Reading #4: Structuralism and Its Applications

The failing of the modernist movement was that it envisioned an idealistic world and social construct and sought to force people into the confines of the modern utopia.  The Modernists saw the problems with urban sprawl and believed they could fix them with a sterile, highly formulaic architectural solution.  The Modernist solution only worked formally in personal houses or commercial buildings, but Modernist housing complexes like Pruitt Igoe simply didn't work - the problems with urban sprawl had everything to do with the human condition and their natural tendencies, not because of flawed buildings or neglectful urban planning. 

The intention of the structuralist philosophy was to combat the overturning of social constructs, instead examining social constructs, typology and semiotics and applying them to architectural form and organization. Then the post-structuralists came along and decided that objective or intended interpretations of elements were secondary to whatever the interpreter felt in relation to his or her own feelings.  Post-modernism rejects the notion of bi-polar constructs like such as black/white, male/female etc.  The post-modernists revived the symbolic and ornamental aspects of architecture.

I strongly disagree with Venturi's statement that "less is bore."  I think ornament for the sake of ornament is overkill.  A lot can be said with the eloquence of clean lines, pure forms, and basic surfaces.  Simple isn't necessarily "simplistic." Take Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion. It utilizes pure geometry and clean lines, but the luxe materials and the intricate intersection of elements are enough ornament to make the structure compelling. Then take Post-modernism.  It seems to be almost a universal sentiment among architecture professors (at least at Tech) that post-modern architecture is ugly (to keep it PG).  So maybe the post-modernists and post-structuralists had the right idea in not trying to force people into paradigms, but the modernist architects had a more forward-thinking concept of design.