When reading Stern’s essay, “Gray Architecture as Post-Modernism, or, Up and Down from Orthodoxy,” I noticed that he had strong beliefs that the fundamentals of architecture needed to change from the Modernism styles. However he was a bit too critical of the inspiration that Modern architects used when designing their structures. One long quote in particular sums up his feelings but doesn’t fully explain the Modernist style and what it was all about. Essentially he seems to neglect the deeper meanings of the Modernist movement and how important their ideas were for defining architecture.
“This is partially so because that movement has been obsessively concerned with abstraction and has eschewed explicit connections with familiar ideas and things. (Even the pipe railings of the 1920s are by now, for most of us, cut off from everyday reference; who among us has been on an ocean liner in the last twenty-five years?) For a Post-Modernist attitude to take root in a meaningful way, an effort must be made toward recapturing the affection of architecture’s very disaffected constituency, the public.”
The obvious connection to his criticism is Le Corbusier due to his affinity to create designs based on ocean liners and in reference to his Purism paintings. Stern’s statement that those things are outdated and architecture needs to advance is valid but he fails to address the more core values of Modernism and what Le Corbusier was trying to do. Yes, LC and other Modernist architects were abstract, but in their own ways this was their phenomenology. The “nature of architecture” at that time in history was industry. Industry and machines were the direct experience of the public so they were appealing to the public and environment at the time.
All architecture should be analyzed by how it was represented in its time and what the environment around it was supporting. Granted architects should attempt to create something that is long lasting and loved by the public. Comparing movements (Modernism vs Post-Modernism) is hypocritical to what architecture is about. It is most importantly about focusing on the environment and creating something that belongs and is real.
Stern, Robert. Gray Architecture as Post-Modernism, or, Up and Down from Orthodoxy. 1976
An insightful take on Stern’s attitude… what I appreciate is that unlike the White-Gray duality, you’re trying to outline the inherent gray-ness within the white. Much like in Colin Rowe’s admiration of the Modernist project, while he shared his own critiques, he could not help but admire the shared ‘spirit’ ushered in by the High Modernists. Great job.