Architects can no longer afford to

be intimidated by the puritanically

moral language of orthodox
Modern architecture.
Robert Venturi

Robert
Venturi
BORN: June 25, 1925 (age 88)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AWARDS: Pritzker Prize (1991)
Vincent Scully Prize (2002)
FOUNDING PRINCIPAL of the firm
Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates.
SCHOOL: Episcopal Academy in
Merion, Pennsylvania.
GRADUATION: Princeton University,
won the D'Amato Prize in Architecture.
WORK EXPERIENCE: Eero Saarinen
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Louis
Kahn in Philadelphia.

His vision
I like elements which are hybrid rather than pure, compromising rather than
clean, distorted rather than straightforward, ambiguous rather than
articulated, perverse as well as impersonal, boring as well as interesting,
conventional rather than designed, accommodating rather than excluding,
redundant rather than simple, vestigial as well as innovating, inconsistent and
equivocal rather than direct and clear. I am for messy vitality over obvious unity.
I include the non sequitor and proclaim the duality.

Architecture

VENTURI'S BUILDINGS TYPICALLY JUXTAPOSE ARCHITECTURAL

SYSTEMS, ELEMENTS AND AIMS, TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CONFLICTS
OFTEN INHERENT IN A PROJECT OR SITE.

ROBERT VENTURI IS KNOWN FOR INCORPORATING STYLIZED

CULTURAL ICONS INTO HIS BUILDINGS.

HOWEVER, VENTURI IS RECOGNIZED FOR MUCH MORE THAN

POSTMODERNIST DESIGNS.

THE FIRM HAS COMPLETED MORE THAN 400 PROJECTS, EACH

UNIQUELY SUITED TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF THE CLIENTS.

WORKS OF ROBERT VENTURI

GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE
RESIDENCE
ARCHTEICTURAL
POSTMODERN
STYLE

1. VANNA

VENTURI

HOUSE
TOWN OR CITY

PHILADELPHIA,
PENNSYLVANIA
UNITED STATES

COUNTRY
CONSTRUCTION
1959 (DESIGN)
STARTED
COMPLETED
1964
COST
$43,000
CLIENTTECHNICAL
VANNA
VENTURI
DETAILS
STRUCTURAL
SYSTEM

LIGHT WOOD
FRAME

FLOOR COUNT

2 PLUS BASEMENT

FLOOR AREA

1,800 SQ FT (170 M2)

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

The five room house stands only about 30 feet (9 m) tall at the top of the
chimney, but has a monumental front faade.
A non-structural applique arch and "hole in the wall" windows, among
other elements, were challenge to modernist orthodoxy.
The house is designed around a chimney that is centralised and goes all the
way to the top of the house.
Externally, they house is built symmetrical.
Venturi has distorted this idea of symmetry.
There is also a basement underneath the house that is often not covered by
people.

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE DETAILED

SECTION

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE FRONT

ELEVATION

VANNA
VENTURI
ELEVATION

HOUSE

REAR

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE HOUSE ARE A REACTION AGAINST
STANDARD MODERNIST ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS:
- PITCHED ROOF RATHER THAN FLAT ROOF,
- EMPHASIS ON CENTRAL HEARTH & CHIMNEY,
- CLOSED GROUND FLOOR
- ON THE FRONT ELEVATION THE BROKEN PEDIMENT OR GABLE & A
PURELY ORNAMENTAL APPLIQUE ARCH
-

HOUSE IS A COMPOSITION OF RECTANGULAR, CURVILINEAR, AND

DIAGONAL ELEMENTS COMING TOGETHER (OR SOMETIMES
JUXTAPOSING EACH OTHER) IN A WAY THAT INARGUABLY CREATES
COMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTION.

- VENTURI EXPERIMENTED WITH SCALE. INSIDE THE HOUSE CERTAIN

ELEMENTS ARE TOO BIG,
- VENTURI ALSO MINIMIZED CIRCULATION SPACE IN THE DESIGN OF THE
HOUSE,

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE INTERIORS

ENTURI HOUSE
ARCH

FRONT GABLED

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE STAIRACSE

LEADING TO UPPER FLOORS

VANNA VENTURI HOUSE DRAWING

ROOM AREA

works of ROBERT
VENTURI

2. PROVINCIAL CAPITOL BUILDING

GENERAL INFORMATION
GOVERNMENT
TYPE
OFFICES
ARCHITECTURAL
POSTMODERN
STYLE
TOWN OR CITY TOULOUSE
COUNTRY
FRANCE
COMPLETETION 1999
COST
$80,000,000
CLIENT

DEPARTMENT
OF HAUTEGARONNE

FLOOR AREA
760,000 SQ FEET
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
PROVINCIAL CAPITOL BUILDING

ARCHITECT

VENTURI, SCOTT
BROWN AND
ASSOCIATES

The building consists of an administrative

and legislative complex including offices,
the legislative assembly chamber, public
services, various public and governmental
support spaces, three levels of
underground parking for public and staff,
and outdoor and indoor ceremonial
spaces.

PROVINCIAL CAPITOL BUILDING

SITE PLAN

Today the capitol houses the city

hall, as well as the thtre du
capitole de toulouse opera company
and a symphony orchestra
PROVINCIAL CAPITOL BUILDING FLOOR
PLAN

DESIGN

TWO SLENDER SIX-STORY WINGS OF FLEXIBLE LOFT SPACE LINKED

BY TWO GLASS-CLAD BRIDGES.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDINGS FRAME A PEDESTRIAN WAY, A "CIVIC

STREET"

THE CRESCENT-SHAPED PUBLIC SPACE ALONG THIS CIVIC STREET,

THE FOCUS OF BUILDINGS.

THE SURFACES OF THE INTERIOR COURT CONTAIN THE SAME

WINDOWS, AND ARE OF BRICK.

IMPORTANT FORMS SUCH AS THOSE OF THE HALL D'HONNEUR

AND SALLE DU CONSEIL GNRAL ARE SHEATHED IN GLASS
CURTAIN WALLS.

VIEW INTO THE COURTYARD

INTERIOR OF ASSEMBLY
HALL

THE COURTYARD

EXTERIOR OF ASSEMBLY HALL

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

The building's siting in center of site, framed by landscaped park

and gardens, softens its impact in this neighborhood, while
allowing the possibility of future expansion of smaller increments
nearer the perimeter of the site.

A large park facing the canal du midi enhances the neighborhood

and provides a setting for the building along the canal where one
can see the great curved section of the building as a reflection of
the curve of the Garonne in this area, as it flows to the sea.

Covered bridges in glass span the pedestrian street connecting

the two wings of the building at two locations. They offer
dramatic views from within the complex and, by their form and
silhouette, serve as symbolic gateways to the civic crescent.

WORKS OF ROBERT VENTURI

GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE
CHAPEL

3. EPISCOPAL ACADEMY CHAPEL

ARCHITECTURAL POSTMODE
STYLE

RN

TOWN OR CITY

PHILADELP
HIA

COUNTRY

UNITED
STATES

COMPLETETION 2008
COST

$85,00,000

FLOOR AREA

15,000 SQ
FEET

DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION
EPISCOPAL ACADEMY CHAPEL

ARCHITECT

VENTURI,
SCOTT BROWN
AND
ASSOCIATES

EPISCOPAL ACADEMY CHAPEL EXTERIOR

FRONT VIEW

EPISCOPAL ACADEMY CHAPEL PLAN

INTERIOR VIEW

INTERIOR VIEW

DESIGN
Another important issue was lighting. If light shines in at a low level behind you, I
see your silhouette but not you. In traditional Christian churches the windows are
high to avoid this problem. You have to look up to see Gods light. This holds for
our chapel too, and as in Gothic churches, our high windows are clerestories. But
they follow the circular perimeter of the chapel walls. So theyre traditional in
some ways and not others.
VENTURI: Theres ornament on the outside. There's a steeple. It isn't literally a
steeple but has two intersecting, steeple-shaped planes that rise up together.
Theres not too much decoration. This is an irony, given that I have written so
much about bringing ornament, symbolism, and communication back into
architecture. But it didn't make sense here, because even though this is an
Episcopal academy, it welcomes all religions, and the chapel embraces the
spirituality of all students.
FAN SHAPED PLAN ALLOWS WORSHIPPER TO FACE EACH OTHER AS
WELL AS THE
ALTAR.

4. DUCK AND
DECORATED SHEDARCHITECTURE IS

DECORATION OF SHELTER.
Robert Venturi

Concept of Duck and Decorated Sheds were

codified in 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas
by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and
Steven Iznour.
Duck is referred to a building whose system of
space, structure and program are submerged and
distorted by an overall symbolic form.
Decorated Sheds are more like generic structures
which cannot exist without signs and other
applied ornamentation.
The shape of the building foretells about the
activity taking place inside. There is no
involvement of signage and the building is pure
to its form.
DECORATED - They require applied symbols,
buildings are not symbols themselves. They are
ugly and ordinary.

CHARLES WILLARD MOORE

CHARLES WILLARD MOORE IS AN AMERICAN ARCHITECT,
EDUCATOR AND WRITER. CREDITED AS THE INSTIGATOR OF POSTMODERNISM
BORN:

OCTOBER 31, 1925

NATIONALITY: AMERICAN
EDUCATION: UNIVERSTY OF
MICHIGAN(B.ARCH)
PRINCETON
UNIVERSITY
(M.ARCH)
AWARDS:
(1991)

AIA GOLD MEDAL

SOME OF HIS FAMOUS BOOKS

WATER AND ARCHITECTURE
THE PLACE OF HOUSES
DIMENSIONS
BODY MEMORY AND ARCHITECTURE
THE POETICS OF GARDENS
THE CITY OBSERVED: LOS ANGELES
CHAMBERS FOR A MEMORY PALACE

DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF
CHARLES WILLARD MOORE
PRINCIPLE 1
If we are to devote our lives to making buildings, we have to
believe that they are worth it, that they live and speak (of
themselves, and the people who made them and thus inhabit
them), and can receive investments of energy and care from
their inhabitants, and can store those investments, and
return them augmented, bread cast on water come back as
club sandwiches.
Principle 1 speaks of living and speaking places, in which habitation
supports interplay between occupant and structure that leads to a
particular kind of relationship. Good buildings evoke thoughts, feelings
and stories. They convey stories about their location, their
construction, and about the people who made them, have lived in them
and use them.

PRINCIPLE 2
If buildings are to speak, they must have freedom of speech. It
seems to me that one of the most serious dangers to architecture is
that people may just lose interest in it If architecture is to
survive in the human consciousness, then the things buildings can
say, be they wistful or wise or powerful or gently or heretical or
silly, have to respond to the wide range of human feelings.
Postmodernists like Moore wrote passionately about architecture as
communication, as a medium to reflect human experience. It follows that if
buildings can speak about how they were built and about the people who use
them and who built them, then what they say must be unconstrained. This
principle declares the right of freedom of speech for architecture and the
architect. In reaction to the possible perception that modernisms strict
functionalist code stifled freedom of expression, architects must not have their
voices dictated, Moore declares. When an architectural paradigm or period
ends, it must be possible for the architect to express a new collective or
personal voice, without the censorship imposed by a dominant design theory,
paradigm, movement or fashion.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES
In designing the buildings, Charles Willard Moore
EMPHASIZED BODY SENSE
BODY EXPERIENCE EXTENDED
VIEW (FEEL) FROM WITHIN
DRAMATIC
MORE PHILOSOPHICAL
USED UNCONVENTIONAL ELEMENTS TO ACHIEVE HISTORIC
MEMORY

WORKS OF CHARLES MOORE

1. PIAZZA DITALIA

GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE

PUBLIC PLAZA

SPANISH
ARCHITECTURA REVIVAL, ART
L STYLE
DECO AND
POST-MODERN
TOWN OR CITY

LAFAYETTE

COUNTRY

UNITED STATES

COMPLETETION 2003
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ARCHITECT

CHARLES
MOORE

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
The Piazza D'Italia is an urban
public plaza located at Lafayette and
Commerce Streets in downtown
New Orleans, Louisiana.
The location ultimately chosen for
the Piazza DItalia was a city block
sited in the semi-derelict upriver
edge of downtown, four blocks from
Canal Street and the edge of the
French Quarter and three blocks
from the Mississippi River.
PLAN OF PIZZA DITLIA

The central fountain, located in the middle of a city block, was accessed in
two directions: via a tapering, keyhole-shaped passage extending from
Poydras Street, or through an arched opening in the clock tower sited
where Commerce Street terminates at Lafayette Street.

There are six concentric colonnades out of which five of them, represent the five
classical orders of architecture( Doric, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite)
in proper order with the proper capitals, and theres a sixth stylized colonnade in
front, the red one and called The Delicatessen Order(tee hee) which closel
looks like Ironic Order or Dorky Order

THE DELICATESSEN ORDER

WATER FLOW IN PIZZA
DITALIA

WORKS OF CHARLES MOORE

2. BEVERLY HILLS CIVIC

GENERAL INFORMATION
CIVIC
TYPE
CENTER

CENTER
ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE

SPANISH
REVIVAL,
ART DECO
AND POST
MODERN
STYLE

TOWN OR CITY

BEVERLY
HILLS

COUNTRY

CALIFORNI
A

COMPLETETION

1990

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

CHARLES
ARCHITECT
MOORE

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
The most striking aspect of the plan was a string of three colonnaded oval plazas
that established a diagonal axis across the two blocks, tying the civic center to the
business triangle. The plazas transformed the free-standing City Hall into a
background building, putting the emphasis on the open space
Three oval courtyards bounded by tiled arcades are arranged diagonally on a
north-south axis, linking the two city blocks that comprise the civic center.
The court gardens, planted with palms and subtropical plants, are abstractions
of Southern California landscapes
They are connected by a series of fountains and pools fed by a "desert oasis"
represented by a mass of boulders at the sites upper edge.
The use of colorful tile alludes to City Halls tiled dome, and the terraced
courtyard on the buildings western elevation reflects its original design, with
scroll-topped patio walls decorated with urns and two fountains in a symmetrical
garden.

PLAN OF BEVERLY HILLS CIVIC

CENTER

MAP OF BEVERLY HILLS CIVIC CENTER

COURTYARD OF BEVERLY HILLS CIVIC CENTER

PHILIP CORTELYOU JOHNSON

BORN: July 8, 1906
Cleveland, Ohio
AWARDS: Pritzker Prize
AIA award
DIRECTOR of the museum of modern
arts new architecture department.
FOUNDER of the influential department
of architecture and design at moma
GRADUATION: Harvard College, where
he studied classics.
DIED: January 2005.

PHILOSPHY
An emphasis on architectural volume over mass (planes rather than
solidity)
Believed in symmetry.
Rejection of applied decoration.
Architecture as Volume: Skeletal building of columns in opposition to the
Mass of a building, in which the creation of floors supported by piers of
metal or R.C.C allowed for flexibility in plan.
Character of the surface should give a feeling of unbroken surface smooth,
unbroken skin like that of glass, steel stretched over the buildings skeletal
frame.
Use of glass most important element of modern architecture. Glass on the
facade would emphasize the modern character of the building. It would also
give the surface an unbroken feeling. It functions like a window.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
Though he began in the stark style of Mies van der rohes work, by the
1960s he had turned to a more individual style that incorporated historical
elements.
His greatest influence as an architect was his use of glass.
Johnson was among the first to experiment with all-glass facades, and by
the 1980s such buildings had become commonplace the world over.
He eventually rejected much of the metallic appearance of earlier
international style buildings, and began designing spectacular, crystalline
structures uniformly sheathed in glass.
He believes in "architecture is basically the design of interiors, the art of
organizing interior space."
With the later work of the 1970s and 1980s, johnson began to manipulate
both texture and color on the exterior of his larger buildings.

WORKS OF PHILIP JOHNSON

1. GLASS HOUSE
GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE

HOUSE

ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE

POST MODERN
STYLE

TOWN OR CITY

NEW CANAAN

COUNTRY

CONNECTICUT

18
FEBRUARY,1997
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
PHILIP
ARCHITECT
JOHNSON
COMPLETETION

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
One of the world's most beautiful yet least functional houses
Transparent open-plan frame structure which was his own residence.
Is heavily influenced by Mies farnsworth house
Bath in brick cylinder.
Includes outdoor sculpture and a separate blank-walled brick guest house
Spatial divisions in the glass building are achieved by a brick cylinder
containing a bathroom, and by low walnut cabinetsone of them containing
kitchen equipment.
It was a building really expressing many concerns of classic design, from the
elevated placement of an object in a space, to its serene proportion, general
overall symmetry, and combining of a balance of elements.

 The building is 56 feet (17 m) long, 32 feet (9.8 m) wide and 10 feet high.
The kitchen, dining and sleeping areas were all in one glass-enclosed room,
which Johnson initially lived in
The exterior sides of the Glass House are charcoal-painted steel and glass.
The brick floor is about 10 inches above the ground.
The interior is open with the space
divided by low walnut cabinets; a
brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor
to ceiling.

SITE PLAN

THE SEAGRGAM BUILDING

GENERAL INFORMATION
COMMERCIAL
TYPE
OFFICE TOWER
ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE

POST MODERN
STYLE

TOWN OR CITY

NEW YORK

COUNTRY

UNITED STATES

COMPLETETION

1958

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

PHILIP
ARCHITECT
JOHNSON

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
The structure was designed by German architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe while the lobby and other
internal aspects were designed by Philip Johnson,
including The Four Seasons and Brasserie restaurants.
It stands as one of the finest examples of the
functionalist aesthetic and a masterpiece of corporate
modernism.
The building stands 516 feet tall with 38 stories,the
combination of the bronze I-beams and the dark glass
curtain wall make the Seagram Building seem like
different structures when viewed from different angles.

Interior view showing

suspended sculpture

Chain curtains

Curtains made from chains

Of anodized aluminium

Thin structural columns

Acting as mullions

FOUR SEASON
RESTAURANT,SEAGRAM BUILDING
Located on first floor of Seagram building.
The restaurant is comprised of two public
dining rooms that set a new American style
of restaurant.
To match exterior bronze cladding, interior
columns are faced in bronze.
Walls are surfaced in a thick French walnut
veneer.
Curtains formed from no. of thin chains of
anodized aluminum.
Large rectangular pool is lined with marble.
High ceilings and hardwood surfaces.
PLAN OF FOUR SEASON
RESTAURANT

3. CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL
GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE

CHURCH

ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE

POST MODERN
STYLE

TOWN OR CITY

GARDEN GROVE

COUNTRY

CALIFORNIA

COMPLETETION

1981

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

PHILIP
ARCHITECT
JOHNSON

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

The Crystal Cathedral spans a full 415-feet in length,

207-feet in width and 128-feet in height. The size of the
Cathedral is enhanced by the all-glass covering that
encloses the entire building.
More than 10,000 windows of tempered, silver-colored
glass are held in place by a lace-like frame of white steel
trusses.
The sanctuary seats 2,736 persons including 1,761 seats
on the main floor, 346 seats in the East and West
Balconies, and 283 in the South Balcony.
More than 1,000 singers and instrumentalists can
perform in the 185-foot wide chancel area. The chancel
area is constructed of Rosso Alicante marble.
The altar table and pulpit are made of granite, and thePLAN OF CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL
17-foot tall wooden cross is antiqued with 18-karat gold
leaf.
In addition, two 90-foot tall doors open electronically
behind the pulpit to allow the morning sunlight and warm
breezes to enhance the worship.

BALCONIES - Huge, white concrete columns, the largest ever poured,

hold the balconies in place. All visible concrete has a white marbleized
appearance. The columns are hinged at the balcony, and/or foundation,
to permit movement and withstand earthquakes.
BELL TOWER AND SPIRE - On the tenth anniversary of the
Cathedral, celebrated on September 16, 1990, a beautiful 236-foot Bell
Tower was dedicated.
One of Orange County's tallest structures, the tower is comprised of
highly polished, mirrored quality, stainless steel prisms forming a
spectacular spire which catches the light from all directions.

VIEW OF BUILDING

ELEVATION

PLAN