A Visual Primer of Postmodernism

Hans Hollein, façade from Strada Novissima, The Presence of the Past, 1980.

Hyatt Regency atrium; Fukuoka, Japan (2003)

Through October 9, 2016, see the sculptural ceramics of Peter Shire in the exhibition “Peter Shire, A Survey of Ceramics: 1970s to the Present," at New York's Derek Eller Gallery. derekeller.com Courtesy of Derek Eller Gallery

The Guild House by Venturi Scott Brown & Associates, part of the "What We Learned" exhibit (Photo courtesy of the Yale School of Architecture)

The Bard College Stevenson Library by Venturi Scott Brown & Associates, part of the "What We Learned" exhibit (Photo courtesy of the Yale School of Architecture)

The Children's Museum of Houston is one of the city's many attractions and was designed by acclaimed American architect Robert Venturi. Visit the museum online at cmhouston.org.

Learning from Las Vegas by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour (MIT Press, 1977). Controversial when it was published in 1972, this book has proven to be prophetic, tracing the shift of architectural language.

Matthew Sullivan The founder of Al Que Quiere, Matthew Sullivan exhibited his furniture and objects, which nod to Postmodern design of the 1980s. "Nothing is completely new, perhaps a unique combination, but not new," he says. "All the words that people speak, all words written, all the concepts we have for furniture or government or interpersonal relationships—even if they exist in opposition to precedents—are literally built from the past both microscopically and ideologically as well as part of an infinitely larger inscrutable process." The walnut Sarraute table is a variation of his earlier Logos table. "I am very proud of the original and will probably be playing with the general concept until, well, I can't," he says.

Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1964)Robert Venturi's home for his mother is considered by many to be the first postmodern building. With its green hue, unusually tall chimney, stairs leading to nowhere and oversize fireplace with stairs squeezed around it, the house is what the architect called his "manifesto against Modernism."

Head to Sight Unseen to see more selects from Barbara Radice's book on postmodern jewelry commissioned by famous 1980s architects and designers.

'80s Retro: “I think we will be going back to the ’80s, with lots of geometric shapes, inspiration from Mondrian and the Memphis group, mirror walls, and granny-style houseplants.” —Emma Fexeus of emmasblogg.se

Sottsass labored over the project in multiple dimensions and mediums, but always with a flair for style, as seen here in a vivid watercolor painting of the home.

Lesley recounts their first meeting with Sottsass as clients: "We had worked with Ettore since the conception of our company. Adrian sent him a fax and said what he wanted to do. He said, 'When am I coming?'" "That was in 1989 that we asked him and he turned up with a model and this little bag. [At the airport in] Maui at that point, you had to walk across the tarmac. He comes up with this little bag, he gives it to Adrian, he says, 'Be very careful. That is your house.'"

Through their jewelry and accessories brand ACME Studio, Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga collaborated with Ettore Sottsass, as well as many of the other principals of the Memphis movement, starting in the 1980s. When they purchased this property by the sea in Maui, they reached out to Sottsass to see if he would consider designing a home on it.