All around us, there is architecture. Because of how it communicates with the immediate and routine, it has a deep and subtle impact on the way our lives are organised. Architecture may stir up intense connections, sentiments, ideas, and recollections. The many building typologies and architectural styles are what produce these reflections in the architecture. Architecture changes greatly depending on time, place, and social context; as a result, several architectural styles have developed that take into account the context, culture, and environment in which they are found.
What are the Isms of Architecture?
An architectural style is a collection of qualities and elements that lend historical significance to a building or other construction. It is a subcategory of style in the visual arts generally, and the majority of architectural styles have a strong connection to a larger current creative style. Form, construction process, building materials, and regional character are all examples of characteristics that may make up a style. The majority of architecture may be categorised within a chronology of styles that evolves over time, reflecting shifting social mores, religious beliefs, or the appearance of new concepts, technologies, or materials that enable the development of new styles.
Isms of Architecture sometimes referred to as architectural styles throughout the globe, are a type of art movement that motivated architects to adopt particular architectural trends. Since architecture may be seen as reflecting several isms, architectural ideologies lack a precise definition.
Prior to the middle of the 19th century, architects did not consider themselves to be practitioners of a certain ism. Despite the clear disparities between the various architects and the movements they represented, they were unaware of such divisions within architecture. However, as time went on, style selection in architecture grew more and more ideological and politicised. Being a member of a certain movement had become standard behaviour by the early 20th century. However, more lately, architects have once more started to push back against such classification.
The history of architecture has been touched and revolutionised by a number of architectural isms.
Ancient and Pre-Renaissance
Pre-Classicism
The abundance of water from rivers throughout the ancient Middle East and the climate throughout the second and third millennia BC gave the stability needed for the growth of various civilisations. The ancient Middle Eastern civilizations interacted early on and eventually contributed to and absorbed influences from Hellenic Classicism due to their proximity to the neighbouring civilizations.
Key buildings-
The Great Pyramids, Giza, outside Cairo, Egypt, C. 2631-2498 ac
Ishtar Gate, Babylon, Mesopotamia, 605-563 BC
Indism
Indian architecture has evolved through many thousands of years as a result of the blending of native traditions and outside influences. Its many civilizations have demonstrated a remarkable capacity to take concepts from one tradition and adapt them to fit the requirements of another. This has produced a remarkable diversity that still illustrates the subcontinent’s lengthy cultural past.
Key buildings-
Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1630-53
Hawa Mahal, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 1799
Proto- Classicism
There is now abundant evidence that the Minoan civilization of Crete and its Mycenaean equivalent on the Greek mainland were forerunners of Hellenic Classicism. The Minoan culture of Crete was once regarded to be a mysterious and self-contained civilisation with no relation to neighbouring cultures. These structures developed at the same time as the first stirrings of Classical mythology and language, albeit having differing architectural styles.
Key buildings-
4-Palace of King Minos, Knossos, Crete, Greece, pre-1400 BC
Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, c. 1250 BC
Hellenic Classicism
The Hellenic Classicism movement is that isms of architecture that elevated architectural expression to new heights of sophistication by drawing on the general achievements of Greek civilization. By associating common phenomena like gravity with representations of Classical mythology, it particularly made mythological beliefs seem relevant to everyday experiences. This association strengthened the notion that the society’s belief system was based on truth.
Key buildings-
Parthenon, Athens, Greece, 447-432 BC
Segesta Theatre, Sicily, Italy, 3rd century B.C.
Confucianism
One of the aspects of Chinese culture that is consistent across great distances and enormous variations in climate and terrain is architecture. This stability is partly a result of the Confucian emphasis on social and moral order.
Key buildings-
The Great Wall of China, 214 BC
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China, 1420
Roman Classicism
The Romans were tasked with running and supporting a massive empire despite having many of the same ideals as the Greeks. Their civilization gradually grew more sophisticated, necessitating the need for a larger array of building types in more diverse places that could carry out more functions.
Key buildings-
Colosseum, Rome, Italy, AD 70-82
Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy, AD 124
Pre Columbianism
The European conquest of America terminated but did not completely eradicate a number of unique pre-Columbian cultures. These cultures have had some impact on modern architectural concepts throughout the past century, both via the rekindling of interest in their cultural values and the discovery of ancient artefacts.
Key buildings-
Machu Picchu, near Cuzco, Peru, c.1500
Temple 1, Tikal, Guatemala, c. AD 500
Shintoism
Ancestor and nature worship are encouraged by the traditional Japanese religion known as Shinto. It continues to have a significant impact on Japanese culture and serves as a unifying, native motif for the assimilation of outside influences.
Key buildings-
Floating Torii Gate, Itsukushima Jinja Shrine, Miyajima, Japan, 12th century
Imperial Villa, Katsura, Japan, 1620
Christian Classicism
When the Romans made Christianity their official religion, it had already been around for about 300 years. This decision had a big influence on the architecture and urban planning of the Roman Empire over many years of oppression. Christian customs and beliefs had become more rigid, yet the locations of these worship services had to be kept a secret in order to avoid being discovered, and they were purposely built simply. Even while classical architecture was magnificent, it had sprung from and supported paganism. Creating a magnificent and Christian building was a difficult task.
Key buildings-
Durham Cathedral, England, 1093-1132
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, AD 532-7
Islamicism
Islamic architecture is centred on the mosque, which, unlike a church, does not serve as a depiction of the divine but rather serves as a tool to help Muslims carry out their obligations. As a result, it serves as much more than just a place of worship; it also serves as a gathering place and a forum for the exchange of ideas, fusing religion with daily life.
Key buildings-
Mesquita Mosque, Cordoba, Spain, AD 785-987
Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey, 1610-16
Indo-Khmerism
Southeast Asia has inherited significant architectural traditions that were influenced by the great Indian faiths of Buddhism and Hinduism. Their ornately carved structures, whose location and massing are also connected to their cosmology, served as memorials to their many pantheons and extensive religious literature.
Key buildings-
Angkor Wat, Cambodia, early 12th century
Kandaraya Mahadev Temple, Khajuraho, India, 1017-29
Gothic-Scholasticism
Gothic architecture leans largely on Classical intellectuals like Plato and Aristotle, and its proportions have some similarities to structures from the Classical era, therefore it is far from being the complete antithesis of Classical architecture. It varies from other systems in how it treats Christian theology.
Key buildings-
Sainte Chapelle, Paris, France, 1243-8
Rheims Cathedral, France, 1211-90
Gothic-Commercialism
The dissemination of ideas across Europe was aided by international trade. The riches it produced contributed to the birth of secular architecture, which, at its finest, rivalled the great cathedrals for spectacle, even if it did not give rise to a particular architectural style.
Key buildings-
Doges Palace, Venice, Italy, 1309-1424
Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium, 1202-1304
Renaissance
Inventionism
Early Renaissance thought placed as much of an emphasis on experimentation and inquiry as it did on classical education. This inventiveness changed how people saw buildings, from the methods used in their construction to the purposes and metaphorical connotations they may serve. The opposite of how perspective fundamentally changed the range of painting for pictorial representation is invention.
Key buildings-
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral), Italy, 1418-36
Palazzo Medici, Florence, Italy, 1444-59
Humanism
Classical detail and form were never fully lost in Italian architecture because there were so many Roman ruins to imitate, but the Renaissance’s renewed interest in Classical knowledge inspired an almost archaeological level of authenticity. Humanism combined this fascination with Neoplatonic philosophy, which valued precise mathematical proportions and forms. As a result, architecture evolved into a field that is both theoretical and practical.
Key buildings-
Tempietto, Rome, Italy, 1502-10
Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy, 1446-57
Idealism
Through an idealised fusion of physical form and philosophical concepts, Renaissance architects aimed to achieve perfection. This was challenging in situations where they did not have complete control over the environment, and it was almost impossible when an older design was next to a newer one, particularly if it was Gothic in style, which they detested. Few people had the chance to design a “perfect city,” but practically everyone preferred free-standing, frequently centrally planned structures.
Key buildings-
Madonna di San Biagio, Montepulciano, Italy, 1519-29
Pienza, Italy, 1458-64
Mannerism
By the middle of the 16th century, it was evident that it was not always feasible to adhere strictly to Renaissance principles and that modifications were required to address real-world situations. Mannerism is the process through which builders modified the shape and specifics of Classical antecedents for both practical and aesthetic effects. It changed the direction of Humanism’s chaste, academic, and austere architecture to one that emphasises scenic impact and emotional reaction.
Key building-
Basilica, Vicenza, Italy, 1546-9
Pietism
The Roman Catholic Church implemented a number of policies known as the Counter-Reformation when faced with the dual challenge of losing much of its authority in Northern Europe as a result of the Reformation and the desire to include Spanish and Portuguese colonies within its ambit in the mid-16th century. The impact of these policies on architecture, particularly church design, is described by pietism.
Key buildings-
El Escorial, near Madrid, Spain, 1559-84
Il Gesu, Rome, Italy, 1568-84
Regional Classicism
Writing and the dissemination of treatises, one of the most significant of which was written by the Italian author Sebastiano Serlio, were encouraged by the invention of printing, which allowed ideas to disseminate throughout the Renaissance more swiftly and efficiently than ever before. Serlio worked in France in his later years, and by the end of the 16th century, his ideas had undoubtedly made their way to Britain. Everywhere the new concepts spread, they interacted with area circumstances to produce a wide range of regional variants.
Key buildings-
Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, England, 1570-72
Chateau de Chambord, Loire Valley, France, 1519-47
Baroque
Classical architects developed a clear split with Renaissance Humanism and Idealism with the Baroque style. In an effort to support religious doctrine, baroque forms were richer and more diversified, focusing more on illusion and spectacle than on the Platonic forms’ embodiment of pure ideals. But because Baroque was able to communicate non-architectural ideas, it came into contact with a variety of ideas, from mathematical discoveries to political Absolutism.
Key buildings-
San Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, Italy, 1658-70
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, 1633-67
Absolutism
The architecture of the strong European kings who founded the Absolute kingdoms of the 17th and 18th centuries is known as absoluteism. They used Renaissance statecraft in politics, or what the historian Jacob Burckhardt called “the state as a work of art” in the 19th century. As a result, every facet of statecraft was open to logical analysis, highlighting the tight relationship between politics, art, and architecture. Principles from the Renaissance are similarly developed in absoluteist architecture.
Key buildings-
Chateau de Versailles, Paris, France, 1661-78
Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia, 1754-62
Anglican Empricism
Anglican Empiricism is a creative and lavishly ornamented variation of the architectural styles known as Classicism that first appeared in England around the end of the 17th century. It shares certain similarities with Baroque in how the Classical language is used for practical and political purposes. Whereas the Baroque emphasised Roman Catholic dogma and readily assimilated into Absolutism, Anglican Empiricism developed around the restored Church of England as a new aristocratic oligarchy rose to power and scientific advancements challenged long-held assumptions.
Key buildings-
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England, 1664-9
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxon, England, 1705-20
Rococo
The richness of adornment and free-flowing forms that Baroque builders contributed to the Classical language are taken to even greater heights of deception and sensory stimulation by the Rococo movement. It emphasises the enigmatic and intuitive aspects of faith and is closely identified with the Roman Catholic world, in especially the Holy Roman Empire and southern Germany. It gave rise to countless cathedrals, monasteries, and palaces for electors and other rulers.
Key buildings-
Vierzehnheiligen, Bavaria, Germany,1743-72
Zwinger Palace, Dresden, Germany,1711-22
Palladianism
When Inigo Jones visited Italy in the early 1600s, he encountered Vicenzo Scamozzi, the ageing assistant of the Mannerist master, and brought Vicenzo’s architecture to England. A century later, Lord Burlington and other architects modified Palladian ideas to suit the social and environmental needs of England. Palladio and Palladianism were influenced by them, and this led to the great English country-house building era of the 18th century.
Key buildings-
Chiswick House, London, England, 1725-9
Holkham Hall, Norfolk, from 1734
Georgian Urbanism
London, Edinburgh, and Bath altered the parameters of classical urban planning in the 18th century. In order to give new urban areas a feeling of Classical grandeur and hierarchy, architects expanded their repertory of streets, squares, and crescents while working on a huge scale and within the limits of speculative construction. Even while individual structures were frequently plainly constructed with little ornamentation and tailored to regional economic and topographical limitations, their placement within an overarching ensemble allowed them to retain a Classical aesthetic.
Key buildings-
Bedford Square, London, England, 1775
Royal Crescent, Bath, England, 1767-71
Early Modern
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism developed as a reaction to the perception that Baroque and Rococo styles in architecture had strayed too far from the genre’s roots and the ensuing curiosity about those roots. Archaeological findings and logical reasoning, both products of the Enlightenment intellectual atmosphere, were helpful in this endeavour.
Key buildings-
Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany, 1824-8
Panthéon (formerly Sainte Geneviève), Paris, France, from 1756
Exoticism
Architecture was able to provide new aesthetic effects and convey different interactions with nature than was feasible in the Classical tradition because to purposefully created asymmetry and attractive composition. However, a fascination with non-Classical architecture prompted some architects to start looking at Gothic, Indian, and Chinese buildings. Immediate antecedents came from landscape painters like Claude Lorrain as well as literary sources.
Key buildings-
Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England, 1815-23
Pagoda, Kew Gardens, London, England, 1757-62
Sublimism
The traditional meanings and associations of conventional architectural styles and forms came under scrutiny during the 18th century as aesthetics emerged as a study. But aesthetics also broadened architecture’s expressive potential by investigating the ways in which art evokes both intellectual and sensory responses. Sublimism makes use of these fresh possibilities.
Key buildings-
Barrière de la Villette, Paris, France, 1785-9
Breakfast Parlour, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, England, 1812
Structural Rationalism
Architectural theorists jumped at the possibility to make a fetish out of practical mathematics once it was feasible to compute the lines of force inside a structure. Neoclassicism, the Gothic Revival, and Modernism are connected by the intellectual gymnastics required to preserve this.
Key buildings-
Stock Exchange, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1897-1903
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France, 1860-8
Materialism
The architects of the middle of the 19th century struggled with the issue of whether iron and glass were suitable construction materials, and because new building types like railroad stations required their usage, this issue could not be disregarded. The main question was whether the materials should be modified to match the architectural canons that had developed over millennia around stone and timber or whether their constructional potential should be explored without consideration of tradition.
Key buildings-
Palm House, Kew Gardens, London, England, 1849
Natural History Museum, Oxford, England, 1854-8
Medievalism
According to medievalists, either Enlightenment thought or industrialization had undermined the moral values that Medieval civilization demonstrated. Even if it were impossible to replicate that civilization, it would still be beneficial to transmit those values among people who created the artefacts as well as those who utilised and observed them. A distinct moral and didactic turn was made in aesthetics.
Key buildings-
All Saints, Margaret Street, London, England, 1850-59
Royal Courts of Justice, London, England, 1868-82
Victorianism
Gothic and Classical clash in Victorian architecture, which is sometimes described as a war of the styles. The fight, however, truly went far deeper than this, in the intense desire to integrate modern technology and social change into architectural heritage.
Key buildings-
Keble College, Oxford University, England, 1868-82
St Pancras Station, London, England, 1868-74, and (train shed), 1863-5
Monumental Urbanism
Due to the 19th century’s enormous urbanisation, new building styles were created as a result of altered construction techniques, changes in economic and social activity, and demands for new institutions, streets, and views were sparked by social and political turmoil. Due to the inability of concepts of cities as they had developed since the Renaissance to address these issues, architects and urban planners began to explore alternative forms of urbanism.
Key buildings-
Opera Garnier, Paris, France, 1861-74
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria, 1869
Anti-Urbanism
Although the filth of industrial towns looked preferable to country life, it was very difficult to distinguish between real aspirations for social improvement and longing for the social interactions of a pre-industrial civilization. At the conclusion of the 19th century, architecture represented this conflict between modern aspirations and conventional looks.
Key buildings-
Waldbuhl House, Uzwil, Switzerland, 1907-11
The Red House, Bexleyheath, England, 1859
Decorative Industrialism
Beginning in the late 19th century, architects started to understand that industrially manufactured materials might be used to generate new ornamental languages in addition to producing previously unheard-of forms and structures. This capacity to inject “soul,” or creative substance, into the lifeless and generally impersonal products of industrialism was encouraged by new aesthetic theories, and it opened the way to new synthesises between material things and ideas.
Key buildings-
Carson Pirie Scott department store, Chicago, Illinois, US, 1899
Metro entrance, Porte Dauphine, Paris, France, 1900
Imperialism
Colonialism brought European and non-European cultures into contact with one another, causing sporadic effects on their various architectural traditions. Imperialism describes the architecture in the colonies themselves, where such contact was most intense and reflected the complicated interaction between rulers and ruled. As the aesthetic syntheses became more sophisticated, architecture increasingly became an explicit tool of Imperial policy.
Key buildings-
Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, India, 1912-30
Union Buildings, Pretoria, South Africa, 1909-12
Modernism
Expressionism
The concept that a structure may express a unique idea or thinking without the interference of architectural traditions or styles gave rise to expressionism, which is more of a state of mind than a specific architectural trend. Its capacity for dramatic gestures became clear right away after World War I, when it served as a rallying point for what would later become Modern architecture.
Key buildings-
Einstein Tower, Potsdam, Germany, 1917-21
Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, 1956-73
Usonianism
In order to express what he believed to be the really American ideals of his comparatively inexpensive houses from the 1930s, Frank Lloyd Wright invented the term “Usonian from the US.” He was at the vanguard of efforts to find an architecture that conveyed both national and current concepts for a large portion of his lengthy career as the foremost architect in the US.
Key buildings-
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, US, 1951-4
Greg Affleck House, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, US, 1941
Constructivism
Of the radical architectural movements that flourished briefly in the Soviet Union between the October Revolution of 1917 and the implementation of Socialist Realism at the end of the 1920s, constructivism has had the longest-lasting impact. Although they are primarily abstract and purposefully non-referential, some of the examples show the powerful forms of heavy engineering, which may imply that traditional Russian ideals may be replaced by romanticised science as the spiritual substance of art.
Key building-
Monument to the Third International, 1920
Purism
The upheavals in Parisian visual culture that began with Impressionism prompted an instant response from architects, but the early products were sometimes diverse and muddled, making it difficult to identify certain ‘isms’ that had influenced them. On the other hand, Modern art and architecture evolved styles that obviously shared similar components in the post-Cubist 1920s, partly thanks to Le Corbusier.
Key buildings-
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France, 1929-31
Penguin Pool, Regent’s Park Zoo, London, England, 1934
Rationalism
Two events at the beginning of the 20th century made the connection between architecture and Rationalism quite clear. Rationalism gained a new aesthetic dimension by enabling the construction of structures solely from components created in factories. Meanwhile, medical research offered potential treatments for human ailments, and adopting these treatments became morally required. One result of the fusion of social commitment and technological advancement was architectural rationalism.
Key buildings-
Houses, Weissenhofseidlung, Stuttgart, Germany, 1927
Bauhaus Dessau, Germany, 1926
Functionalism
The idea that forms may be produced expressly to fit the purposes they perform is known as functionalism. This gave formal creativity a purportedly objective foundation and claimed that architecture may originate from human needs rather than custom or hierarchy. It immediately rose to the top of the most delicate Modernism-related issues, where it still stands.
Key buildings-
Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany, 1960-3
Town Hall, Seinäjoki, Finland, 1958-60
Skyscraperism
Building high rises is increasingly desirable when land values increase. Since the late 19th century, skyscrapers have benefited from the inventiveness of architects to address the tension between commerce and art as well as the unique technical and aesthetic problems of tall structures.
Key buildings-
Chrysler Building, New York, US, 1930
Seagram Building, New York, 1954-8
Totalitarianism
The scope of the technological resources that totalitarian governments possessed set them apart from past political tyrannies, as well as the level of control they could exert. The results show an underlying conflict in their ideology between trying to demonstrate their scientific capability and invoke historical and patriotic allusions. They possessed the resources and the drive to organise enormous troops to further their power.
Key buildings-
Lomonosov University, Moscow, Russia, 1947-52
Casa del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932-6
Corporatism
The branch of architecture known as corporatism first appeared in the late 19th century and developed to satisfy the practical and aesthetic requirements of huge corporations. The US established the standard for corporate governance and building technology, opening the door for new types of design to meet the practical and aesthetic requirements of huge enterprises. Despite sharing similarities with functionalism and rationalism, corporatism has a unique personality due to the particular impact of American corporations.
Key buildings-
Johnson Wax Headquarters, Racine, Wisconsin, US, 1936-9 (laboratory tower 1944-50)
Lever House, Park Avenue, New York, US, 1952
Brutalism
Although the term “brutalism” is sometimes used to refer to any unfavourable postwar architecture, it actually has more particular roots and a more narrow connotation. A group of young British architects led by Peter and Alison Smithson were originally referred to as practising “the New Brutalism” in 1954. This movement was characterised by an obsession with the unprocessed expression of materials, shapes, and functions.
Key buildings-
Hunstanton School, Norfolk, England, 1949-54
La Tourette Monastery, Eveux-sur-l’Arbresle, France, 1957-60
Beyond Modernism
Structuralism
Structuralism made the claim that underlying patterns of social relationships and human behaviour could serve as a basis for architectural form, avoiding the sterile and technologically-driven anonymity of conventional Modernism. It did this by drawing on anthropological insights, particularly those of Claude Levi-Strauss.
Key building-
Centraal Beheer Office, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, 1970-2
Regionalism
Regionalism emerged as a response to Modernism’s homogeneity despite significant climatic and socioeconomic variance. The dedication to creating designs that adapt to local conditions, frequently relying on indigenous traditions as well as Modernism, unites Regionalism’s expressions into a cohesive tendency, if not a formal movement, despite the fact that by definition it differs according to region.
Key buildings-
Parliament Building, Kotte (outside Colombo), Sri Lanka, 1979-82
Niteroi Museum of Contemporary Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1991-6
Metabolism
The Metabolists were a group of gifted and intellectually powerful Japanese architects who came of age in the early years following World War II and were founded in 1960. The group’s objectives mirrored and addressed the anxieties of a country experiencing fast economic development and technological change, and by working together, they gave Japanese architecture in general a platform from which to exert global influence.
Key buildings-
Nagakin Capsule Tower, Tokyo, Japan, 1972
City Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 1991
Post-Modernism
Postmodernism, as applied to architecture, describes a number of movements that emerged starting in the 1960s and aimed to expand the variety of references and meanings that building might transmit, something that Modernist dogma appeared to inhibit. Although the trends’ origins ranged from pure historical allusion to popular culture, they were all united by a dedication to diversity in both form and meaning. Postmodernism started outlining in certain forms how architecture may reconnect with location, custom, and community.
Key buildings-
Vanna Venturi House, Chestnut Hill, Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, US, 1964
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany, 1977-84
Technoism
The connection between architecture and technology during this time period was altered by the 1950s’ rising popularity of consumer electronics and science-fiction visuals. Technoism is a term used to describe how architects attempted to reconcile fantastical ideas with the practical opportunities that modern technology brought.
Key buildings-
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1971-7
Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1978
Neo-Rationalism
Neo-Rationalism is distinct from its predecessors in that it regards historic European city patterns as the foundation for architecture rather than structure or abstract form. These cities’ growth is said to be based on underlying, more-or-less permanent forms that endure even as their functions alter. These simplified shapes become the fundamental components of new designs since they serve as communicators of cultural ideas and values.
Key buildings-
San Cataldo Cemetery, Modena, Italy from 1980
Galician Centre for Contemporary Art, Santiago de Compostella, Spain, 1988-93
Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism, an awkward synthesis of Constructivism and Jacques Derrida’s literary idea of deconstruction, sought to find points of convergence between new formal creativity and initiatives to broaden the theoretical foundation of architecture. In response to the obvious flaws and ultimate demise of Modernist traditions, both tendencies arose in the 1980s.
Key buildings-
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1997
Science Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany, 2005
Ecoism
Exponents of “high tech” moved to ecoism as doubts about technology’s ability to create form on its own emerged. Contrarily, sustainability offers an unquestionable moral imperative that may support novel approaches to the shape and usage of materials, frequently informing the design process via computer simulations.
Key buildings-
Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, Nouméa, New Caledonia, 1991-8
Office Building, Stockley Park, London, England, 1990
Metarationalism
When complexity science, with its capacity to defy traditional structural logic, and economist James Galbraith’s belief that there is no meaningful distinction between luxury and need in an affluent culture, architecture is transformed into metarationalism. As a result, there is a feast of consumerist pleasures offered in astonishingly intricate forms.
Key buildings-
Tods Store, Tokyo, Japan, 2004
Congrexpo (Lille Grand Palais), Lille, France, 1994
References:
Melvin, J. (2006) Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles. New York, NY: Universe.
Wikipedia.com [Online]
Available at-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_style
