This presentation contains the 13 propositions that Charles Jencks had prepared, as a summary, to introduce his students at UCLA, to the topic of Post-Modernism. The Slides were prepared by-Shanya Gupta, Nitin Sahu, Anshuman Abhisek Mishra : 4th sem B. Arch students at SPA, Bhopal.

1. 13
PROPOSITIONS OF POST- MODERN
ARCHITECTURE
CHARLES JENCKS

2. WHAT IS
POST - MODERNISM?

3. Pruitt Igoe, Urban Housing Project, Missouri, U.S. (1954) Demolished in 1976

4. • Return of ‘wit, ornament and reference’
• Expressive and symbolic value of architectural
elements
• Equal importance to the aesthetics
• ‘The Age of Lost innocence’

5. Michael Graves, Portland Building, Oregon, 1982

6. Philip Johnson
The main entrance
Sony Building (formerly, the At&T Building), Manhattan (1984)

7. THE PROPOSITIONS

8. 1. MULTIVALENCE
• Multivalence is preferred to univalence,
imagination to fancy
• Literally means, having multiple values
• Values in terms of form, function and
aesthetics of a building
• Modernism focuses on more of the functional
value completely ignoring the aesthetics.

9. Chakravarty house, New Delhi
Romi Khosla

10. 2. COMPLEXITY & CONTRADICTION
• Complexity and contradiction are preferred to
over simplicity and ‘Minimalism’
• Minimalism considered as boring and bland

11. Hall of Nations, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Raj Rewal

12. 3.
• Complexity and chaos theories are considered
more basic in explaining nature than linear
dynamics; that is, ‘more of nature’ is non
linear in behaviour than linear

13. 4. MEMORY & HISTORY
• Memory and history are inevitable in DNA,
language, style and the city and are positive
catalysts for invention
• Using elements from the past or inculcating
elements of historical importance in the building

14. Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalya, Ahemdabad, Gujarat
Charles Correa

15. 5. CODING & SYMBOLISM
• All architecture is invented and perceived
through codes, hence the languages of
architecture and symbolic architecture, hence
the double coding of architecture within the
codes of both the professional and populace

16. Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur
Charles Correa
plan

17. 6. RADICAL ECLECTICISM
• All codes are influenced by a semiotic
community and various taste cultures, hence
the need in a pluralist culture for a design
based on radical eclecticism
• Use of elements originating from the tradition
or culture

18. 7. UNIVERSAL IN NATURE
• Architecture is a public language, hence the
need for a Post Modern Classicism which is
partly based on architectural universals and a
changing technology

19. IIM, Ahemdabad
Louis I Kahn

20. 8. ORNAMENTATION
• Necessitates ornament (or pattern) which
should be symbolic and symphonic, hence the
relevance of information theory
• Using various elements like trompe l’oeil – art
of creating an illusion of space or depths
where none actually exists

21. Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi
Joseph Allen Stein

22. 9. METAPHOR
• Necessitates metaphor and this should relate
us to natural and cultural concerns, hence the
explosion of zoomorphic imagery, face houses
and scientific iconography instead of
‘machines for living’

23. Amdavad Ni Gufa,
Ahemdabad
B.V. Doshi

24. 10. CONTEXTUALISM
• Architecture must form the city, hence
Contextualism, Collage City, Neo- Rationalism,
small – block planning, and mixed uses and
ages of buildings.
• A building must belong to a city or a place

25. Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
Charles Correa

26. 11. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
• Must crystallise social reality and in the global
city today, the Heteropolis, that very much
means the pluralism of ethnic groups, hence
participatory design and adhocism

27. Belapur housing, Bombay
Charles Correa

28. 12. GREEN ARCHITECTURE
• Must confront the ecological reality and that
means sustainable development, green
architecture and cosmic symbolism

29. Indian Habitat Center, New Delhi
Joseph Allen Stein

30. 13. COSMOGENIC ARCHITECTURE
• A need for an architecture which celebrates
criticism, process and humour
• Architecture must expand and evolve with
time

31. Thank You