Category: Remodeling

Architectural styles tend to perform one of 2 things: look forwards or seem backward. The former camp comprises Modernism, Deconstructivism, and the plethora of contemporary buildings that may be described as pluralist. In the latter camp are lots of the “neo-” fashions of the 19th century (neo-Classicism, neo-Gothic, etc.), and most recently Postmodernism, a direct response to Modernism (nonetheless also an extension of this, as the name suggests) from the 1970s and ’80s.

First articulated in architectural conditions by Charles Jencks from the 1977 book The Language of Postmodern Architecture, the motion traces its impetus to Robert Venturi’s 1966 treatise, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. The title indicates two attributes that Postmodern architecture embodies: complex surfaces and forms within Modernism’s abstraction, and a combination of irony and ambiguity that embraces borrowing and reappropriating historical elements: A pillar becomes a handrail, a gable is “broken” to show it’s a trope, etc..

For some time at the ’80s the motion was popular, leading to a variety of large-scale buildings like the Portland Municipal Services Building by Michael Graves and the AT&T Building (now Sony) by Philip Johnson. But it was also a style reviled by architecture critics. Many professionals segued into more historicist styles (notably Robert A.M. Stern), but Postmodernism paved the way to get a spoonful of architectural form that, together with Deconstructivism, helped produce today’s iconic buildings that catch headlines.

These days the motion is being critically reexamined by historians and curators, notably in an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the summit “Reconsidering Postmodernism” in New York City. Next is a sampling of Postmodern residential architecture that I expect will aid people in realizing this brief but significant style and motion.

Ashford Associates

Part of what sparked this PoMo ideabook was featuring this photo in my latest ideabook on wood trusses. There I pointed out the way the trusses are more graphical than literal or structural. This irony — just how they seem like trusses but do not function exactly like conventional ones — is made more lively by being painted green.

House + House Architects

Another ironic stance can be seen in this elevation, where an oversize round column seems to encourage … nothing. The cylinder is actually an enclosure for the fireplace and flue, but the exaggerated scale and the classically symmetrical facade make it a graphic device for the house’s back elevation.

House + House Architects

Another project by the same architects, in this instance front door, reveals more doubts. The frame around the door is a lot bigger than it needs to be, particularly when seen relative to the small windows over. 1 way of defining Postmodern architecture is “like conventional architecture but with some thing not quite right.” Elevations like this — portal entrance and punched openings — are rooted in conventional buildings, but play scale.

House + House Architects

Here we see the same architects playing a traditional gable form. Overall it alludes to omnipresent dwellings, but the atypical window dimensions and placement and the paring of the corner make the design quite Postmodern.

House + House Architects

1 trait shared by all of those House + House examples is color, especially an articulation of surfaces that are smooth with varied colors. This home, which recalls traditional adobe dwellings, utilizes rust and mustard colors to make each volume stand apart from the neighbor. Inside …

House + House Architects

… a similar way of using color occurs. But rather than volumes being treated with color, the interior walls are seen as planar, like each wall is a canvas for color. And how in which the underside of the stair is articulated in a manner that is sculptural makes the home ironic and lively.

House + House Architects

In this bathroom, the crash of curves — glass-block wall, flooring, vanity tops, mirror — is all over the top, yet they work together to create a cohesive environment.

Helios Design Group

Not all Postmodern architecture is as strong in form and color as the previous examples; some seems standard at first glance. This little addition’s gable-fronted shingles and porch seem quite traditional … but, like I said, something is away. For starters, the columns seem too substantial in number for the little structure, as well as the angle seems steeper than it needs to be. In a different view…

Helios Design Group

We see the way the front is treated like a Greek temple, yet the details (columns, gable) are both exaggerated and extremely abstracted. A temple precedent (my interpretation, not the architects’ intention) may be lofty for this a little addition, but it certainly strengthens the frontality of the inclusion and the significance of the living room in the total residence. Inside the inclusion is a skylit, domed space reminiscent of Morocco.

Mark Brand Architecture

The interior of this remodeled and expanded Victorian home also alludes to historical fashions at the articulation of the supports. But columns normally maintain up beams, and the beam above is cut, shifted up from the middle to heighten the opening between the distances. And just the opening is framed with molding, giving the appearance that it’s a graphic device.

Mark Brand Architecture

Not many Postmodern buildings read as historical in their overall form. This Bernard Maybeck-inspired home is quite modern, given its grand glass and horizontal surfaces. But certain components, particularly the cornice from the top-right corner, are postmodern in their articulation. The cornice and mounts appear oversized, and the “eyebrow” within the garage appears more compositional than practical.

Mark Brand Architecture

More formal exuberance from Mark Brand: Here we see a transition from Postmodern to the pluralist fashions that predominate today. The upside down, truncated cone doesn’t seem to follow any historical precedents, but the chimney, a pared-down but scaled-up metallic cylinder, is certainly an exaggeration of a conventional element.

RD Architecture, LLC

RD Architecture calls this home design “Deco Industrial,” but the combination of conventional gable form, various window shapes and dimensions, and the carving of the gable make this home seem Postmodern. The circular window is a curious part of this side of the home …

RD Architecture, LLC

… and interior we see that the window functions the bathroom. The shape is picked up in the form of the his-and-her lavatories, and even at the mirrors flanking the window.

Danenberg Design

In what can be seen as a metaphor for Postmodern architecture, this doorway linking a kitchen plus dining room features a fractured pediment and glass doors whose sinuous joint extends the break above. Here the shattered remnants of historical components are recomposed into an imperfect wholes, acknowledging that we can’t recreate traditional architecture but that we can have fun trying.

More: Modern vs. Contemporary: What is the Difference?

The handy Penguin Dictionary of Architecture defines vernacular architecture as”buildings in indigenous styles made from locally available materials following traditional building practice and patterns.” Architecture historian Paul Oliver, who specializes in vernacular architecture, further contends that anything made by an architect is out”the compass of their vernacular.”

Nevertheless architects, beginning last century, have been inspired by vernacular architecture, regarding both form (its absence of frivolous ornamentation appealed to early modern architects wishing to depart neoclassical architecture) and sustainability (many current practitioners contend that designing with the vernacular as a direct leads to accountable green buildings).

When architects have been inspired by vernacular architecture, especially in terms of houses, the gap between the contemporary and the vernacular could be fuzzy or sharp. Typically, it results in a hybrid condition that provides modern comforts within traditional types.

What follows are examples which can be regarded as a contemporary vernacular style. They are rather varied as a group, because they relate to local conditions instead of national or international trends.

David Churchill – Architectural Photographer

In some cases preservation codes direct fresh architecture towards vernacular types. This indoor pool Southern England is an improvement to a residence that is a Grade 2 Listed Building. This designation includes the majority of the protected buildings in the UK (roughly a half million of these ) and means extensions need consent from the local planning authority. Architect Kathryn Findlay chosen for a glassy extension surrounded by a thatch roof.

David Churchill – Architectural Photographer

Glass and thatch may not seem to move together, but as can be seen in the previous photograph, the blend of this large overhanging roof and indigenous grasses beneath reduces the extent of the glass wall that’s visible. This gives the thatch roof a prominence and permits the addition , as the architect asserts,”sit [in] the surrounding countryside.”

Paradoxically, Findlay says that the roof plantings are a version of an early Japanese planting system — suitable to an architect who was able to work in that nation — pointing into the globalization of this vernacular.

David Churchill – Architectural Photographer

Inside the pool house, the thatch roof is felt in the large overhang through the glass walls, but it’s the curved ceiling which draws the attention. Look up …

David Churchill – Architectural Photographer

The peak of the roof — what looked like tall grasses in the first photograph — is actually a skylight that runs the majority of the amount of the pool. This is clearly a contemporary element in the vernacular composition.

This country retreat made by CCS Architecture is divided into two components: a major house covered in reclaimed barn wood and a barn clad with Corten steel.

The principal house, visible here, is divided into two overlapping pieces: a living building and sleeping building. Their crash is similar to a surrealistic Western city.

CCS ARCHITECTURE

A lot of the project’s vernacular appearance stems from the barn timber and the corrugated Corten steel roof. Appropriately, the architects chosen for types that work well with these substances. This view of the living building shows that exterior wall openings follow the inside spaces; instead of punched openings we see sliding doors which open the living/dining area to the outside. From inside…

CCS ARCHITECTURE

… It’s easy to see why architects cut a large opening in the outside wall: The view is amazing. Outside the building is pastoral (and rusty!) But inside it’s smooth, clean and comfy; a contemporary core to a vernacular wrapper.

Beard + Riser Architects

This house in Spring Hill, Mississippi by architects John Beard and Dale Riser — featured within my ideabook on corrugated panels echoes the rural vernacular using its cheap materials and reaction to climate, considerations that produce the powerful formal announcement, not the other way around.

Beard + Riser Architects

As can be seen on the right, the turn-down of the roof shades the inside when allowing breezes to move from low to high out the cover of the wall, cooling the inside. Corrugated fiberglass, metal, and wood prevail atop concrete slabs. Inside the substances are unadorned, unlike the powerful colors out.

Nic Darling

Moving forward to Connecticut, this house, termed”Four Gables” from the architects in workshop/apd,”looks discreet and unassuming in the road, yet somehow distinct from the other residences within this secluded private community.” Part of this gap is evident in the bottom-left corner, in which flat wood slats and a flat roof stand out slightly from the timber shingles on the gable ends.

Nic Darling

This low volume is triggered by square feet which are cut into the timber slats, some of which are actually behind the pliers. While very unique and very contemporary, the wood slats allow this bit to fit with the remainder of the undertaking, which itself has an unassuming quality with minimal decoration in the windows and the roof lines.

David Vandervort Architects

This house in Washington state has, according to architect David Vandervort,”the little scale, casual, cottage heritage of… an existing small cottage [that] had occupied the website for years and held many fond memories to the homeowners.” Informality originates from the trellises along with the dormers that radically project in the roofline.

David Vandervort Architects

Further, Vandervort tried to give the impression that the house evolved over a number of years by composing the 3,200-square-foot house from four gabled pavilions. This created a romantic outdoor space people are able to go through to move between buildings. The tree-trunk posts encouraging the trellises certainly scream vernacular, in resistance to the standing-seam roofing.

David Vandervort Architects

Indoors , beams of reclaimed wood stand out in the walls, ceiling and floors milled from windfall website trees. Both synthesize into a contemporary-vernacular open space lit overhead in the dormers.

Comparable to the four pavilions of their previous residence are these four buildings also in Washington which are actually separate residences, what Rhodes Architecture + Light call”an alternative to the’Street of Dreams’.” The form and substances — even down to the gabions in the foreground, a rather industrial structure — seem vernacular.

But the addition of sunshading trellises on some of the elevations factors to the role of the architect in producing some green buildings which respond to climate and site.

The entrance of the fireplace into the outside wall in addition to inside…

… is just another signature surely made by an architect. The open space with simple detailing is strengthened by tie rods that span the distance, an alternative to the timber beams of the former case.

Phillips Garden

This previous job consists of a couple parts attributed to Geoff Warner of Alchemy Architects, who renovated an early 20th-century bungalow in St. Paul, Minn. for him and his loved ones. First is a bit on the existing house that’s visible through the gate in the back alley. The blue paint of this second floor signals it is fresh (or reconfigured), while its design is differently in keeping with the original.

But what’s between the gate and the house?

Phillips Garden

Warner tore down the garage and built two twin garages. Their forms are simple gable boxes with siding, standing-seam roofs, and little squarish openings. But that blue paint actually enriches their newness, making them abstract layouts of vernacular architecture.

Next: 7 Spectacular Contemporary Additions
More architectural inspiration

While combing through the entire year’s hottest pictures on Houzz we discovered that, away for rooms that were stunning, everybody about the search for intelligent layout options. It is no question: A tiny bit of extra storage here, an arrangement that is lovely there, and a typical room is immediately infused with all character and the imaginative power of the home-owners. Here are a couple of good-loved decoration ideas our visitors came back to over and over.

Gast Architects

This picture had people significantly craving our personal passage.

Rob Kane – Kitchen Interiors Inc.

A custom pull out spicerack made sense to get a sliver of room close to the range.

Dumican Mosey Architects

Than scattered about on-side tables, a wall of photographs made a striking statement using a slicker method to show family photographs.

The Lettered Cottage

Getting the shape and size of a collage of frameworks could possibly get difficult, but visitors gleaned inspiration from these rooms for his or her particular jobs.

CWB Architects

A symmetrical arrangement.

A carved-out recess for shampoo and soaps felt like an ideal antidote to the conventional shower caddy.

Stonebreaker Contractors & Re-Modelers

This easy option for this space beneath the stairway developed many admirers.

Readers loved how there was a spot for every thing in this laundry area that was arranged.

The Lettered Cottage

Who is able to assert together with the allure of a cozy nook? Not Houzz customers, who regularly decided on these cozy spaces for their ideabooks.

Susan Jay Style

What better spot to get lost in your chosen novel?

Stonebreaker Contractors & Re-Modelers

Entryways are usually polished and presentable, but work is taken by maintaining a mud-room likewise immaculate. We got a few ideas for keeping things arranged from these areas that were tidy.

Cubbies and hooks help keep order.

S.A.N Design Group, Inc.

A place to stow-away extra covers, toys, and pillows in the parlor made sense to a lot folks.

Mahoney Architects and Interiors

Topped with a couple of pillows, additional storage area becomes a window seat that is wonderful.

Bosworth Hoedemaker

An accumulation of artwork wandered in the “only at eye-level” average, and garnered subscriber interest consequently.

Feldman Architecture, Inc.

A barn-door hit many as a smart means to fix an area that was smaller.

Breath new existence in to a classic castoff using a layer of chalk board paint, a manhunter this do-or-turned-cosmetic part.

A buttery that doubles as cook book space for storage retains recipes near at hand and seems fantastic.

LDa Architecture & Insides

This intelligent placement of wood is lowcost and high-impact, although big bits of artwork could possibly get spendy.

Feldman Architecture, Inc.

This set up that is well-liked offers storage in one fell swoop and lets in light.

What picture DOES ONE keep returning to?