Western Architecture

Reported By: Berrona, Glecy Anne B. & Gaddi, John Kenneth

Minoan (ca. 2000-1400 BC)

The Minoan homeland was the island of Crete. Minoan buildings were typically made of timber
frames filled with clay bricks. At the heart of each Minoan city was a multi-story palace with a large
central courtyard.

During the first phase of Minoan history, the Pre-Palace age (ca. 3000-2000 BC), the Minoans were a
non-urban culture that lacked large-scale architecture (including palaces, hence the name of the period).
The subsequent Palace age (ca. 2000-1400 BC) was the great flowering of Minoan culture, during which
they flourished as an urban civilization. Palaces were the foremost type of Minoan architecture.1

The largest Minoan palace was erected at Knossos, the Minoan capital. This building features hundreds
of rooms that served variously as bedrooms, offices, workshops, art studios, and storage chambers.
Thus, along with housing the ruling class, a Minoan palace served as the hub of city business.

Knossos Palace

Mycenaean (ca. 1400-1200 BC)

The Mycenaeans based their culture firmly on that of the Minoans, as evidenced by their
general architectural style. They ascended as a civilization during the Palace age, then ruled
the Aegean for about two centuries: a period known as the Mycenaean age (ca. 1400-1200). Unlike the
Minoans (who could rely chiefly on naval defence), the Mycenaeans surrounded their cities with
massive defensive walls. The ruins of such walls have been preserved at several sites,
including Mycenae, the civilization's foremost city.

A typical Mycenaean palace consisted of a central rectangular hall flanked by smaller chambers. The
central hall, referred to as a megaron, featured a grand entrance framed with a portico (covered porch
with columns). It was from the megaron that the Greek temple developed.

Little survives of any Mycenaean palace, however. The foremost extant Mycenaean building is
the Treasury of Atreus, a "beehive tomb" at Mycenae. (Beehive tombs were erected by various ancient
cultures of Eurasia.) The arch above the entrance, as well as the walls of the tomb itself,
feature corbelled construction (see Corbelling). The Treasury of Atreus was the world's largest
purely domed space prior to the Phantheon.

Diagram of the Treasury of Atreus Ruins of Mycenae Reconstruction of a Megaron

Archaic (ca. 800-500 BC)

The Archaic age (see History of Greek Europe) was the formative period of Greek architecture, during
which the typical layouts, proportions, and decorative elements of the Greek temple were established.
The earliest Greek temple design was essentially a rectangular building with a portico (covered porch with
columns) fitted to the entrance. This plan was based on the Mycenaean megaron (see Aegean
Architecture). Eventually, in order to achieve symmetrical design, a second portico was added to the
opposite end of the building; this was merely a decorative porch (a "false portico") as it lacked an
entrance.

Basic Layout of a Megaron-based Temple Exterior of a Megaron-based Temple

As illustrated above, the roof of a Greek temple has a shallow slope. This results in a low, wide
triangular gable at the top of each portico. Each gable is called a pediment.

The standard Greek temple design emerged via embellishment of the megaron plan. Most crucially,
the eaves were extended and supported with a line of columns all the way around the building.3 A line
of columns that surrounds a building is called a perisyle; a building with a peristyle is described as
peripteral.

Basic Layout of a Standard Greek Temple Exterior of a Standard Greek Temple

Well-preserved Example of the Standard Greek Temple Design

A line of columns, known as a colonnade, usually supports the roof of a building or covered walkway. In
the latter case, the term "colonnade" is sometimes extended to mean the entire structure. (Likewise, the
term arcade may denote a series of arches, or a walkway with a roof supported by arches.)

The peripteral design is practical as well as aesthetic. A peripteral building is inherently surrounded by
a covered walkway, thus providing shelter to visitors and passers-by. When a public square is
surrounded by peripteral buildings (as was typical in ancient Greece and Rome), the perimeter of the
square is lined with sheltered walkways.

Naturally, architects embellished on the standard temple plan in various ways. For instance, an opulent
effect was sometimes achieved by adding a second peristyle around the first; this is known as a double
peristyle. And while most Greek buildings featured only one story, multi-story designs were not
uncommon. Circular versions of the temple plan also developed; a circular Greek temple-style building is
known as a tholos.

Various Greek Temple Designs Modern Example of a Double Peristyle Restored Two-story
Ancient Greek Building

Circular Greek Temple Architecture

With the basic layout established, two distinct styles of Greek temple emerged: the
simple doric order and the relatively elaborate Ionic order (see Classical Orders).1 Elements of
both orders were sometimes mixed in the same building.
 Classical (ca. 500-330 BC)

Throughout the Archaic and Classical periods, the cultural heart of Greece was Athens. The principal site
of Classical architecture is the Athens Acropolis, an elevated plateau at the centre of the city, reserved
for its most sacred buildings. (The acropolis was a standard feature of Greek city-states.) Following
the razing of the Acropolis by the Persians during the Persian Wars (ca. 500-450 BC), the most
celebrated of all Greek structures were erected on this plateau.

The most famous building in the Doric order, and indeed the crowning work of all Greek architecture, is
the Parthenon. This temple originally housed an enormous statue of Athena, patron deity of Athens. (A
full-scale replica of the Parthenon, though made of concrete rather than marble, is found in Nashville.)

Athens Acropolis The Parthenon Nashville

ParthenonThe entrance to the Acropolis is spanned by a magnificent gateway known as the Propylaea.
This type of structure, essentially a classical temple that lacks front and rear walls, may be termed
a classical gateway. The classical gateway experienced a revival across Europe during the Neoclassical
period, the most famous example being the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

The Propylaea Reconstruction of the Propylaea Brandenburg Gate

The Ionic order flourished principally in Asia Minor; in mainland Greece, Doric reigned supreme (though
many Doric buildings, including the Parthenon and Propylaea, borrow Ionic elements). 2 Nonetheless, the
Athens Acropolis also contains the foremost work of Ionic architecture: the Erechtheum. This temple
features an unusual design, with multiple statue chambers and three entrances; each entrance has its
own porch, one of which is the famous Porch of the Caryatids. (A "caryatid" is a column sculpted into a
female figure; the male equivalent is an "atlantid".)
 The Erechtheum Porch of the Caryatids

Hellenistic (ca. 330 BC-0)

With the Macedonian embrace of Greek ways and the vast conquests of Alexander, the Hellenistic age
witnessed a rapid diffusion of Greek culture, southward across Egypt and eastward across Southwest
and Central Asia (see History of Greek Europe). Greek architecture filled many cities throughout these
regions (some of which exceeded any Greek city-state in size), including Seleucia (Iraq),
Pergamum (Turkey), Antioch (Turkey), and Alexandria (Egypt). The variety of Greek architecture
expanded during this period (due to local cultural influences and the sheer amount of construction), as
did size (thanks to advances in engineering).

Overall, Hellenistic architecture is remembered for its unprecedented quantity, diversity, and
scale. Alexandria, the cultural capital (and largest city) of the Hellenistic age (see reconstruction),
erected the two most famous Hellenistic buildings: the Library of Alexandria (see reconstruction) and
the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Unfortunately, neither has survived.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Pax Romana (ca. 0-200)

The Republic (ca. 500 BC-0) was the formative age of the Roman state and culture.
Roman territory was limited to Italy during the Early Republic (ca. 500-250 BC), then expanded rapidly
across Mediterranean lands during the Late Republic (ca. 250 BC-0). Roman power (and architectural
activity) peaked during the Pax Romana (ca. 0-200), then declined in the Late Empire (ca. 200-500).
While the building types covered in the remainder of this article generally date to the Republic, it was
during the Empire period that the most extraordinary specimens of each type were constructed.

Roman temples can be divided into two categories: post-and-beam (like those of the Greeks) and
vaulted.
Post-and-beam Roman temples are distinguished from their Greek predecessors in various ways.
Typically, the three-stepped floor was replaced with a tall platform, and the columns along the sides of
the temple were converted to engaged columns. Both transformations apply to the finest surviving
Roman post-and-beam temple, the Maisson-Carree, in France.

Maisson Carree Engaged Column ( Maisson Carree) Pilaster

An engaged column ("attached column"), the decorative version of a true column, has the appearance of
being partly embedded in a wall. A flattened engaged column is called a pilaster. The decorative version
of an arch is a blind arch: a shallow, arched depression in a wall.

The Pantheon perhaps the most celebrated of all Roman buildings, is certainly the most famous vaulted
Roman temple. It features a vast dome (the world's largest until the Renaissance, with the construction
of Brunelleschi’s dome) pierced with a circular skylight. The Pantheon is often upheld as the masterpiece
of the Corinthian order; as such, it may be considered the final piece of the classical "set", along with
the Parthenon (the Doric masterpiece) and Erechthuem (the Ionic masterpiece).

The Pantheon ( Rome ) Pantheon Interior Circular Skylight in the

Dome of the Pantheon

The ancient Greeks constructed performance areas (e.g. theatre stages, racetracks) at the bases of
natural inclines, allowing them to install hillside venue seating. Using vaulted construction, the Romans
could build free-standing venue seating, allowing Greek-style theatres and racetracks to be erected
anywhere.11 Moreover, free-standing venue seating allowed the Romans to develop
the amphitheatre (amphi="both", as in "both sides"), in which seating runs continuously around a central
arena.

Venue Seating: Natural Incline vs Free-

standing
Largest of all Roman buildings was the amphitheatre known as the Colosseum. The layout of the
modern stadium, which allows the efficient flow of thousands of spectators, was established by this
building. The exterior of the Colosseum features the popular classical motif of superimposed orders (in
which orders are arranged vertically, from simplest at the bottom to most elaborate at the top), which
dates to the Hellenistic era.

Colosseum Interior

Late Empire (ca. 200-500)

The Early Roman Empire (ca. 0-200), also known as the Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"), was the most
prosperous and stable age of Roman history. Unsurprisingly, the masterpieces of Roman architecture
date chiefly from this period. Nonetheless, the Late Roman Empire (ca. 200-500) had its share of
magnificent buildings, and holds particular interest as a transitional phase to the Middle Ages.

The most ambitious construction project of the Late Empire was the Baths of Caracalla. While baths
were a standard feature of Roman cities, the Baths of Caracalla were exceptionally large and
luxurious (see model). In addition to actual baths (hot, lukewarm, and cold), the complex included
exercise rooms, swimming pools, lecture halls, and libraries. The interior was richly decorated with
murals, sculptures, mosaics, and stucco.

Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla

Early Christian (ca. 200-500)

The Late Empire was the final age of Roman art and architecture. It was also the first age of Christian art
and architecture; consequently, this period is also known as the Early Christian age (ca. 200-500).
(Though Jesus lived in the early first century, it took decades for Christianity to emerge as a distinct
religion, and further decades for Christian-themed art to develop.)

Early Christian art features the adaptation of Roman art forms to Christian purposes (see Early Christian
Art). In the field of architecture, the most important adaptation was the embrace of the Roman basilica as
the standard design for the Christian church (see Church Anatomy).13 While Early Christian churches
typically featured plain exteriors, interiors were often richly decorated. The best-preserved Early
Christian church may be Santa Sabina (Rome), whose fifth-century appearance remains little changed
today.
 Interior of Santa Sabina Exterior of Santa Sabina
Santa Sabina is a "basilica church"; that is, it features the same layout as a Roman basilica. From the
Early Christian period onward, the basilica layout remained a popular choice for churches throughout
Europe. Yet the most prevalent church layouts became the Latin cross church (in Western Europe)
and central plan church (in Eastern Europe), both of which evolved (during the Early Christian period)
from the basilica church. The Latin cross design essentially adds two lateral extensions ("transepts") to
the basilica layout, while the central plan design essentially compresses the basilica layout into
a square (atop which a great dome is placed).

Basilica Church Latin Cross Church vs Central-plan Church

The foremost Early Christian church (and the world’s largest church until the High Middle Ages) was Old
Saint Peter’s in Rome, which was replaced by the current Saint Peter’s during the Renaissance. This
church was built under Constantine, the first Christian emperor. The building site is traditionally
considered the burial place of Saint Peter (who is considered the first pope).

Reconstruction of Old Saint Peter’s Reconstruction of Old Saint Peter’s (Cross-section)

Along with churches, the Early Christian period featured a variety of other Christian buildings, including
the chapel (small church), baptistry (baptism chamber), shrine (a building that honours a holy person or
place, and often contains relics), and mauseleum (above-ground tomb). These structures may be referred
to collectively as minor Christian buildings. Like Eastern European churches, minor Christian buildings
typically feature central plan layouts. (The term "central plan" denotes rotational symmetry: if the plan is
rotated around its central point, it looks the same at multiple points of rotation.)

Central Plan Layouts

It should be noted that Christian architecture blossomed later than other forms of Christian art
(e.g. painting, sculpture), simply because it could not be produced covertly. Christian
architecture only began to flourish after 313, when persecution of Christians was greatly
alleviated by Constantine's proclamation of official tolerance. Prior to this edict Christian
meetings and worship were usually conducted secretly, in homes of the faithful.

Early Renaissance (ca. 1400-1600)

The two leading Early Renaissance architects were Brunelleschi and Alberti. Filippo
Brunelleschi, the first great Renaissance architect, was primarily a designer of churches.
His most famous work is the octagonal brick dome of Florence Basilica (an Italian Gothic
church), an engineering feat of such difficulty (given the dome's unprecedented size) that he also
had to invent special machines to hoist each section into place. Brunelleschi's dome was
the largest the pre-industrial world would ever see.

Dome of Florence Basilica

Leon Battista Alberti became the most influential architectural theorist of the Early Renaissance
with his own Ten Books on Architecture, which instructed on the adaptation of ancient classical
forms to modern buildings. In terms of actual building projects, Alberti was the leading pioneer
of classical facade design.F185-86,17 His greatest facades include the Church of Sant'Andrea
and Palazzo Rucellai. The facade of the Church of Sant'Andrea (Mantua) mimics a triumphal
arch, while the facade of the Palazzo Rucellai (Florence) is neatly divided into rectangular
sections (each containing an arched window) with pilasters and cosmetic entablatures.
Circular elements, like those above each window of the Palazzo, were a Renaissance favourite,
with many architects of the period regarding the circle as the "perfect shape".

Church of Sant'andrea

High Renaissance
The High Renaissance witnessed the pinnacle of classical simplicity and harmony in Renaissance
art and architecture. The central plan layout (found in many Roman temples, most notably the
Pantheon) was popular during this period."central plan" denotes rotational symmetry; if the
plan is rotated around its central point, it looks the same at multiple points of rotation. Common
shapes for central plan buildings are the circle, square, and octagon.
The founder and leader of High Renaissance architecture was Donato Bramante (Bramante is
considered a member of the "High Renaissance trio", along with Michelangelo, the foremost
sculptor of the period, and Raphael, the foremost painter.)
His greatest completed work is the Tempietto, a Doric shrine erected upon the traditional site of
St Peter's martyrdom. Despite its small size, the Tempietto is often considered the crowning
work of High Renaissance architecture.

Tempietto

Bramante's greatest unrealized work is a central plan design for Saint Peter's Basilica (the
foremost Roman Catholic church, located in Vatican City). Following Bramante's death early in
this building's construction, persistent delays led to a string of architects taking over the project
and completely transforming the original design.

Bramante's Plan for St Peter's

Had Bramante's plans been realized, St Peter's would undoubtedly be the foremost High
Renaissance church. Instead, this position is occupied by the Church of Santa Maria in the town
of Todi (north of Rome). This central plan building strongly resembles Bramante's architectural
style, though it cannot be attributed to him with certainty.
•

• Church of Santa Maria, Todi

The High Renaissance also gave rise to the Palazzo Farnese, arguably the greatest Renaissance
palace. This building, designed principally by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (a student of
Bramante’s), follows the typical Renaissance palazzo layout: a three-story rectangular building
with a central courtyard. A spartan majesty is achieved in the balanced height and breadth of the
facade, the absence of vertical dividers, and the unadorned expanse of wall above each row of
windows. The sheer simplicity of the facade emphasizes variations in wall colours, window
shapes, and pediment shapes.

Palazzo Farnese

A popular decorative treatment of the palazzo was rustication, in which a masonry wall is
textured rather than smooth. This can entail leaving grooves in the joints between smooth blocks,
using roughly dressed blocks, or using blocks that have been deliberately textured. The
rustication of a palazzo is often differentiated between stories.

Rustication (grooves between blocks)

Late Renaissance
The Late Renaissance featured a general relaxation of the severe simplicity and order of the High
Renaissance. The most radical strain of Late Renaissance art was mannerism: the deliberate
pursuit of novelty and complexity, often to the point of bizarreness.
In mannerist painting and sculpture, human anatomy is strangely elongated, and figures are
placed in complex, unnatural postures. In mannerist architecture, classical forms are skewed,
exaggerated, and misplaced, and classical balance and harmony are sometimes distorted. By
upsetting conventions and exploring new artistic possibilities, mannerism became
an influential force, even for artists who chose to retain a more purely classical style.
One such artist was Andrea Palladio, who maintained a firmly classical aesthetic. Palladio,
known primarily for villa design, was the foremost architect of the Late Renaissance, and
arguably the most influential architect of all time. Countless residential, collegiate, and civic
buildings throughout the world are descendants of Palladio's architectural style, which
experienced a massive revival during the Neoclassical period.
Palladio's most striking innovation was to graft the classical temple front onto secular
architecture. A true temple front is a portico (covered porch with columns), while a cosmetic
temple front can be produced with a simple pediment. In either case the entrance can be recessed,
which allows for a covered entrance even without a portico.
The common features of Palladio's villas, three of which are discussed here, are captured by the
term Palladian style.
Firstly, the overall plan is a central block flanked with identical wings, which ensures perfect
symmetry; the central block is faced with a temple front. Secondly, the interior plan is
also symmetrical, with a great hall at the centre.

Villa Cornaro pianta Bertotti Scamozzi

677460 Dimension

And thirdly, the building has a tall major story and a short attic story. Palladio's villas were
constructed mainly in and around the city of Vicenza, near Venice. Most feature walls of stucco-
coated brick and hip roofs tiled in red clay shingles. Although Villa Rotonda is atypical of
Palladio's work (being a central plan design with a portico on all four sides), it is also his most
famous villa.
Villa Rotonda
Apart from villas, Palladio is known for popularizing the Palladian arch (an arch flanked with
rectangles) via his design for the exterior of the Vicenza Town Hall. This motif was practical as
well as aesthetic, as it allowed more light to stream into the building than a series of ordinary
arches.The Palladian arch is perhaps most familiar today in the form of Palladian windows.
Palladian Window

Vicenza Town Hall

Early Baroque (ca. 1600-1800)

The foremost pioneer of Baroque architecture was Carlo Maderno, whose masterpiece is the
facade of Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. (Constructed under various architects throughout
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Saint Peter's features a mixture
of Renaissance and Baroque components, the facade being one of the latter.)

Saint Peter's Basilica

High Baroque
The two foremost names in Baroque architecture are Bernini and Borromini, both of whom
worked primarily in Rome. Two masterpieces of Gian Lorenzo Bernini are found at St Peter's.
One is the four-story baldachin that stands over the high altar. Bernini's most famous building is
likely the small church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale ("Saint Andrew's on Quirinal Hill"). Quirinal
hill is one of the "seven hills of Rome".

• Baldachin at Saint Peter's, Bernini

Francesco Borromini was the master of curved-wall architecture. Though he designed many
large buildings, Borromini's most famous and influential work may be the small church of San
Carlo alle Quattro Fontane ("Saint Charles at the Four Fountains"). This building is also found
on Quirinal Hill.
 • Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Borromini

Late Baroque
The Late Baroque marks the ascent of France as the heart of Western culture. Baroque art of
France (and northern Europe generally) tends to be restrained, such that it can be described as a
classical-Baroque compromise. The most distinctive element of French Baroque architecture is
the double-sloped mansard roof (a French innovation).

Baroque French Chateau

One of the largest residences on earth, Versailles was built mainly under Louis XIV, whose
patronage of the arts helped propel France to the crest of Western culture. The palace facade
admirably illustrates the classical-Baroque compromise of northern Europe. Versailles became
Europe's model of palace architecture, inspiring similarly grand residences throughout the
continent. Versailles' most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors, whose mirrors have the same
dimensions as the windows they stand opposite.

Facade of Versailles

Rococo
Rococo artists embraced the curves and elaborate ornament of Baroque, but reigned in its
weighty drama. The result was a gentle, playful style typified by pastel colours and delicate,
asymmetrical decoration. Though most Rococo art was centred in France (the birthplace of the
style), Rococo architecture culminated in Austria and southern Germany, especially in the
form of churches.
Rococo Church
 Early Modern (ca. 1850-1900)
Iron-frame architecture, which flourished primarily in England, France, and (later) the United
States, occupies the transitional phase between traditional and modern architecture. Iron-frame
buildings were erected mainly during the "age of iron and steam" (ca. 1750-1900). As noted earlier,
this architecture included iron-frame masonry buildings, iron-and-glass buildings, and iron
bridges.

• Iron Bridge (England, 18th c.)

Two works of iron-frame architecture are especially famous. Iron-and-glass architecture

culminated with London's Crystal Palace (destroyed), designed by Joseph Paxton (a renowned
greenhouse architect) as the main pavilion of the first World's Fair. Some decades later, the
foremost iron-frame structure of all time was constructed: the Eiffel Tower, designed by famed
bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel. The fierce controversy provoked by the tower's plain,
unornamented appearance illustrates the era's lack of mainstream acceptance for the "modern
look".
Crystal Palace

The next step in the development of modern architecture was the shift from iron-frame to steel-
frame construction. Steel-frame architecture emerged in Chicago, among a circle of architects
known as the Chicago school, which flourished ca. 1880-1900. (A good definition of
"skyscraper", for discussion of architectural history, is "a metal-frame building at least one
hundred feet tall".) The Home Insurance Building (1884; demolished), by William Le Baron
Jenney (a member of the Chicago school), is usually considered the very first skyscraper.

• Home Insurance Building

This transition away from traditional ornamentation culminated in the development
of functionalism by Louis Sullivan, the foremost architect of the Chicago school. Functionalism
is a design approach in which a building is simply designed according to its function, then
graced with features that are naturally suggested by its internal structure.
Sullivan's masterpiece is the Wainwright Building. he exterior of this building reflects its three-
part internal plan (a two-story base, a middle section with seven floors of offices, and a service
floor at the top), with a brick pier indicating each column in the steel frame. Most surfaces
are plain, although the horizontal dividers feature stucco decoration.

Wainwright Building, Chicago

Late Modern (ca. 1900-60)

The scope of Bauhaus efforts included architecture, visual art, interior design, graphic design,
and industrial design (product design).
It should be noted that while Bauhaus designers generally embraced the aesthetic theory
of functionalism, deliberate use of this theory (or even familiarity with it) is not a prerequisite to
designing works that feature the modern aesthetic. Thus, for any given modern-style building or
object, the designer may or may not have had functionalism in mind.

Bauhaus Chair

The international style's three most influential pioneers were Gropius, Corbusier, and Mies.
Walter Gropius, founder and first director of the Bauhaus, designed the buildings of the
school's second campus. Plain walls (white and grey) and screens of glass, sometimes several
stories in height, predominate. Gropius' balconies showcase an impressive new structural
possibility of steel-frame construction: cantilevering (platforms fixed only at one end), which
further contributes to a sense of architectural weightlessness.
 •

• Bauhaus Campus, Dessau

Contemporary with the "Bauhaus age" was the career of the greatest American architect, Frank
Lloyd Wright, who (like Corbusier) focused primarily on residential designs. Wright sought to
make his buildings organic; that is, to adjust their layouts and features until they merge with
their surroundings, rather than imposing a rectangular box of a house on any given locale.
Despite the contrast between functionalism and Wright's "organicism", both are
clearly modern (i.e. not based on anything traditional), and consequently similar in appearance to
a significant degree. Wright shared the functionalist appreciation for rectilinear geometry and
plain, undecorated surfaces. One could categorize Wright's architecture as a branch of the
international style.
Wright's first great works were his Prairie Houses, built in the Midwest; best-known among them
is Robie House in Chicago. His most famous building is Fallingwater, Pennsylvania, while his
foremost urban work is the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

• Robie House, Chicago

Postmodern (ca. 1960-present)

Postmodern architecture does exhibit a range of typical features, however, such as complex
geometry (often including curves), blending of modern and traditional elements, colourfulness,
and playfulness. Many postmodern buildings have a sleek, futuristic appearance; these are often
described as "high-tech" or "space-age" architecture.

Postmodern Building
American Philip Johnson may be the most famous of all postmodern architects. Though he
started in the international style (even assisting Mies on the Seagram Building)19, his later works
include the many-cornered IDS Center and the sharp diagonal planes of Crystal Cathedral.
The Sony Building grafts a broken pediment (a classical element) onto an otherwise modern
building.

IDS Center, Minneapolis

Perhaps the most distinctive submovement of postmodern architecture is deconstructivism,

which features "broken" buildings.

Deconstructivist Building