Behind the Postmodern Facade: Architectural Change in Late Twentieth-Century America

Behind the Postmodern Facade: Architectural Change in Late Twentieth-Century America By Magali Sarfatti Larson
Publisher: University of California Press 1995 | 360 Pages | ISBN: 0520201612; 9780520201613 | PDF | 1.4 MB
Magali Larson’s comprehensive study explores how architecture “happens” and what has become of the profession in the postmodern era. Drawing from extensive interviews with pivotal architects–from Philip Johnson, who was among the first to introduce European modernism to America, to Peter Eisenman, identified with a new “deconstructionist” style–she analyzes the complex tensions that exist between economic interest, professional status, and architectural product. She investigates the symbolic awards and recognition accorded by prestigious journals and panels, exposing the inner workings of a profession in a precarious social position. Larson captures the struggles around status, place, and power as architects seek to redefine their very purpose in contemporary America.
The author’s novel approach in synthesizing sociological research and theory proposes nothing less than a new cultural history of architecture. This is a ground-breaking contribution to the study of culture and the sociology of knowledge, as well as to architectural and urban history.
This book’s major contribution to architectural theory and sociology is Larson’s analysis of the development, acceptance, and influence of postmodernism as discerned through its adherents’ beliefs. The author delves deeply into the philosophical tenets of major architects and offers a penetrating analysis of how these major practitioners think, talk, and work. Larson portrays the architect as participant in the drama of postmodernism and chronicles these people’s struggles as they attempt to come to terms with this new encroaching philosophy and the wants and needs of their clients. This book’s approach makes it a welcome addition to the field of philosophy as well as sociology and architecture. Recommended for academic libraries.

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