One of the ideas I find really interesting about postmodern theory is the idea of pastiche—of “borrowing” elements from the past and basically cutting and pasting them together in new, creative ways in order to create an entirely new and unique artifact, but one that still serves as a kind of perpetual quotation (or homage) of all those that came before it. It is impersonating with irony.This is one of the main elements present in postmodern architecture, which is really where postmodernism began insofar as its manifestation in society and culture.
In many ways, one of the primary aesthetic goals of postmodern architecture is to appear as a pastiche of other forms of past architecture—perhaps an all-glass office building might feature marble Roman columns at the entranceway, or another glass structure (indicating a public space) might feature Egyptian and Baroque motifs.This creates a kind of hodge-podge of design—once again, a cutting and pasting of things from the past done in a way that is playful and self-referential, with nothing but absolute straight-faced irony. Double-coding is another element in postmodern theory that I find interesting, which is basically a term used to describe the playful juxtapositions that are made in postmodern theory and design that lead to the merging of irony, ambiguity, and contradiction, staging the dissonance in play between the past and the present (postmodernism is big on the concept of “play”).Postmodern architecture uses these principles of double-coding: putting together two different styles of two different periods, or using new techniques with old patterns, to create a sense of dissonance (the theory behind the visual representation of pastiche). In the architecture, contrary to what might be assumed, there is not a rejection of Modernist architecture, instead opting only for a throw-back to the past; postmodern architecture uses Modernism but goes beyond it.
They may take the Modernist principles of simplicity form and functionality and apply it to a design that is also pluralistic and radically eclectic. This is the nature of double-coding—combining the contemporary with the antique, the functional with the decorative, reinterpreting the past and playfully mocking it, celebrating irony and difference. One additional element of postmodern theory as it can be applied to postmodern architecture that I find of particular importance is the idea of the lack of center.In postmodern theory, the concept of the “decentering” of reality is of critical importance especially in deconstruction theory. Decentering refers to the idea that in society there are certain things that are held as “Truths”—captial “T”—that are immutable and serve as the absolute answers to all questions. The problem with centers (“Truths”) is that they tend to be exclusionary, ignoring or marginalizing Others (“Otherness” is another topic which postmodern theory is highly interested in).
While a building cannot in itself call to task the marginalization of Others as the result of Western cultures fixation on “centers,” it can physically manifest this rejection of centers in its design. There are certain postmodern buildings in existence now—the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, the Renaissance Center in Detroit—which have no “absolute” center: the buildings are designed in a way that is daunting; one can never really know if one has seen the building on all sides and levels because everything is sectioned off, one staircase leading the Level 4 but not 2 or 3, the other leading to 2 and 5 but not 3 or 4, etc.There is no epicenter, no “main lobby,” that gives visitors the opportunity to “get their bearings” and know where they are. Instead, these buildings are seemingly endless, with every corridor leading to somewhere new and leaving a person unsure if he’ll be able to find his way back the same way he came.
This is the decentering of design—a rejection of the idea that there needs to be a center in a large public domain.
