Influenced by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, the
deconstructive postmodernism in architecture begins in 1980s. Based on
his 1966 paper, he described deconstruction is “attempt to open a text
(literary, philosophical, or otherwise) to several meanings and
interpretations.” Although its influence on literary studies is
probably the most well-known and well-reported effect of
deconstruction, it contributed the architecture design field
significantly in 1980s, especially his concepts of metaphysics of
presence and deconstruction.
MOMA’s 1988 Deconstructive Architecture
exhibition in New York displayed Philip Johason and Mark Wigley’s
deconstructive architecture design projects. Similar as the
deconstructive movement with Andy Warhol, deconstruction in
Architecture gains its force by challenging the values of traditional
architectural harmony, unity, and stability. By infiltrate the
architectural forms with skewed geometry, the traditional condition of
the architectural objects is radically disturbed. The deconstruction
process “produced decorative effects, and aesthetics of danger, and
almost picturesque representation of peril, but not a tangible threat.”
It disrupted the division between interior and exterior, the
connections between the forms and the context.
It is quite
interesting to compare Andy Warhol’s deconstructive philosophy with the
deconstructive architects in 1980s. Warhol abandoned the originality
and authenticity, focus on mechanisms of form. Deconstructive
architecture abandoned the formal structure hierarchy and purity of
form. However, the deconstructive architecture lack of consistency
after 1980s. It blended more and more with expressionism influenced
expressionist architecture and other art movement. Today, some famous
architects such as Frank Gehry even rejected the classification of
their works as deconstructive. As a movement in the postmodernism in
architecture, deconstructive architecture is over.
Parc de la Villette
In
urban park Parc de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi designed a sequence of
folies, named as ‘event space’. They are a number of abstract,
programless structures. The rigid grid of red follies create reference
points and are non-contextual in their form and color. The forms of the
follies become signifiers as opposed to signified (which carries
meaning) in order to mean nothing. The process of shaping the follies,
and the ideas extrinsic to them, represents a conscious reaction to
multiple meanings associated with Jaques Derrida's philosophy of
metaphysics of presence and deconstruction.
Although
certain architecture philosophies such as sustainable architecture,
organic architecture and vernacular architecture have common ground
with re-constructive postmodernism regarding their reconnection with
mother earth, or the spiritual approach, it is quite difficult to
describe it in a coherence movement. It never reached the physiological
depth as Joseph Beuy’s experimented such as his 7000 Oaks
installations. Here I would like to go back to postmodern painting and
discuses the abstraction work from Terry Winters in the context of
reconstructive. Terry Winters was born in 1949 in Brooklyn, NY. Just as
Beuye interest to biological form, mathematics natural science which is
independent from fashion and pop culture. Winters’s work always
recalled me the dynamic forms from fractural, recursion and magnetic
filed.
Philop Johnson and Mark Wigley. Deconstructivest Archtiecture, The Musuem of Modern Art (New York) 1988.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Derrida
http://www.archidose.org/Feb99/020199.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Terry_Winters/Winters_relief.htm
