From a cat-shaped kindergarten to a robot-like skyscraper, these postmodern buildings have a hearty sense of humor.
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“Less is a bore,” quipped American architect Robert Venturi in answer to Mies van der Rohe’s famous epigram. Venturi’s pronouncement is also the subtitle of a new book from Phaidon, Postmodern Architecture, a collection of more than 200 postmodern buildings the world over that wield color, ornament, and form in disarming, delightful ways. Below, we serve up our favorite examples that champion maximalism.
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Studio Mutt: The Ordnance Pavilion, The Lake District, Cumbria, England, UK, 2018.
© Studio MUTT / Photograph by Steven Barber
I am for richness of meaning rather than clarity of meaning; for the implicit function as well as the explicit function. I prefer “both—and” to “either—or,” black and white, and sometimes gray, to black or white. A valid architecture evokes many levels of meaning and combinations of focus; its space and its elements become readable and workable in several ways at once.
—Robert Venturi
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Camille Walala: Industry City Mural, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2018.
© industry City
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Kengo Kuma: M2 Building, Tokyo, Japan, 1991.
© wakiiii
See the full story on Dwell.com: 8 Postmodern Buildings That Proclaim “Less Is a Bore”
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