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POSTMODERNiSM

lO AN

INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APPROACH

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POSTMODERNISM

AS AN

INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APPROACH

A THESIS

S U B M IT T E D TO THE D E P AR TMENT OF

INTERIOR A RC H I T E C T U R E AND E NVIRO N M E N T AL DESIGN AND THE INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS

OF BtLKENT UNIVER SIT Y

IN PARTIAL F U L F I LLMENT OF THE R E Q U I R E M E N T S FOR THE DEGREE OF

MA S T E R OF FINE ARTS

By

Yılmaz Burak Güven June, 1993

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I that I have read this thesis and that in my op i n i o n it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as

degree of Ma s ter of Fine Arts. a thesis for the

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Y ı l d ı r ı m Yavu ^ - ^ d v i s o r )

I t hat I have read this thesis and that in my

o p i n i o n it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Ma s t er of Fine Arts.

I c e r t i f y that I have read this thesis and t hat in my op i n i o n it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, a th e s i s for the degree of M a s t e r of Fine Arts.

as

A p p r o v e d by the I nstitute of Fine Arts

Prof.Dr. Bülent özgüç.

Direc to r of the Institute of Fine Arts

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A B S T R A CT

P O S T M O D E R N I S M AS AN INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APPRO ACH

Yılmaz Burak Güven

M.F.A. in Interior Ar chi t e c t u r e and Environmental Design

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Y ı l d ı r ı m Yavuz June, 1993

This thesis d iscusses the p o s tmodern condit ion in p o s t i n d u s t r i a l i s t s o cieties and its impact on

a r c h i t e c t ur e and interior design. The sociological and philosophical con di t i o n s that pr epa re and form the postmodern, postindustrial c u lture are discussed. The reflections of these c o n ditions both to Western

ar c h i t e ct u r e and to interior designs are obser ved with case studies. The impact of p o s t m o d e r n i s m in Turkey - which is not a postindustrial society, as a matter of fact -as a style in a r c h i t e c t u r e and interior design is exami n e d and case studies are done to s u p ple ment this phenomenon. The relevance of p o s t m o d e r n i sm for Turkey and

its p r o s p e c ti v e co n t r i b u t i o n to s u b s tant iat e our original interior design practice and theory is discussed.

Keywords: Postmodernism, Eclectic, Historicist, Ornamentation, Contextual

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Ö Z E T

BtR İÇ MEKAN TA SARIM Y AKLAŞIMI OLA R A K POST M O D E R N Î ZM

Yılmaz Burak Güven

iç Mimari ve Çevre Tasarımı Bölümü Yüksek Lisans

Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Yı l d ı r ı m Yavuz Haziran, 1993

Bu tez postendüstriyel toplumlardaki postm ode rn durumu ve onun mimari ve iç mekan t a s a r ı m l a r ı na yansımasını

tartışmaktadır. Postmodern, postendüstriyel kültürü haz ı r l a y an ve oluş t u r a n s o s yolojik ve felsefi koşullar t a r t1ş1 İ m i ş t ı r . Bu durumun Batı mimarlık ve iç mekan t a s a r ı m l a r ı n a yansıması örnek analizleri ile

gözlenmiştir. P o s t m o d e r n i z m ’in - as lında postendüstriyel bir to p lu m ol mayan - T ü r k i y e ’de mimarlık ve iç mekan t a s a r ı m ı n d a bir stil olarak etkisi ele alınmış ve bu olguyu ta m amlamak için de örnek çözümlemeleri

yapılmıştır. Son olarak, p o s t m o dern izmin T ü r k i y e ’yle ilişkisi ve özgün iç mimar l ı k ta sarım pratiği mizin ve teo r i m i z i n o l u ş m a s ı n d a ilerdeki katkıları tartışılmıştır. Ana h t a r Sözcükler: Postmodernizm. Eklektik, Tarihsel, Süsleme, Bağlamsal

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A C K N O W L E D G E ME N T S

I would like to express my special thanks to my advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yı l d ı r ı m Yavuz for his invaluable

assistance, support and o r i e n tation in completing this work. Also, I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz Yener and Assist. Prof. Dr. Zuhal Ulusoy for their

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TAB L E OF C O N T E N T S ABS T R A C T ÖZET A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S TABLE OF C ONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES PREFACE

1. INTRODUCTION: THE POS T M O D E R N COND ITI ON 2. POS T M O DE R N A RC H IT E C T U R E

2.1. Breakt h ro u gh to Postmodernism: Robert Venturi

2.2. Ameri ca n Postmodernism: SITE 2.3. R a ti o n a l i s m

2.4. P o s t m o d e r n i s m in Urban Space and Public Bui 1di ngs 2.5. P o s t m o d e r n i s m in 1980s 3. POS T MO D ER N INTERIORS 3.1. Emergence of P o s t m o d e r n i sm in Interior Design 3.1.1. Hi-Tech M o vement

3.2. Examples of Postmodern Interiors

3.3. Main Trends in Postmodern Interior Design 3.3.1. E c l ec t i c i s m 3.3.2. H i s t o r i c i s m or R evi valis m 3.3.3. O r n a m e n t a l i s m vi 1 1 1 i V V vi vi i i xi 1 8 9 11 12 14 16 27 27 31 32 40 41 41 42

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3.3.4. C o n t e x t u a l i s m 4. P O S T M O DE R N EXP E R I E N C E OF T URKEY 5. C O N C L U S I O N S E L E C T E D B I B L I O G R A P H Y A P P E N D I C E S A P P E N D I X A: COL OR PLATES A P P E N D I X B: G LO S S A R Y 42 59 78 82 84 89

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LIST OF FIGURES

Fig,1. Tucker House, V e n t u r i ,Rauch and Scott Brown,

F i g . 2. Gordon Wu Dining Hall, Venturi, Rauch and S.Brown Fig.3. Best S u p e r m a r k e t , Houston, SITE.

Fi g . 4. Best Supermarket, Sacramento, SITE.

F i g . 5, Mu s eu m for Berlin Project, Oswald M.Ungers. F i g . 6. Mod e na Cemetery, Aldo Rossi.

F i g . 7. Regional A d m i n i s t r a t io n Building, Aldo Rossi. F i g . 8. Casa "Rotonda", Mario Botta.

F i g . 9. The Com p l e ti o n of W a s h i ngt on DC, Leon Krier. F i g . 10. Public Service Building, Michael Graves.

F i g . 11. W u r t t e m b e r g i s h e Staatsgalerie, James Stirling. F i g . 12. M u se u m for Arts and Crafts, Richard Meier.

F i g . 13. Deutches Arhitekturmuseum, Oswald Mathias Ungers. F i g . 14. "Arena" A p a r t m e n t Complex, R icardo Bofill.

F i g . 15. Or i nd a House, Charles Moore. F i g . 16. Cohn Pool House, Robert Stern.

F i g . 17. Chicago Sunar Showroom, Michael Graves. F i g . 18. New York Sunar Showroom, Michael Graves. F i g . 19. Thematic House, Charles Jencks.

F i g . 20. M in i s t er of C u l t u r e ’s Office, Andree Putmann. F i g . 21. Bazaar Shop, Ron Arad.

F i g . 22. Katherine Ham n e t Shop, Norman Foster. F i g . 23. Schullin Jewelry Store, Hans Hollein. F i g . 24. Austr i an Travel Bureau, Hans Hollein.

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F i g . 25. Austrian Travel Bureau Axonometric, Hans Hollein. F i g . 26. Detail of Column and Palmtree, Austrian Travel

Bureau, Hans Hollein.

F i g . 27. Facade of Schullin II Jewelry Store, Hans Hollein F i g . 28. Schullin II Jewelry Store (interior), Hans

Hoi l e i n .

F i g . 29. Schullin II Jewelry Store (Axonometric), Hans Hoi 1ei n .

F i g , 30. Musee D ’Orsay, Gae Aulenti and ACT. F i g . 31, Musee D ’Orsay, Gae Aulenti and ACT. F i g , 32. Memphis Bar, B.D.M.

F i g . 33. Cafe Costes, Philippe Starck.

F i g . 34. Detail of Chairs, Table and Clock, Cafe Costes, Phillippe Starck.

F i g . 35. Caffe Bongo (view from the entrance), Nigel Coates and Nato.

F i g . 36. P a l l a d iu m Discotheque, A ra t a I s o z a k i . F i g . 37. Turkish History Society, Turg ut Cansever. F i g . 38. Office Building in Kızılay, Sezar Aygen. F i g . 39. öz altın C o n s t r u c t i o n Company, Haluk Bozoğlu. Fi g . 40. Doğuş C o n s t r u c t i o n Company, Erol Aksoy.

F i g . 41. Doğuş C o n s t r u c t i o n Company, Erol Aksoy. Fi g . 42. Shopping Mall and Tower, Ragip Buluç. Fi g . 43. Shopping Mall and Tower, Ragip Buluç. F i g . 44. Sürücü T errace Houses, Merih Karaaslan. F i g . 45. Sürücü Terrace Houses, Merih Karaaslan.

F i g . 46. V ak k o r a m a Coffee Shop (sections), Barbara Pensoy F i g . 47. V ak k o r a m a Coffee Shop, B arbara Pensoy.

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Fi g . 48. Prestige Billiard Parlor (facade), Güner Mutaf, Namık Özer.

Fig.49. Twenty Bar, Kadir Akorak. F i g . 50. Twenty Bar, Kadir Akorak.

F i g . 51. Hilton Hotel, Gr a h a m and Salone Architects. F i g . 52. Beymen Store, Hasan Mingü.

F i g . 53. Beymen Store, Hasan Mingü.

Plate 1. Cafe Bongo, Nigel Coates. Plate 2. Sitting Room, M e mphis Group.

Plate 3. V a k ko r am a Coffee Shop, Barbara Pensoy. Plate 4 . ' C a r l t o n ’ Room Divider, Ettore Sottsass.

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PREFACE

P o s t m o d e r n i s m is a subject that surrounded Western cultural disc o u rs e from philosophy to literature, from a r c h i t e c t ur e to arts in the recent years. The Modern Age became a thing of the past. For some it ended with the sink of the Titanic, for others with the explos ion of Atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The myth of ' p r o g r e s s ’ and m e ssiah of tec h no l o g y is under scrutiny after the

equat i o n E=mc2 cost the lives of about hundred thousand human beings. From the beginning of 1960s our lives are embedded in a network of computers, satell ite dishes, mass m e dia and television. The e v e r - i n c r e a si n g global c o m m u n i ca t i on and information e xc han ge leads the world to be a 'Global V i l l a g e ’ . This information flow provides a legitimate background for the diversified, fragmented genres to be flowered. In the chaotic world of

postmodern, we o bserve the jamais vu (never seen) and

deja vu (already seen) at the same time. It becomes more

and more diff i c u lt for the subject to locate hi m/herself in this ' m a p l e s s ’ world with lost referents.

Physical e n v i r on m e n t s u r r o unding us, as emerged by the desi g n e r s and culture producers, contribu tes to the fo rmation of this situation. Yet, simultaneously, it presents to us the clues to o v e rcome the tradegy of t o d a y ’s man, the contem p o r a r y Icarus.

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Interior design which is concerned with a 1 1 the elements of the interior spaces of the architectural shell is the most influencing part of physical e n v i ronm ent design that affects the life styles of human beings.

In a t t e mpting to provide better living and working conditions, the Modern Movem e n t created a type of

interior design which was ideologically motivated, plain and purist. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mode rni st

pr i n ciples began to be questioned by the growth of

e c l e c t i c i s m and revivalist trends. The co nditions and the reasons of such changes in interior design taste are the s u bject matter of this thesis.

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In O c t o b e r 1981, Le Mon d e a nnounced to its readers that a s p ecter was haunting Europe, the specter of

Postmodernism. Clement Greenberg, the t heori st of

Ameri c a n M o d e r n i s m defined P o s t m o d e r n i sm in 1979 as the "lowering of a esthetic stan d a r d s caused by the

d e m o c r a t i z a ti o n of culture under industrialism. He saw the danger as a lack of artis t i c j u dge men t wher eas Lemaire in Le Mon de called it nihilism" (Jencks, 1989,

1 2).

The term ' modern ’ is first used in fifth century A.D. as ' m o d e r n u s ’ in Latin, to separate that C hristian era from the Roman and Pagan past. "The concept of

P o s t m o d e r n i s m was first used by the Spanish writer

Fred e r i c o De O nis in his A n t o l o g i a de la Poesia Española e H i s p a n o a m e r i c a n a . 1934 to describe a reaction from within Modernism" (Jencks, 1989, 8).

1. I N TR O DU C T I O N : THE P O S TM ODERN C O N D I T I O N

The debate that the Mod e r n Age -the change in the world view brought on by Nietzche, Einstein, Freud and the ph i l o s o ph e r s of the E n l i g h t e n m e nt Age- is becoming a

thing of the past is continuing. We are living through a turning point in history. This point should not be seen only as a cultural phenomenon. Soc iolog ist s announce us

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a new society type has been emerging from the end of 1950s. This society type is best known as 'post­

industrial society ’ yet called sometimes as consumer society, m e d ia society, information society or hi-tech s o c i e t y .

C o n t e m p o r a r y a n t h r o p o l o g is t s tend to divide the world history -merely, the W e s t e r n history -int o three phases acco r d i ng to the form of p r o duction :

1. Pre-Industrial / Agricultural Society w here

agricultural surplus is important. [ 10.000 B.C.- 1450 ]

2. Industrial / C a p i t a l i s t Society : industrial surplus is important. [ 1450 - 1960 ]

3. Post-industrial / Informative S ociety : information s u rplus is important. [ 1960 - ]

All the data about the ' First World ’ shows us that society has been transf o r m i n g from labor / production p a r a d i g m to information / t e c hnology paradigm. Factory

labor is giving way to home and office work. Political leaders heralded the end of w o rking class, the

proletariat, a decade ago. If it is the end of

proletariat, it must be the end of b o u r ge oisie who own the pro d u ct i o n means. Perhaps, a new duality has been born : office w or k e r s versus the para -clas s of

cognitariat.

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we achieved a society w i t h o u t class ( then the utopia of Marx is achie v e d ).

W hat we know today, the s i tuation is more complex than the custo m a r y mo de l s with which we have worked - the

notions of the two - party sy s t em ’left- and r i g h t - w i n g ’ , w o r k i n g and cap i ta l i s t class. "Postmodern world is making a nonse n s e of such polarities" (Jencks, 1989, 47).

Jean Baudrillard, one of the p rominent figures in

c o n t e m p or a ry French philosophy, states that the social p h e n o m e na cannot be ' r e a d ’ in the d imension of binary o p p o s i t io n s as M a r x i s m -Capitalism.

"I believe that the real logic is the logic of potentialization, not the dialectical logic."

(Baudrillard, 1991, 72).

His w r i t i ng s are c urrently at the centre of p o s t m o dernist debate. He stres s e s the ways in wh ich our lives are

e mb e d d e d in a wor l d of images which have no clear

referents and which are reproduced by the new m ech an i s m s of cultural pro d u c ti o n in contempora ry societies.

Acco r d i ng to Baudrillard, there is no ' r e a l ’ in our p r esent life; all we have is the va rious mode ls to

reproduce the real, and the ' simulations ’ that are the genetic reductions of the real. The ' m e d i a ’ play the

major role in this deception. The media make the indirect p e r c eption of the wor l d impossible.

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Masses are neutra l i z e d - actually, prefer to be

ne u t r a l i z e d -by this ' s h o w ’ which is prepared by the

media. They choose to be indifferent and unrea cti onary to the c o ntent of the information. To say that they have been directed and deceived by the ' g o v e r n m e n t ’

(discourse), is a h umiliation to the masses. The reality is that; they chose the indifference, and in spite of the g o v e r n m e n t ’s call for them to participate, they remain silent. "The ' m e a n i n g ’ lost its meaning. This is the tragedy of our time" (Baudrillard, 1991, 13-15).

A n other French philosopher J e a n -F r a n ç o is Lyotard, in his book The P o s tmodern Condition: A Repo rt on Knowledge , argues the c ondition of knowledge in highly developed societies. He confirms that the knowledge is produced to be sold and will be produced to be sold; is consumed to be valued in a new production and will be consumed.

In p o s t i n d u s t r i a l i s t societies, knowledge gains an

e co n o m i c value, m e a nw h i l e loses its validity to educate individuals and society for the well -be ing of mankind.

What Lyotard unde r li n e s is that; language is becoming an object of technology in p o s t i n d u s t r i a l i s t societies. The ' p e r f o r m i t y ’ or 'highest e f f i c i e n c y ’ cr ite ria are applied to the language. The aim is to make the s entences coded, deciphered, emitted, and grouped messages.

Fredric Jameson , an Ameri c a n Marxist, in his long essay, "Po s t - Mo d er ni s m Or The Cultural Logic Of

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Late-Capitalism", goes into an intellectual analys is of cultural t r a n sf o rm a t io n s in the post moder n world and relates it to politics stating that the s ociety we are living in is the third - and natural -step of c a p i t a l i s m which is a more pure c a p i t a l i s m (after the e c o n omist Ernst Mandel). "The position taken for p o s t m o d e r n i s m in culture - w h e t he r it be against or for it -si mu l t a n e o us l y and obligatorily, is a political attitude -open or

c oncealed -relating to the nature of t o d a y ’s

multinational capitalism" (Zeka, 1990, 61). All of the cultural pro d uc t i o n today cannot be c o n s ide red as

' p o s t m o d e r n ’ in the broad sense of the word. Yet, p o s t m o d e r n i s m creates a power point w h ere the various cultural m o ti v a t i o n s -cultural remainings and new-born forms - ought to have a place in it. He points out the fact of erasure of the old border (high m o d ernis t in content) between the high culture and the popular culture. C o mp a r i ng Van G o g h ’s 'Old Shoes With L a c e s ’ painting (modernist) and Andy W a r h o l ’s 'Diamond Dust S h o e s ’ (postmodernist) , Jameson c oncludes that we can o b serve the emer ge n c e of a new surfaceness, or new p lainness and shallowness.

The leitmotifs of modernism; alienation, anomy,

loneliness, social explosion, isolation, anxiety could be o bs e r v e d in the whimsical atm o s p here of Kafka (Trial, Metamorphosis), in Cam u s ( L ’E t r a n g e r ) , in Antonioni (Blow up. Red Desert, Passenger, La Notte), in drama Beckett ( Wa i t i n g for Godot) or Jean Genet (The Maids, Balcony).

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These themes are no more e x i s t e n t in the world of postmodern. We can define this slide in cultural

p athology dynam i cs as; the plac e me nt of fragmentation

(explosion) of the s u bject instead of the alien ation of the subject. Applications, discourses, textual game

c o ncept took place in the new world. One can obs e r v e the s u rface or multi surfaces instead of the depth of modern c u l t u r e .

The v anishing of the individual subject creates an universal practice called pastiche. Pastiche is an

imitational artwork - an exact replica. Jameson warns us not to c o nfuse it with ' p a r o d y ’ , which found an

e n vi r o n m e n t to grow in m o d e r n s ’ dis i m i t a t a b le styles. Parody, is an imitation of a poem, song, etc., where the style is the same but the theme ludicrously different; a feeble imitation (compare Le C o r b u s i e r ’s interpretation of T u rkish civil a rc h i t e c t u r e and V e n t u r i ’s imitation of the A m e r i c an vernacular). Pastiche, like parody, is an

imitation, to speak in a dead language, but p r actic es it wi t h o u t having the irony, the m o t i va tions that underlie

in parody and w it h o u t having humor. Then, ' h i s t o r y ’ is the only place that c u lture p roducers can apply to after the fall of the style ideology. (A literature critic a c cused Um b e r to E c o ’s novels - i n c lud ing his last

Foucault's Pendulum -as having two spoons of sociology,

three spoons of w i t c h c r a f t and some spoons of history and lacking the ' s p i r i t ’ or ' a u r a ’ of the novels of Stendhal or Balzac).

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Jameson sees the cultural periods realism, modernism, p o s t m o d e r n i s m in parallel with H a n d e l ’s three steps of capitalism: ma r k e t capitalism, monopol y or the step of

imperialism and our period which can be called the

multinational capital. The technological d e v e lop men t in the d i f fe r e n t periods shows us the slide in the relation with the m a chine and the r e presentation of the machine.

"The te c hnology of our period does not have the capacity to be represented: neither turbine nor the silos and factory chimneys. The computer who s e envelop e does not have a visual or symbolic power, and the finishing of various media, for instance the televisio n which absorbs eve r y t h i n g into itself..."

(Zeka, 1990, 94).

These machi n e s are reproduction mac h i n e s more than the pr o duction machines.

Finally, Jameson concludes that the new political art (if it is possible), should stand on the reality of

po s t m o d e r n i sm -the global space of multinational capital· and "should reach to the new style that can provide us with our skill of strug g l e and action which are

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Modern m o v e me n t in a r c h i t e c t u r e which stood as a reaction to the n i n eteenth century Arts and Crafts mo v e m e n t prevailed from early 1920s to late 1960s. T o d a y ’s ar c h i te c tu r e is d i f f e r e n t from the early

twentieth c e n t u r y ’s. From the beginning of 1970s most of the architectural theories and practices has taken

posit i o n against the authority of Modern movement. The m od e r n i s t attitude s u b limated the functional aspect of the building which is one of the three concepts that form architecture; function, structure and aesthetics. The ex t r e m e val o r i si n g of function -which is actually equal to the other two- caused in the e x clusi on of fiction from the a r c h i t ec t ur e and the only thing left was the

t e chnique of building. The building became an abstract play of geometry lacking f r e e d o m and humanity.

Economy, being a dimension of function, d e t ermin ed the form and space and eve r y w h e r e thr ougho ut the world same p ragmatic ' b o x e s ’ grew w i t h o u t having the local identity.

2. P O S T M O D E R N A R CH IT E C T U R E

In 1960s, the belief in the modern m o v e m e n t ’s ideas had been shaken from its roots. The uneasin ess felt for the physical e nv i r o n m e n t created by arch itect s and urban de signers led toward the refusal of the modern ideology. The rejected historical v o c abulary has been rediscovered.

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The historical forms and styles provided a repository of references for the building to convey a message. The arch i t e ct uses a language that is hybrid, eclectic.

"Charles Jencks has emp h a s i z e d stylistic pl ur a l i s m as the essential feature of p o s tmodern architecture. No

styl i s t ic dogmas are in force any longer" (Klotz, 1988, 129). The idea of e ve r - l a s t i n g ' p r o g r e s s ’ in science, tec h n o l o g y and art which was the goal of mod ernity

produced a practice called 'a v a n t g a r d e ’ . To create works of art and ar c h i te c tu r e that had been done before was c o n sidered as a crime. Society, on the other hand, lost

its trust in progress looking for instead the past. The change in the style toward the 't r a n s - a v a n t g a r d e ’

provided architects to retrospect the styles, forms which were rejected and to use past v o c a bular y with out

h e s i t a t i o n .

2.1. B r e a k t h r o ug h to Postmodernism: Rob e r t Venturi

Ameri c a n architect, Rob e r t Venturi, in his 1966 treatise on a r c h i t ec t u r e C o m p l e x i t y and Co n t r a d i c t i on in

A r c h i t e c t u r e . had attacked modern architecture. He blamed the belief that the quality of a building could be

he i ghtened by att e nu a t i n g its form and that the reduction to the lowest common d e n o m inator could be the solution of all problems. Venturi insisted that any ' g o o d ’ building had c o m plexity and cont r a d i c t i on in itself and the

e x a m p l e s he gave to prove his thesis included the much favored buildings from history.

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C o m plexity is the si m u l t a n e o u s action of various factors in a r c h i t e ct u r e wi t ho u t the exclus ion of contrary

demands. The three fundamental aspects of a r c h i te ctu re - w h ether it be function, stru c t u re and form or interior space, mass and facade- always oppose each other. To give importance to one aspect over the others results in the simplification, reduction. The proper way to design a building is to include all the c o ntrad ict ory factors and let them show t he mselves w i t h o u t any shame.

The design of the facade became important for Venturi as the whole building. Contrary to the modern b u i l d i n g ’s reflection of interior to exterior, the unsepa rab ility of interior and exterior, he a d vocated the contradi cti on of the facade with the interior. The facade can be an

o r n a m e n t ed wall applied to the building, the shed. This is a "decorated shed" (Klotz, 1988, 154) whe re the

o r n a m e n t is not an inherent part of the building. The si t u ations wher e the whole building became an or nam ent are not acceptable. This was called as "duck" (Klotz, 1988, 154) by him where the inspiration came from a roadside store selling poultry, built as a big duck.

S a a r i n e n ’s TWA Terminal in New York (a bird with e xtended wings in flight) or U t z o n ’s Sydney O p er a House can be con s i d e r ed as "duck"s of the modern a r c h i tec tur e in using w e l l - k n o w n st e re o m e t r i c forms in an e x pli cit manner.

The importance given to the d e c o ratio n of the shed brings the f a c a d e ’s design into light. The addition of symbols,

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signs, commercial graphics that are used by the American popular culture on the facade improve the visual field and heighten the quality of life by com mun icati ng

messages. Venturi accepted the reality of the popular culture and blamed the a r c hitects and decision makers of being elitist.

2.2. A m e r i c a n P o s t m o d e r n i s m : SITE ("Sculpture in the Envi r o n m e n t " )

The works of the New York group SITE are guided by V e n t u r i ’s c o ncept of a building as a shed with a s i g n ­ bearing facade. In the works of SITE, facade becomes a huge poster of an ar c h i t e c t u r e that is imperfect, ugly, c rumbling and fragmenting. "De-architecture" (Klotz,

1988, 193) is the theme of SITE. SITE group designed many suburban showrooms for Best Products C o . , H ouston and Sac r a m e n t o among them. In the Hous ton S how roo m (1974) the brick veneer of the facade is extend ed in a ragged

profile beyond the roofline, resulting in an a r c hitec ture of dem o li t i on (Fig.3). A section of the facade is

fra g m e n t e d for a pile of bricks to spill over the top of the p e d estrian canopy. The Sac r a mento Sho w r o o m (1977) is pe n e trated by a raw-edged gap that serves as the main entra n c e and the f o r t y-five ton wedge draws out from this gap moves 12 meters to open and close the s h o w r o o m ( F i g .4)

SITE treats a r ch i te c t u r e as the raw material for art and the projects can be interpreted as sculptural m onume nts against the neutral suburban environment.

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2.3. R a t i o n a l i s m

R a t i o n a l i s m - the theory and practice that reason rather than sense perception is the c r iterion of design- stood as an opp os i t i on to f u n c t i o n a l i sm in Europe. Reason found

its e x i s te n c e in the abstr a c t relationship of geometry. Europe witn es s ed the evol u t i o n of rational thought in its history. Nowhere else the r a t i o nalistic attitude could find better place to grow.

R a t i o n a l i s m was initiated by the Italian a r chite ct Aldo Rossi and the German a rchitect Oswald Mathias Ungers. These a rc h itects did not use the popular culture as their inspiration as their colleagues in North Amer ica

expl o i t ed the references to the eve ryd ay world and the Pop Art. The ar c hitects of European Rat i o n a l i s m have not d eveloped a s e n s ibility receptive to all the fictional material that found its way into a r c h i t ectur e as a result of Pop culture. On the contrary, they made an attempt to renew the s i g n if i ca n c e of historical typology a ttacking the f u n c t i o n a l i st banal i z a t i o n of structure.

For the functionalists, what d et ermined the look of a form was the purpose for which it was most generally used. Osw a ld Ma thias Ungers believed the morphological t r a n s f o r m a tio n of a basic concept could be varied

avoiding monotony. D i f f e r e n t i a ti o n of forms stemmi ng from a simple idea scheme leads unity as well as articulation. The g eometric relation of basic forms collect ed with

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analytical reasoning results in ' w h o l e s ’ where each individual stru ct u re speaks its own language.

Italian rationalist architect, Aldo Rossi has proved that funct i o n has to adapt itself to form in the course of time in his most important architectural treatise

L ’a r c h i t et t ur a della C i t t a (The A r c h i t ectur e of the C i t y ) first published in 1966. Rossi gave importance to form over function and he used the historical arc hetypes of building in his designs. Rossi had emphasi zed the

m u l t i v a le n t nature of a r c h i t e c t u r e , how str uctur es like Roman arena could be t r a n s formed in various cultures and re-used for d i f f e r en t function, like dwelling. Rossi made use of g e o m e t r y ’s rich potential of symbolic conn otati ons in his project for a cemetery in M o d e n a (Fig.6). Rossi s t a t e s ,

"I thought of f a s hioning the cemetery on a R a t i o n a li s t co ncept of death, as a disruption of life. I tried t herefore to represent it as a deserted house with empty wi ndows and as a factory with a smokestack wher e the work has been disrupted" (Klotz ,1988, 242).

The monumental presence, public memory and sym b o l i s m are the c h a r ac t e r is ti c features of the Modena cemetery.

Mario Botta, another Italian architect, has generally followed a path of his own, independent of Rossi. His design for a house in Stabio (Fig,8) built between 1979- 81 takes its name 'Casa R o t o n d a ’ from its cylinder shape. The contr a s t between fort i f i c a t i on and openness is the theme of the house. The ch i a r o s curo effect which is an

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influence of Louis Kahn is achieved by tearing the

masonry v iolently apart. Botta reaches to the postmodern concept not by using historical typology, but by

including all the c o n t r a d i c t o ry visual tensions into his buildings. This visual play of forms leads him to design fo r m a l i s ti c boxes -boxes that are not an outcome of

function and si m plicity as in m o der nist buildings.

2.4. P o s t m o d e r n i s m in Urban Space and Public Bu ildings

The dividing line between m o d e r n i s m and po s t m o d e r n i s m was clearer in the field of city planning than in other areas of architecture. On the one side were the glamorous urban utopias of modernism, which seemed to be on another

planet. On the other side were the designs that took

their bearings from the cities of the nineteenth century. Modern city planning proposed the separation of

act i v i t i e s -work, dwelling, recreation- for efficiency. City was c o nsidered as a huge factory where the di ffe rent stages of pr o duction were seg r e g ate d rationally in favor of m a x i m u m output with m i n i m u m input. Zoning, the

physical separation of these activities, resulted in the Central Business Districts inhabited by criminal s during the night times. H i s t o r i c a l l y considered, the cities of the pre-industrial era were a blend of functions where every district has its own c haracter as well as

n e i g b o u r l i nes s was an important issue. The co- exi stenc e of w o r k p l a c e s and houses and recreation in a nei gbo urhood suited for a human scale physical environment.

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Rob Krier, in his book Stadr a u m in Theorie und Praxis (Urban Space in Theory and Practice), goes into an

analysis of urban spaces, streets and facades and draws typologies. The exp er i e n c e and the sensual perc eptio n of the pre-industrial city stood in o pposition to the

dry, inhumane accumu l a t i o n of f unctions in the modern city.

One of the first postmodern public b uildings is the Public Service Building ( F i g . 10) in Portland, Oregon designed by Michael Graves. Graves used a voca bular y of Art Deco of 1930s. The s e v e n - s t o r y -h i g h cr oss-barred window is a supe r m o t i f that p e n etrates the facade and opens up the center of the block. The two pilasters and the giant keystone are stylized references to the

historical post and lintel c o n s tr uct ion in a huge scale.

The British architect James Stirling, who has e x per ienced or influenced the most important tr ans f o r m a t io n s of

postwar architecture, arrived at a p o s t moder nism

determined by h i s t o r i c i z i ng tendencies after leaving the orbit of New Brutal ism and Team X. The additions to the W u r t t e m b e r g i s h e S t a a t s g a l e r ie ( F i g . 11) in S tuttgart co n s t i t u t e d the most important project of S t i r l i n g ’s po s tmodern phase.

Stirling reflects the classical plan of the ex isting building by mirro r in g its U-shape. He has used

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Egyptian cornice, an open-air Pantheon and segmental arches. A ccording to Jencks,

"these are beautiful in an und ersta ted and conventional way, but they are not revivalist either because of small distortions, or the use of modern material such as reinforced concrete. They say, 'We are beautiful like the Acro pol is or Pantheon, but we are also based on co ncrete t e chnology and d e c e i t ’ " (Jencks, 1989, 19).

Stirling c onfronts t radition and modern technology giving neither a priority.

Kisho Kurokawa, one of J a p a n ’s leading architects, considers t o d a y ’s a r c h i t e c t u r e as an intercultural phenomenon in his book Intercultural Architecture: The Philosophy of S y m b i o s i s . Symbiosis, a term taken from biology, is the essential feature of his architectural philosophy. Symbiosis of Eastern and Western cultures, past and present, culture and nature, tradition and technology, the ' l i v i n g - t o g e t h e r ’ of these varying co m p onents leads towards a p l u r alistic and rich way of life. W estern society excluded the other cultures for the benefit of progress and now an architec tur e of inclusion has to be emerged. K u r o k a w a ’s inspirations are from the traditional Japanese Edo st o r e h ouses of the seventee nth century as well as the W e stern rotunda melted in a pot of tec h n o l o gy in his M u s e u m of C o nt emp orary Art, H i r o shim a built in 1988.

2.5. Post m o d er n Ar c h i t e c t u r e in 1980s

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ground all over the world. Modern a r c h ite ctu re considered ornament as a crime. A r c hitects of the postmodern

movement has taken p o s t m o d e r n i sm as a reaction to

buildings w ithout ornament. Thus, a building designed in a m o d e r n i st manner could become postmodern with the

addition of false details. This make-up is to consider archit e c tu r e as a two-dimensional dec oration w ith out any c o ntent and Robert V e n t u r i ’s s u bl imation of the

"decorated shed" is partly responsible for this tacked- upon aesthetics.

Most of the buildings of the postmodern mani fes tation were small residences or condom iniu ms before the

a c c eptance of p o s t m o d e r n i s m as a style. In the 1980s, the trend proved itself to realize public buildings, office towers and museums. The international architectural d i s cussion has been influenced by two museums in

Fr ankfurt : Richard M e i e r ’s Mus eum for Arts and Crafts and Os w al d Mathias U n g e r s ’s German Archi tec ture Museum.

In Arts and Crafts M u s e u m ( F i g . 12), Meier was faced with having to combine a new building with a villa built in 1816. He solved the p r oblem by subdiv idi ng the new building into interconnecting pavilions that reproduce the p r o po rtions of the old building, which they surround. He showed here how an exte n s i o n building can become

comp l e m e n ta ry s t ructure that respects the existing eleme n t s yet d em o n s t r a t e s an o r i g i nal ity of its own.

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for the first time to realize a project that illustrated his p r ogram for a morphological a r c h i t e c t u r e . Ungers removed the interior of an old villa and inserted a new s tructure in it. The stru c t u r e turned into a 'house within a h o u s e ’ , standing inside the shell of the old building as a symbol of architecture. Thus, Ungers used a typological s tructure to c o m m u nicate by symbolism.

R i cardo Bofill, a Spanish a r chitect who worked for small scale buildings in 1960s and 1970s in Spain, d esigned s u p erscale buildings in France. His designs were the

huge condominiums, all of s u p e rscale proportions, for the m i d d l e - i n c o m e in the manner of 'Versailles for the

P u b l i c ’ . In ' A r e n a ’ apartment complex ( F i g . 14) in M a m a la valle, he has s ucceeded in p roducing a separated realm that offers a refuge from urban chaos. However, the

exterior of the complex is fortresslike, discouraging, and intimidatingly alien. A ten -sto rey am phitheater is evenly divided into three visual storeys. The double Tuscan columns raise three storeys giving a rhythm

between windows; the fluted Art Deco columns contin uin g through ten storeys act as vertical circu lation shafts. The play with the contr a s t of small and colossal order is reminiscent to M i c h e l a n g e l o ’s buildings.

Ac cording to Jencks, all these instances show that

po s t m o d e r n i sm has become a w i d e s p r e a d tradition in 1980s with many prom in e nt offices p roducing works labelled as postmodern (Jencks, 1987, 167). This tradition will

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continue to expand with v a r i ations as it gains popularity among the public eye. Yet there exists a danger of

c o m m e r c i al i za t io n and co n s u m p t i on of this tradition. This fact leads to the p r o d uction of many mediocre works and helps to accelerate the death of a movement. As we

f o r m u l a t e p o s t m o d e rn i sm as a p l ur ali sm of styles, it is ob vious that the c o m m e r c i a l i za t i on process occurs faster.

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Fig.1. Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown Tucker House

Katonah, New York (1974-75)

7 ■ ·* "v · · ·' ... ···■ / ··· ■ '

F i g . 2. Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown Gordon Wu Dining Hall

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Fig.3. SITE Best S u p ermarket Houston (1974) F i g . 4. SITE Best Supermarket S a c ramento (1977)

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r ^ -lAÍ·» ''*'"■'· \V'< V '0 ?^ * í^ 'í h f^ ’ í^í’·''’ · ^ ^':· '* *’ ii:i ·' . ' ·* ' ^i%.;''.#-ík-·':: |?f.%''^v!:.r·^;;·' ■ íx·'^· .■:"■ .•'V ’" ' ■ ' i / f g ’!

Í'''d ^vC '^"'‘'d # F ‘

m ^'1 (l·* *' " 7·

d-J<í|íitt/ -

» < /

^ i V ' ■■' ■ -■ t f v , ; , ' · - ·

Fi g . 5. Oswald M a thias Ungers Mu s e u m for Berlin Project

1965

F i g . 6. Aldo Rossi M o d e n a Cemetery

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... · · · · ' F i g . 7. Regional A d m i n i s t r a t i o n Building T r ieste (project) 1974 F i g . 8. Mario Botta "Casa Rotonda" Stabio (1981)

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ifS^f^... .i/:,. , -·:'> ¿M'· ■ J:'i·-r; ^ !jf?;*;·■.;·: ·■' · ■■ ) . IS v ^ iE 'l'.-... rrf, .■ .< r ’' J . F i g . 9. Leon Krier The C o m p l e t i o n of W as h i n g t o n DC Aerial Pe r s p e c t i ve (1985) F i g . 10. Michael Graves Pu bl i c S e rvice Building Portland, Or e g o n (1980-83)

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Fig.11. James Stirling W ü r t te m b e r g is h e S t a a t sgale rie

Stuttgart (1977-84)

Fig.12, Richard Meier M u s e u m for Arts and Crafts Fran k f u r t Am Main (1981-85)

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F i g . 13. Os w a l d M athias Ungers Deutches A r c h i t e k t u r mu s e u m F rankfurt Am Main (1980-83)

F i g . 14. R i cardo Bofill "Arena" A p a r t m e n t Complex Marne La Valle, France (1980-84)

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3, POS T M O D E R N INTERIORS

3.1. Emer g en c e of P o s t m o d e r n i s m in Interior Design

In the early 1970s a new plur a l ism e merged in interior design as in architecture. Return to tr a d i t i o n a l i s m and the revival of past styles prevailed in the Western world es p e cially in Britain and America.

The single approach of the Modern M ov ement was rejected for the mu l ti p l i ci t y of approaches, pos sibilities and directions. Instead of the pure and the geometrical, the fr a g mented and the layered were favored. The

inconsistent, the ad hoc and spontaneous, the irregular and the incomplete became a new vision for 1970s.

Postmodern design was o r i ginated in architectural practice. In 1962 C h arles Moore designed and built a house for himself in Orinda, C a l i f o r n i a ( F i g . 15). The outside is simple with a rectangular plan and a pyramidal roof. However, the interior is a single large space

where the two pyramidal s k ylights are suppo rte d by four Tuscan columns. These columns define two square areas; a living area under a large dome and a bath tub under the smaller. The space bounded by four columns in a square form like a baldachin along with the skylight is a

historical motif from the Roman atrium type dwellings.

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The found objects as part of the f urnishing act as ex p r e s s i on s of identity and individuality a gainst the anon y m i sa t i on of m o d e r n i s t residential interiors. Moore designed many furnitures in the postmodern aesthetic serving eclectic tastes later on.

Robert A.M. Stern, with his designs for apartment renovations, showrooms and houses advocated

postmodernism. His interiors and de cor ation s included a variety of historical styles; Palladian pilasters and arched windows, Art Deco cabinets. Gothic elements,

indirect lighting coves.

Stern rediscovered the n eglected designers and architects of the 1920s and 1930s and designed b uildings and

interiors with dive r g e n t historical influences of the postmodern. In the Cohn Pool House ( F i g . 16) in New Jersey

(1982) Deco-Gr e ci a n stairs and stain les s steel palm trees of John N a s h ’s Brighton Pavillion of 1815-21 lead to the

indoor swimming pool. Stern mixed all classical and d e c orative motifs with S e c e s s i oni st tilework, stocky Tuscan columns and Deco lighting effects in a free-s tyl e w a y .

Stern has been inspired from the Shingle style (a term, for the American domestic revival of the 1870s and

1880s), the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens, Art Deco and Classicism.

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The a r c h i t e c t- d es i gn e r Michael Graves has affected the postmodern d i scussion with his furniture for the Italian- based M e mphis group. Symbolic use of colors and his

mannered classical ornamentation, pastel colors and furn i t u r e designs co n t r i b u t e d to the interior design of 1970s, The primary concerns for Graves were the

relationships of his interiors and archi tec ture to their physical sites and cultural backgrounds for contextual c o n s i s t e n c y ,

Michael Graves designed a series of eight showrooms in different cities for the Sunar f urniture company,

beginning in 1979. G r a v e s ’ c o ncept for these showrooms was a hierarchical sequence of separate rooms instead of a flowing space. He has used color symbolic ally in his

interiors. In the C h i c a g o Sunar s ho w r o o m (1982), he had used dark colors and soft fabrics in contrast to hard surfaces ( F i g . 17). In his Sunar sho w r o o m in New York

(1979), he uses sky blue, t e r r a -cott a red and green to suggest trees ( F i g . 18).

He drew analogies from a n t r o p o m orpho logy as 'foot, body and h e a d ’ for the t h r ee-part division of wal ls into base, middle and top. G r a v e s ’ designs can be considered

c om pletely hi s to r i c i s t and neoclassical and he has rejected his earlier "abstraction" for the sake of "symbolic and mythic representation" (Collins, 1989,

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The architectural theorist Charles Jencks designed houses in Britain and America, the interior of his own Thematic House ( F i g . 19) in London being amongst them. Designed in c o l l a boration with British a rchitect Terry Barrel from 1979 to 1984, this house has rooms devoted to the

seasons- spring, summer, autumn and winter-a s well as many others which are thematic, such as the Egyptian room and the Architectural Library. Jencks has designed

symbolic furniture for his house. His furnit ure has Classical inspirations ranging from Egypt, Greece, Neoclassicism, Biedermeier and Art Deco.

Postmodern interior design owes great debt to the Italian designers of the 1970s. Mario Bellini, Ettore Sottsass and Joe Col umbo rejected accepted ideas about home interiors and about Modernism. Sottsass formed the Memphis Group in 1981. Designing within a postmodern aesthetic M e mphis Group had an important influence on

interior design. Furniture was finish ed with brightly patterned plastic laminate which was aimed towards the m a s s - c o n s um pti o n and was in unconventional forms that are

inappropriate for the function. Although it o r i ginat ed in furniture design, Memphis style affected the interior designs of shops and fast food restaurants during the

1980s.

In France, Andree Putman designed the interior of the Minis t e r of C u l t u r e ’s office in 1985 (Fig.20). The s e m i ­ circular desk, H i-Tech lamp and postmodern chairs provide

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a plur a l i s m of styles in contrast with the classic French w a l 1-panel 1 ing and chandelier.

3.1.1. Hi -T e c h M o v em e n t

Interior design of the 1970s and 1980s was not a complete reaction against Modernism. The Futuristic approach of the 1920s was p op u l arized in 1970s as ' H i - T e c h ’ Movement. The ' H i - T e c h ’ moveme n t which takes its name from 'high t e c h n o l o g y ’ elevated the industrial production to an aesthetical level. Designers exposed structural systems, ai r - c o n di t i on in g ducts, sprinkler systems, electrical equ i p m e n ts as ex p re ssible design elements.

Designer Joseph Paul D ’Urso f urnished his apartment in New York with hospital doors, stainless-steel sink and metal fencing to divide the interior.

Ron Arad used industrial m aterials in his designs for interiors. In a c l o thes-shop called Bazaar (Fig.21), in London (1985-86), he used rough, coarse materi als for the interior. The at m osphere of destruction and decay which has become a popular theme a f t erwards caused this type of interior be termed as ' P o s t - H o l o c a u s t ’ .

Norman Robert Foster used the voca bular y of Hi-Tech aesthetic in the Shanghai Bank Building, Hong Kong, and the interior of K atharine H a m n e t t ’s shop (Fig.22) in London (1986). T w o - s t o r e y - hi g h war e h o u s e of the

nineteenth century was designed as a pure, white space. The f r e e - s ta n di ng metal clothing rails and m i rror- wal ls

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on two sides giving an illusion of spatial infinity are ' h i - t e c h ’ touches.

3.2. Examples of P os tmodern Interiors

Po s t m o d e r n i sm has found fertile ground to develop in interior design because realization of an interior space was easier, less expensive and quicker than the

realization of a whole building or urban planning. Many building and urban designs remained on ' p a p e r ’ for a long time, w hereas interior d esigners found o pport u n i t i es to exp e r i m e nt with p o s t m o d e r n i sm freely.

Most of the postmodern interior designs created were commercial spaces (such as stores, restaurants, night clubs) because commercial spaces became the most

important type of space in the 'p o s t i n d u s t r i a l ’ , multinational market society.

To see a place or a city became equal with to dine in its famous restaurants, to be in its chic night clubs or to shop from its famous boutiques. Thus, the owners of these commercial spaces gave unseen importance to the design and ' p a c k a g i n g ’ of these spaces and the interior

designers had chances to e x p e r i ment new ideas and to fulfill their c l i e n t s ’ demands which would not be possible with the conse r v a t i v e bureaucracy.

What differs post mo d e r n i st interior space from the mode r n i s t space is that the m o d e r n i s m c onsidered space

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homogeneous in every direction, abstract and rational whereas postmodern interiors are heterogeneous,

irrational and ambiguous.

Austrian architect and designer, Hans Hollein was one of the architects who has not received a public commission for several decades. In 1965 Hollein became known to public with his Retti candle shop, which was followed by the CM Boutique (1966-67): an extension of the Feigen art gallery in New York (1967-69); the Section N, an

extension of a Viennese house of the seventeenth century (1971); and the Schullin Jewelry Store in Vienna (1972- 74).

Whereas the Retti and CM facades were defined by mode r n i s t notions, a variety of forms - irregular, dis r u p t i ve ones as well as precise ones - occur in the facade of the Schullin Store (Fig.23). The facade recalls the ' d e - a r c h i t e c t u r e ’ of the SITE group. The contrast of slick marble and the irregular rupture which seems to be the result of metal tubes depicts a tale of decay, of imperfect. The rupture c ontinues towards the steel door and distorts it. The tearing on a slick facade became a popular theme after Hollein.

Hollein described the Schullin facade as follows: "An example of a c o m m u n i c ative store front. An a r c hitecture that is semiotic, associative, ambivalent. No anecdotal me ssage about the purpose and contents (of the store). The c o m m u ni c at i ve means not ex ternally applied but

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integral part of the a r chi tectu re developed from the f u nctionally necessary elements" (Klotz, 1988, 134).

In G s t e r r e i c h i sh e s Ve r k e r s b u r o (Austrian Travel Bureau), in Vienna built between 1976-78 (Fig.24-26), behind the nondes c r i p t front of an older building, under a glass roof. Hoi lein composed an e n v i r onment that recounts tales of travels in many d ifferent ways and even prepares

people for travel just as a stage prepares one for a play or an opera. On the exterior the neutral, grey urban

fabric is preserved w h ereas on the inside the various fa ntasies and stereotypes of foreign travel

are spoken appropriate for the content. Desert travel is co m municated by brass stems of metal palm trees after entering the travel bureau. Ruined column, in which a stainless steel shaft is embedded signify travel in Greece and Italy. The column sets o n e ’s perceptions os c i l l a t i n g between the longing for classical antiquity and the contem po r ar y myth of technology. Air travel is recalled by the two eagle sculptures in flight. The space is the space of the theater stage, a visitor moves

in it as if playing a part in a play, as if participa ting in a wider fiction. Interior design blends with images, travel metaphors, and symbols of the theater. H o l l e i n ’s design for the travel agency is both contextual and

eclectic; contextual because of its narrative content and the exp re s s i on of local characters (light-filled coffered vault reminiscent of Post Office Savings Bank by Otto Wagner built in 1906), eclectic because its m u ltiva len t

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semantic references (including the palm columns of John Nash at the Brighton Pavilion).

Local reference is set against stereotype, and existing urban fabric against infill. Hollein communicates to a m a s s - c u l t ur e by using its cliches with a taste that does not exist in the products of popular culture.

H o l l e i n ’s new Schullin II Jewelry Store (Fig.27-29) is located near V i e n n a ’s Kohlmarkt. In this store Hollein has created a decor rich in symb olism pertaining to the commerce of gold and precious stones. The store is built on an irregular floor plan. The small facade has been so o v e r b u r d e ne d with elements that serves a paradigm of the postmodern recuperation of Art Nouveau and Art Deco

styles. The columns which frame the narrow entrance door support an independent piece which ' p r o t e c t s ’ the facade,

like an imaginary marquee. Hollein explains his work as,

"The images, composed with in the postmodern aesthetic, give way to objects. These, in-turn, create an u n defined atmosphere, one which can be labeled with precision. With its suggestion of a ' g e n e r a l ’ archaic culture, however, this project emphasizes the cult of the arc hitecture aspect" (Cerver, b, 216).

The Viennese critic Dietmar Steiner gives his opinion on this work of Hollein : "He used mater ial s and objects which would provoke the irritation of the visitor, and which lead into a m a n n e r i s m of ma x i m u m perfection"

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The interior archit e c t u r e of the Musee D ’Orsay in Paris ( Fig.30-31) was e ntrusted in 1980 to the Italian Gae Aulenti. Musee d ’Orsay, formerly train station and hotel is today the second most important mus eum in France. It was o r i ginally the Palais d ’Orsay, built between 1830 and 1840 opposite the Tuileries along the quay that was built at the beginning of the e i g hteenth century by Charles Boucher d ’Orsay. It was transformed into a train station and hotel at the turn of the century by Compagnie du Chemin de Fer d ’Orléans, e n t rusting Victor Laloux with the design.

Charles Jencks comments on the reconversion;

"An inclusive a r chitecture and view of the past and present which accepts contrary values and makes a varied comment on them. Nineteenth century tastes in art, both academic and Modern are mirro r e d by t w e n t i e t h -cent ury ironies and technology, as well as beautiful lighting and a very rich dev e l o p m e n t of layered space"

(Jencks, 1989, 56).

In the Musee d ’Orsay, the sculpture admirably furnishes and decorates the spaces, reaffirming that during the period 1840-1914, the French dominate d this art form. Unique pieces by Rodin, Degas, and Victor Segoffin are exhibited in the rooms where Gae Aulenti installed a more uniform, subtle and complete lighting system. The brown, black blue and gray stone is o m n i p res ent and reaffirms the fact that this museum is not in the least a monument glorifying the ephemeral, but rather a solid and

permanent work. Gae Aulenti designed a remarkable variety of spaces and lighting adapted to the works on display.

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Gae Aulenti actively partic i p a t e d in a vast, magnificent, and c o m p licated project that combines two coexisting

a r c h i t e c t u r e s , that of a station and a museum,

ma i n t a i ni n g a respect for both. Each level and space of Musee d ’Orsay offers architectural s urprises that are often c om p l ementary to the works on display.

The M e mphis Bar in Spain (Fig.32) was designed by B.D.M., a group of Barcelona architects. The task was a very

d ifficult one for a narrow area measuring 160 m2 - a h o r s e s h o e- s ha p ed gallery whose only entries are from the facade. The designers felt that the solution required the sublimation of the negative and unsal vag eable

aspects: the chaotic and busy street, the conceptual desert and dark premises reminiscent of an artificial cave. These are all a s s ociations that led to an image of an Egyptian cave-t e m p l e and a neon delirium. Memphis, The ancient capital of the Pharaohs and Memphis,

Tennessee, the ancient capital of rock music and f a s t f o o d .

The need was immediately of c o nverting the interior

design into a whimsical meta-language, a sort of amusing game full of images that would transpose the customer beyond the space perceived through his eyes.

The b a r ’s two entrance ways in the b u i l d i n g ’s main facade, between which is located the entranc e to the upper floor a p a rtments were d e corated in an Egyptian style. "For BDM, a r chitecture is und erstood to be

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language that speaks to us through formulae and

archetypes, and that links the s ubconscious and myth" (Cerver, b, 47).

The Cafe Costes in Paris (Fig.33-34), designed by

Philippe Starck, is a large, eight meter high cube formed by the combined area of three commercial spaces. The

ground floor is connected to the upper floor by a central staircase which serves as the column and de ter minant axis of spatial distribution for both levels. At the top of the stairs an enormous clock "pays homage to the train station cafes" (Cerver, b, 468) in the words of the owner, Jean Lois Coste.

Though not wel l -k n ow n outside fashio nab le London circles, English interior designer, Nigel Coates, has designed three controversial interiors in Tokyo, Caffe Bongo

( Fig.35) being amongst them. F l amboyant and fragmented, his interiors e n ca p sulate the visual chaos of the c i t y ’s obsession with c o n s p icuous c onsumption through a

frenzied, theatrical display of knowing kitsch. The sources of his inspiration are eclectic, ranging from Italian R e n ai ssance and Baroque gardens and piazzas to contem p o r a ry theater and street culture. Though the exaggerated, manne r i s t s pectacle of his recent projects has been labeled ' New Baroque ’ , C o a t e s ’s drawings and interiors project an attitude rather than a style,

adapted according to a given site. The theatrical image is how we can describe the project. The particulars of

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the imagery, derived from pop culture as much as history, are created according to the site.

Caffe Bongo captures the Pel 1ini-esque excess of Coates with its riotous combination of archaeological

excavations, homo-erotic statuary, and exploded aircraft parts. "Piranesi meets ’50s espresso Modern" is how the architect c h ar a cterizes the project (Dietsch, 1987, 143). Orga n i z e d as a t h e a t e r - i n - t h e - r o u n d , the space focuses on the bar and opens to the street activity outside plate- glass front. Coates crowned the entrance with a huge

airplane wing. A baroque mural depicting the birth of the universe and a solar system chandelier that swirls

overhead and a Pompeiian ruin engulf these streamlined forms. This cafe is typically a P o s t-Ho loc aust design since it celebrates the destruction and decay of advanced technology in a manner i S t i c way.

T h e 'Pal 1adiurn’ Discot h e q u e (Fig.36) realized in New York in 1985 by the Japanese a rchitect Arata Isozaki is an alteration of an old theater co ns tru cted in the 1920s. Isozaki designed a 'club within a c l u b ’ juxt aposi ng modern style with the landmark theater which underwent restoration. I s o z a k i ’s strategy involved the insertion of new elements rendered in bright colors and unusual materials. The promenaded dance floor whose cubic geometries contrast radically with the curvilinear volumes of the old hall is the core of the scheme.

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of directing m o v e me n t through space. By controlling paths of circulation, Isozaki has created a lively or ganism whose heart is the dance floor. From the dance area, the contra s ti n g images of the floating, light-perforated

linear bar and the light-filled upper bar which forms a small structure with a crushed glass roof can be

perceived. The rectilinear room above the highest bar , the round seating areas and the pillow seating

incorporating the existing upper balcony provide o p p o r t u ni t i es for gathering and watching the human movement that the spaces activate. The interaction of sound, light and color in the dance area is u nprecedented and depends on the a r c h i t e c t ’s use of metal columns and beams as a frame e nclosing m u l t ico lor ed lights providing background for the 25-screen video arrays.

In ' P a l l a d i u m ’ architectural space works as a reference to time, getting over the limit of historical reference. The hidden character in I s o z a k i ’s a r c h i t e c t u r e ; the

duality of the present and the unforeseen future can be found in this interior design of this discotheque.

3.3. Main Trends in P o s tmodern Interior Design

There are d ifferent comments on the definition of postmodern interior design. Yet we can state that the primary components of p o s tmodern design are historicism, classical ornamentation, color, a plur alism of approaches and s i m ultaneity of multiple approaches, meanings,

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Main trends in postmodern interior design are discussed in the following subsections.

3.3.1. E c le c t i c i s m

Ec l e c t i ci s m is choosing what seems best from the doctrines, works or styles of others resulting in a

composition of such selections. Absolu te attachment to a single style was abandoned. Eclectic ism uses the

resources of history and adapts for modern use without any contradiction. The plur a l i s m of the late twentieth century is e x pressed in the single works of designers. The unexpected co m binations of pluralistic po ssibilities created multiple, d i s c o n tinuous images that are

' i n c l u s i v e ’ rather than ' e x c l u s i v e ’ , ' c h a o t i c ’ rather than 'o r d e r 1y ’ .

3.3.2. H i s t o r i c i s m or R e v i v a l i s m

Hi s t o r i c i s m or R e v iv a l i s m stands for the use of past

styles, historical elements that are been rejected by the Modern Movement. Historical recall from the Greek

temples. R e na i ssance villas. Gothic cathedrals, English domestic houses are layered into a b u i l d i n g ’s interior opposing an open, free- f l o w i n g interior space appropriate for universal tastes and lifestyles.

Historical revivalism brought back some period styles; Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Victorian, Biedermeier Style, primarily eighteenth and nineteenth century as well as revivals with inclusions of twenti eth -cent ury mannerism.

References

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