Post Modernism

 With oil embargos causing a global recession, luxurious items and lifestyle began to decline. In the 1980s when global economics began to rise again people started to become greedy this came about in art, design, architecture, and fashion. The post modern style revolted against the modernist style and began to become more focused on the environment when it came to design, recycling and DIY began to grow in popularity. The Memphis Movement began to take over with a more eclectic style where the boundaries of scale and order in design were greatly tested. This style was inspired by Art Deco and Art Pop to create this unique quirky style that was a very distinct revolt against modernist design. 


One Step Further:

Michael Graves was apart of the New York Five and truly stood out to me because of his designs and thought process behind the designs. Graves was an architect that embraced decorative detailing using strong colors and forms throughout. He often used colors reminiscent of nature to make the building blend in with nature more as opposed to contrasting nature. He favored steel and glass in his designs and let the materials unfinished so the natural colors would be seen. Something that stood out to me about Graves was he helped to bring awareness to accessibility within the interior of his spaces. This is something that is crucial to design for the comfort of all people so it was very interesting to learn about architects that helped pioneer the movement. In addition to his architectural works Graves also designed furniture and household products. 




Modern Applications

Applications 1: This design is reminiscent of the Memphis Movement using fun bright colors and playing with the sizes and proportions of the elements within the room. 


Applications 2:

This design depicts the more eclectic side of the Memphis movement, where pieces were not always similar to one another and created tension and visual intrigue within the space. 

 


Comments

  1. Dezaray MillerApril 15, 2022 at 7:37 AM

    Meaghan,
    I like how you mentioned that the boundaries of scale and order were tested. Michael graves is a great example of this with his contrasting proportions and shapes with his exteriors. I loved your examples, the second to last one stood out to me because of its analogous color scheme that units it, where the different forms and pieces are all different.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Professor VanderNoordaaApril 15, 2022 at 12:27 PM

    Meaghan,
    Interesting post of Post Modernism. I appreciate you mentioning the influence of global economics on this design period. Also the development of the DIY movement - which lead to popular TV shows and the whole HGTV movement. Your modern examples reminiscent of the Memphis Style were excellent. The pop of colors and play of proportions were fun.
    Finally, featuring Michael Graves in your "one step further" section was perfect. Total Points: 50/50.

    ReplyDelete

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