The Disowned Child Of Robert Venturi

Postmodernism - The Disowned Child of
Robert Venturi by Shane Davis
Before I began to write this essay, I conducted a small survey in a class comprised of nine students, all who have studied Modern architecture to some extent. When asked, “Who is considered to be the father of Postmodern architecture?” nine out of nine students quickly but uncertainly answered, “Robert Venturi?” This generallyindecisive response is a fitting reaction to a question concerning Postmodern anything, as the term is one that evokes ambiguity and frustration. However, for the time being I am less concerned with the tone of my subjects’ voice, than their actual answer to the question. It is also necessary to point out the way in which I formulated this query. For this essay in particular, the fact that I asked“Who is considered..” rather than “Who is..” is significant since my argument is concerned with both theory and practice. So the question, remains. Can we accept the notion that Robert Venturi is considered by those with knowledge of architectural discourse, to be the father of Postmodern architecture? Although Wikipedia is not necessarily indicative of the views of the world’s leadingarchitectural historians, it is relevant to point out that Robert Venturi has his own section in the article titled Postmodern architecture. This being true, it is safe to say that he is considered a significant individual in Postmodern architecture at least by the general public. In a more scholarly context, Dean Maxwell confidently stated that “the application of semiotics to architecture began in thesixties and was given a tremendous boost by Learning from Las Vegas, Robert Venturi's notorious 1972 manifesto glorifying the semantic richness of the urban strip. Venturi 'crossed semiotics and communication and produced Postmodernism.1” In New Directions in American Architecture, Robert A.M. Stem asserted that "Venturi and Charles W. Moore laid the foundation of post-modernism in their emphasis on'meaning' and their recognition of the dysfunction between a reductive architecture and a complex culture.2" The book Towards Post-Modernism by Michael Collins credited Venturi as being a "major exponent of Post-Modernism and Post- Modem Classicism” and had "emerged as the leader of American Post Modem Architecture and design.3” It is apparent that Venturi is considered by many architecturaltheorists and practitioners alike to be a significant figure in, if not the father of, the Postmodern movement. What the majority of students do not know is that Venturi has publicly denied both of these claims. Venturi's essay, A Bas Postmodernism, of Course, begins
“I am not now and never have been a postmodernist and I unequivocally disavow fatherhood of this architectural movement. The reactionagainst it by the architectural and critical establishment in the early 1990s I can understand; however I disagree with the Neomod, the modem-revival or modem dramatique style that has replaced it.”4
1 Leon, Gerard. Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown!s Confrontation with Postmodernity. Undergraduate Humanities Forum. University of Pennsylvania. 2006
2 Sterne, Robert A.M. New Directions inAmerican Architecture. New York:Brazilier 1997 3 Collins, Michael. Towards Post-Modernism: Decorative Arts and Design since 1851. Boston:Little Brown
and Company. 1987
4 Venturi, Robert. A Bas Postmodernism, of Course. Postmodernism. What Moment? ed. Goulimari, Pelagia. Manchester University Press.2008
This essay aims to examine Venturi’s work, as well his claims against those who have deemed him aconsequential, if not the most significant player in the Postmodern movement. I will particularly investigate the Trabant University Center at the University of Delaware, in the context of Postmodern architectural understanding. The Trabant University Center embodies the ideology and visual formula that Venturi outlines in both Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, and Learning from Las...