The Emergent Rules

Oh where to begin concerning Jencks piece on postmodern architecture.  As we discussed in class, postmodernism can be considered anything new, fresh, reinvented, forward thinking, or ahead of the time.  As this concept can be applied to any ideal in society, Charles Jencks chose to apply postmodern thinking to architecture.  What intrigues me, as my father is a custom home builder thus I have been around architects and construction all of my life, is architecture's want to connect with the old, but in a completely new manner.  Postmodernism here, is a vintage revival and reinvention.

Jencks opens asserting that "often in history there is a combination of continuity and change which looks perplexing because our view of both the old and the new is altered.  Thus, with Postmodern Classicism the meanings, values and forms of modernism and classicism are simultaneously transformed into a hybrid combination" (281).  Initially, reading this opener in class left quite a few question marks in my head, but after reading the remainder of the essay, it has cleared to explain postmodern architecture, like defined earlier, as a revival of classic styles such as Romantic and Renaissance, and twisted into fresh ideas.

When I thought first of the postmodern architecture, the word modern stuck thick.  I imagined clean lines, modern materials, simplistic style, the epitome of modern.  But thinking ahead means bringing back the old.  This is such a common cycle in todays society.  Even grocery shopping can open ones eye to this postmodern trend.  Every type of labeling from bread packaging to soup cans to drink bottles show this vintage revival that has been so popular lately.

I wonder, however, what will be considered postmodern in a few years?  Will what we consider to be modern, the clean lines and fresh materials and simple minimalist style reinvent itself also?