CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE 4 FROM THE 1970s TO THE PRESENT Answer these questions. a. What do you think the word starchitect means? b. What cities in the world have outstanding architecture? c. Have you been to any Italian city where there are buildings designed by famous contemporary architects? blend in: integrarsi con curvy: arrotondato fame: fama previously: precedentemente rooted in: radicato unpredictable: inprevedibile The Russia Tower (Moscow) Almost every contemporary architect has been influenced by the Modernist movement, but today many of them are following personal and individual paths mixing together details, context, site, theory and new experiments. Since the 1970s, architectural styles have become more fractured and among architects who could be defined contemporary there are post-modernists, neomodernists, deconstructivists, contextualists, expressionists and others. The rise of postmodernism was attributed to dissatisfaction with modern architecture. By the 1980s, postmodern architecture appeared to have triumphed over modernism and many architects deliberately moved away from rectilinear designs towards more eclectic styles. The term Contemporary Architecture suggests the use of new materials and technologies, forms and architectural languages that are not generally rooted in past traditions. There are five main ideas that contemporary architects deal with: 1) The re-use of old buildings to make something new. 2) Organic architecture that tries to blend in with the environment around it by being curvier and sometimes incorporating plants into the structural design. 3) Deconstructivism, which uses nonrectilinear shapes to distort the form of the structure. The finished visual result looks chaotic and unpredictable, but takes into consideration extra space in ways not previously thought of. 4) Using computers in the design process. 5) High Tech, which emerged in the 1970s and includes elements of high-tech industry and technology into building design. Daniel Libeskind, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada Richard Meier MACBA - Barcelona Zaha Hadid, MAXXI, Rome