Featured image credit: Anonymous9119
We’ve had fun looking deep into LA’s history for our Los Angeles Architecture 101 series, but today we’re going to give our eyes a bit of a rest and look at something a little closer in the rearview mirror. We’re talking about a style so current that it’s beyond modern… it’s postmodern. Postmodern architecture had its heyday (at least around these parts) in the 1970s and lasted through the 1990s, though we still occasionally see examples of it today. Largely thanks to the work of Frank Gehry, it’s an architectural style that really took off in Southern California.
Anything But Modern
On a global level, postmodern architecture can be traced back to the late 1950s. It arose as a direct retort to the stuffy restrictions of functionally logical modernist designs. Proponents of postmodernism felt that, in its striving for utility, modern architecture had lost its human elements. Structures may have served a purpose in the modern world, but they lacked color, character, and a welcoming warmth that people valued. Not only that, they lacked a sense of beauty.
But in setting itself so firmly against something, postmodern architecture defined itself by what it isn’t more than unifying its purveyors under what it actually is. Because of this, designs would contradict one another, often within the same structure. A myriad of history’s most distinguished architectural styles served as inspiration for postmodernism’s practitioners. Gradually, as the anti-modernist leanings of the designs grew in number, some semblance of uniformity crystallized. But since postmodern architecture directly opposed rigidity, these features were simply what commonly manifested in the battle against conventionality.
Common Features of Postmodern Architecture
With the leading names in postmodernism resisting the constraints of the term, finding common ground was a challenge left to the spectators. The most exciting architects working in postmodernist styles had little to no interest in conforming to a label. Yet, the following features became linked to the style, more for the architects’ interests than any unifying movement:
- Asymmetrical forms and skewed proportions
- Vibrant, liberal use of color including colored glass, stones, and tiles
- Heavy use of ornamentation, at times to a gaudy degree
- Direct allusions to previous architectural styles
- Incorporation of satirical, campy, or otherwise humorous elements
- Favoritism of fashion (or lack thereof) over function
- Liberal use of cheap materials
- Segmented pieces with varying design structures within the same overall building
The Indelible Influence of Frank Gehry
Postmodern architecture was a worldwide phenomenon, but one that LA wholeheartedly embraced from around the mid-1970s through the early ‘90s. This was largely due to the profound influence of legendary architect Frank Gehry. Gehry held no affinity for the postmodernist yoke around his neck. Rather, he wanted to create architectural pieces unfettered by conventions and expectations.
Yet, his passionate irreverence only further tied his oeuvre to the postmodernist movement. No building bucked modernist trappings quite like a Gehry. Employing prefab materials, Gehry brought his unique vision to private residences (including his own). While commercial buildings make up many of the remaining examples of postmodern architecture in the LA area, Gehry brought the style to the unlikely canvas of residential homes.
Examples of Postmodern Architecture Around Los Angeles
As with many of the architectural styles we cover, postmodern architecture can be found all over the Greater Los Angeles area to this day. Here are just a few of the most notable examples:
- 2-4-6-8 House – 932 Amoroso Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90291
- 708 House – 708 El Medio Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90272
- 777 Tower – 777 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
- Binoculars Building – 340 Main St, Venice, CA 90291
- Fleetwood Center – 19611 Ventura Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91356
- Frank Gehry House – 1002 22nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90403
- Kentucky Fried Chicken – 340 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90004
- Loyola Law School – 919 Albany St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
- The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) – 205 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Norton House – 2509 Ocean Front Walk, Los Angeles, CA 90291
- Pacific Design Center – 8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069
- The Parish of St. Matthew – 1031 Bienveneda Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
- Walt Disney Concert Hall – 111 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Wells Fargo – 10064 Riverside Dr, Los Angeles, CA 91602
- The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites – 404 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
- The (W)rapper Tower – 5790 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016
