Modernism vs. Postmodernism

Framing

This debate concerns architecture's relationship to modernity's project. Modernism affirmed progress, functionalism, and universal values. Postmodernism critiqued these as ideological, embracing plurality, historical reference, and irony. Foucault and others complicate this binary.

Positions

Position A: Modernism

Modernism affirms progress through rational mastery, functionalism, and universal values. Architecture should express the spirit of the age through new forms unburdened by history.
Key texts: elliott-benjamin-for-architects

Position B: Postmodernism

Postmodernism critiques modernism's totalizing claims, embracing plurality, historical reference, and irony. However, Latour argues postmodernism is just a devalued version of modernism — we should suspend modernism's key features instead.
Key texts: yaneva-latour-for-architects, fontana-giusti-foucault-for-architects

Key Texts

• elliott-benjamin-for-architects — Benjamin's modernism
• yaneva-latour-for-architects — Latour's critique
• fontana-giusti-foucault-for-architects — Foucault's position