Postmodernism in architecture & planning

What it is

Charles Jencks's The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977) named and championed a reaction against the austere universalism of the modern movement. Postmodern architects and planners reintroduced historical reference, ornament, colour, symbolism and attention to local context, treating buildings as carriers of meaning rather than pure function. The approach embraced pluralism, popular taste and the existing fabric of the historic city.

Why it matters

It rehabilitated tradition, contextualism and the inherited urban fabric as legitimate design references after decades of tabula-rasa modernism, helping to legitimise conservation, infill and contextual urban design.

Plans it shaped

• IBA Berlin 1984/87 – International Building Exhibition (1979–1987)
• London Docklands Regeneration (1981–)
• Naples Centro Direzionale (1982–)
• Yokohama Minato Mirai 21 (1983–)
• Barcelona 1992 Olympic Plan (1986–1992)
• Lille Euralille 1 & 2 (1990s–2000s)
• Düsseldorf MedienHafen (1990s–)
• Bilbao Abandoibarra (1993–1998)
• Rotterdam Kop van Zuid Masterplan (1991)
• Planwerk Innenstadt, Berlin (1999)
• Turin Spina 3/4 (2000s)
• Milan CityLife Masterplan (2004–)