a heritage of thought and production which has been dismissed and derided and, in so doing, reveals it for what it is: canonically significant and impossible to ignore.”
Postmodernism is an essential read not just for the modern designers or architects, but also for students, design-savvy young professionals and anyone who is fascinated by the reasons for why the world around them looks the way it does. The book is available nationwide from 1st October. Copies can be ordered directly from RIBA here.