Classical Styles in Modern Architecture

Classical Styles in Modern Architecture From the Colonnade to Disjunctured Space Thomas L. Doremus The rise of Post-modernism in late twentieth century architecture has kindled a new, intense debate about the viability of classical styles in the modern city, a debate fueled by the Preservation movement, with many arguments heard on both sides. Unfortunately, too often these arguments have been couched in dense, theoretical terms and illustrated with highly technical documentation. Now, in Classical Styles in Architecture, acclaimed architectural theorist Thomas L. Doremus has avoided jargon and arcane language to provide a clear examination of the ways in which modernism is different from classicism. At the same time he demonstrates how each can be accommodated in contemporary life. In brilliant, lucid prose, he shows that the development of modern architecture was a much more gradual process in the United States than it was in Europe, and expounds the theory that modernism is not a rejection but rather a democratization of classical architecture, with elements from each given equal value rather than subordinated in a hierarchical system. Within this inclusionary view, he writes, it is possible to adapt modernist tenets to the information age and develop a viable approach to future design. Lavishly illustrated and impeccably credentialed, this book includes: Photographs that show and reference ordinary, everyday buildings and civic structures along with some of the more familiar monuments of architecture A historical section that identifies the growth of democratic governments as one of the foundations of modernism. Focusing on the United States rather than on the socialist societies of Europe, it is thus more relevant to the contemporary political situation Discussions of leading theorists such as Giedion, Pevsner, and Venturi, as well as of key buildings and architects drawn from the past one hundred years Technological, cultural, and formal analyses of both classicism and modernism A discursive rather than scholarly review of why buildings look the way they do Classical Styles in Modern Architecture is certain to expand the debate on the subject and possibly even provoke controversy. Given the impact that many post-modern projects have had on the fabric of most American cities, however, it is bound to be of interest to any reader concerned about the future of ture in the United States--in the ways our cities will look and, consequently, how we will live in them