Reconsidering Postmodernism

A message from our President, Paul Gunther

RECONSIDERING POSTMODERNISM

A TWO DAY CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY
November 11–12, 2011

We are very pleased to announce a major conference this fall dedicated to a rigorous examination of Postmodernism both as expressed in theory and as put into practice in the fourth quarter of the 20th century in America and abroad. Attention will be paid as well to those who followed whether to reject, reinterpret, or reapply it. An historic overview will thus conjoin with contemporary appraisal. Connective tissue with contemporary classicism will rank as a thematic priority.

Visit the Reconsidering Postmodernism Conference page on the ICAA Web site to learn more about the conference, including the full schedule and easy online registration.

Model of the Michael Graves Portland Building (Design 1980, Completion 1982). Photo Courtesy of Michael Graves & Associates

The conference’s goal is to bring together top architects, scholars, and critics to reexamine Postmodernism. Leaders in these fields will discuss why and how Postmodernism occurred, why and how it was soon largely eclipsed, and why and how it has nonetheless continued to influence–including a lasting impact on the theory and application of urban planning.

Co-sponsored by the Schools of Architecture of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Miami, the conference will take place in the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Noted experts who have agreed to serve as lecturers and panelists include Barry Bergdoll, Suzanne Stephens, Michael Graves, Paul Goldberger, Robert A. M. Stern, and Tom Wolfe, among many others.

The inventor and prime content driver of the conference, partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Gary Brewer, who serves on the ICAA board, said, “The ICAA and like-minded new traditionalists are in part indebted to the postmodernists for opening the vaults of architectural history and questioning the orthodoxy of high modernism.

The aim is not only to look back historically, but also to place Postmodernism in a dynamic current context. What were the lasting lessons and impact even when first introduced to yet enlightened contemporary eye? To that end, current students and others young and curious, skeptical and uninitiated are welcome to take due advantage.”

Thanks go to our sponsors to date: The Arthur Ross Foundation, Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown, Balmer Architectural Moldings, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Others will be listed soon ahead.

The Architect’s Newspaper is the official media sponsor of the conference and its imprimatur lends due affirmation from a diverse professional and passionate community.

Please plan to be there. Reservations are filling briskly.