7 Architectural Wonders of the Postmodern World

Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Museum Guggenheim, Spain

When you think ‘deconstructivist’, what’s the first building that pops into your mind? If you’re at all familiar with the term (and not a student of architecture), it’s probably Frank Gehry’s iconic and unforgettable Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. In 1978, Gehry took the steps that would bring him to this point, drastically changing his own standard, somewhat boring suburban Santa Monica house into the groundwork for an entire architectural movement. He literally deconstructed the house, ripping out sections and reassembling them into an eccentric fusion of traditional and modern aesthetics. By the time he got to the Guggenheim, completed in 1997, Gehry had perfected a shocking new style that dazzled critics and the public alike, although many in the architectural community may disagree on such points as creativity versus functionality.

Coop Himmelb(l)au’s UFA-Cinema Center, Dresden, Germany

The Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, which now has offices in Los Angeles and Guadalajara as well as Vienna, is often credited with producing the first realizations of Deconstructivist architecture in Europe. The cooperative’s rooftop law office extension in their home city raised eyebrows when it was erected in 1988 with its parasitic appearance, and its Funder factory building in St. Veit Glan, Austria was certainly eye-catching. In 1998, Coop Himmelb(l)au completed the UFA-Cinema Center in Dresden, Germany, which consists of two volumes: the ‘Crystal’, a massive glass lobby and public square that seems to lean precariously to one side, and the ‘Cinema Block’, which holds eight cinemas with seating for 2600. The firm says that with the UFA-Cinema Center, it aimed to “confront the issue of public space”, saying “By disintegrating the monofunctionality of these structures and adding urban functions to them, a new urbanity can arise in the city.”

Peter Eisenman’s Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio

(images via: wikimedia commons)

New Jersey-based architect Peter Eisenman designed the first major public Deconstructivist building in America, the 1989 Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University. The Wexner Center was something of an experiment in Deconstructivism; it’s certainly not a blank, passive space for the display of art but meant to be a dynamic work of art within itself. It’s a five-story, open-air structure featuring a prominent white gridwork that resembles scaffolding in order to appear intentionally incomplete, in a permanent state of limbo. These very design ideas have caused significant controversy because, in some cases, they interfere with the function of the building, such as fine art exhibition spaces where direct sunlight could potentially damage sensitive works of art. Furthermore, the center has no recognizable entry, with most of the sculptural ornamentation on the sides where no doors exist. The interior spaces are no less eccentric; some visitors even report feeling nauseas because of the ‘colliding planes’ of the design.

Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la Villette, Paris, France

(images via: laurenmanning, mo_cosmo, als0lily)

The Parc de la Villette in Paris is unlike any public park you’ve ever seen, with its strange network of bright red structures designed, according to architect Bernard Tschumi, not for ordered relaxation and self-indulgence but interactivity and exploration. Built from 1984 to 1987 on the grounds of a former meat market, the park contains themed gardens, playgrounds for children, facilities dedicated to science and music and 35 architectural follies, all of which are inspired by the ideas of Deconstructivism. Visually and intellectually stimulating, the steel follies provide a frame for activity, in contrast to the idea of a park as open green space.

OMA/Rem Koolhaas’ Seattle Central Library, Washington

(images via: archdaily)

With famed architect Rem Koolhaas at the helm, architecture firmsOMA and LMN gave Seattle one of the world’s most stunning Deconstructivist buildings in the form of the Seattle Central Library. This groundbreaking structure consists of eight horizontal layers in varied sizes, encased within a structural steel and glass skin which defines additional exterior public spaces. Elevating the library beyond a mere receptacle for books, the design focuses on information as a whole where all forms of media can be accessed, reflected upon and discussed.

Zaha Hadid’s Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

(images via: zaha-hadid.com)

Baghdad-born, Britain-based Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win a Pritzker Prize, has also contributed a number of notable Deconstructivist works to international architecture. One such structure, Hadid’s first design to ever be built, is the 2003 Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio. Known popularly as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), the building is both blocky and soft, defined by geometric volumes on the facade and featuring an unusual ‘urban carpet’, with the ground slowly curving upward from the sidewalk outside into the building and ultimately up the back wall. A ramp resembling a twisted spine draws visitors up to a landing at the entrance to the galleries.

Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany

This zig-zagging structure, clad in thin zinc sheeting punctuated by windows in shapes meant to recall wounds and scars, houses two millennia of German Jewish history. It sits upon a space once occupied by the Berlin Wall, and butts up to an 18th century appeals court which is also part of the museum. Its shape is said to be inspired by a warped Star of David, and its jaggedness is likened to the human condition.  A huge void cuts through the form of the museum, symbolizing the absence left by the thousands of Berliners who were killed or deported in the Holocaust.