Robert Venturi: Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture

 

Facades of Italy: Venturi's main inspiration

Photo credit: http://dancingtosculpture.blogspot.com/2012/10/italian-facades.html

"I like complexity and contradiction in architecture"; "I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainty"

Does Complexity and Contradiction still speak to a younger generation of architects? 

Quite a number of young architects indeed have recently taken an interest in the notion of the "difficult whole" as a compositional device that manages to produce clear and readable volumes combined with complex plans and interior spaces. 

Robert Venturi, Vanna Venturi House
Photo credit: https://www.archdaily.com

The exceptionally distinct Vanna Venturi House makes it evident that its architect was by no means merely interested in the symbolic dimension of architecture, but was interested in the art of space. As twisted and non-straightforward as his spatial research appears, this building calls into question an understanding of Venturi’s work as mainly contextualist: the Vanna Venturi House is clearly conceived as an object in its own right. This house is the intellectual extreme of his formal investigation with which he approaches the design process that has caught the attention of a younger generation of contemporary architects.

Longaberger Basket Building - "Duck"
Photo credit: https://99percentinvisible.org

While the Longaberger Basket Building may seem impractical to most designers, it is often cited as a classic example of a particular design dichotomy. This opens up Venturi's arguments about "duck" versus "decorated shed". 

  

McD Building - "Decorated Shed"
Photo credit: https://www.foodbeast.com/news/

According to Kurt Kohlstedt, “ducks” are buildings that explicitly represent their function through their shape and construction. This typology is defined in opposition to “decorated sheds,” which are generic structures with added signs and decor that denote their purpose (like roadside hotels or restaurants with big signs). 

Even though it may be true that Modernism is largely influenced my ornamentation, structural and programmatic expressions, or "ducks", it is also true that most young architects are influenced by "form follows function or the "decorated shed" due to its more economical values as compared to its aesthetics.

Further  reading: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/lessons-sin-city-architecture-ducks-versus-decorated-sheds/

Reference: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/lessons-sin-city-architecture-ducks-versus-decorated-sheds/