POSTMODERNiSM

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INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APPROACH

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 POSTMODERNISM

AS AN

INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APPROACH

A THESIS

S U BMIT T E D TO THE D E P A R T M E N T OF

INTERIOR ARCH I T E C T U R E AND E N V I R O N M E N T AL DESIGN

AND THE INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS

OF BtLKENT UNIVE R S I T Y

IN PARTIAL F U L F I LLMENT OF THE R E Q U I R E M E N T S

FOR THE DEGREE OF

MA S T E R OF FINE ARTS

in
By tarafiriLCn
Yılmaz Burak Güven
June, 1993
 μκ
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.PU
Ğr S'
/553

ЬСОІІЦЯ-
I that I have read this thesis and that in my
opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as
a thesis for the degree of Ma s t e r of Fine Arts.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Y ı l d ı r ı m Yavu ^ - ^ d v i s o r )

I that I have read this thesis and t hat in my

opi n i o n it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as
a thesis for the degree of Ma s t e r of Fine Arts.

I certify that I have read this thesis and t hat in my

opin i o n it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as
a thesis for the degree of M a s t e r of Fine Arts.

A p p r o v e d by the I nstitute of Fine Arts

Prof.Dr. Bülent özgüç.

Director of the Institute of Fine Arts

11
 ABSTRACT

P O S T M O D E R N I SM AS AN INTERIOR SPACE DESIGN APP R O A C H

Yılmaz Burak Güven

M.F.A. in Interior A r c h i t e c t u r e

and Environmental Design

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Y ı l d ı r ı m Yavuz

June, 1993

This thesis discusses the p o s tmodern cond i t i o n in

p o s t i n d u s t r ia l i s t so cieties and its impact on

a r c h i tecture and interior design. The sociological and

philosophical condit i o n s that p r e p a r e and form the

postmodern, postindustrial c u lture are discussed. The

reflections of these c o n ditions both to Western

architecture and to interior designs are obser v e d with

case studies. The impact of p o s t m o d e r n i s m in Turkey -

which is not a postindustrial society, as a matter of

fact -as a style in a r c h i t e c t u r e and interior design is

examined and case studies are done to s u p p l e m e n t this

phenomenon. The relevance of p o s t m o d e r n i s m for Turkey and

its p r o s pective cont r i b u t i o n to s u b s t a n t i a t e our original

interior design practice and theory is discussed.

Keywords: Postmodernism, Eclectic, Historicist,

Ornamentation, Contextual

iii
 ÖZET

BtR İÇ MEKAN TASARIM Y AKLAŞIMI O L A R A K P O S T M O D E R N Î Z M

Yılmaz Burak Güven

iç Mimari ve Çevre Tasarımı Bölümü

Yüksek Lisans

Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Y ı l d ı r ı m Yavuz

Haziran, 1993

Bu tez postendüstriyel toplumlardaki pos t m o d e r n durumu ve

onun mimari ve iç mekan t a s a r ı m l a r ı na yansımasını

tartışmaktadır. Postmodern, postendüstriyel kültürü

hazırlayan ve oluştu r a n s o s yolojik ve felsefi koşullar

t a r t 1 ş 1 İ m i ş t ı r . Bu durumun Batı mimar l ı k ve iç mekan

t a s a r ı m l a r ı na yansıması örnek analizleri ile

gözlenmiştir. P o s t m o d e r n i z m ’in - a s lında postendüstriyel

bir toplum olmayan - T ü r k i y e ’de mimar l ı k ve iç mekan

tasa r ı m ı n d a bir stil olarak etkisi ele alınmış ve bu

olguyu tamamlamak için de örnek çözümlemeleri

yapılmıştır. Son olarak, p o s t m o d e r n i zm i n T ü r k i y e ’yle

ilişkisi ve özgün iç mimar l ı k t a s a r ı m prati ğ i m i z i n ve

teorimizin o l u ş m a s ı n d a ilerdeki katkıları tartışılmıştır.

Ana h t a r Sözcükler: Postmodernizm. Eklektik, Tarihsel,

Süsleme, Bağlamsal

IV
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my special thanks to my advisor

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıl d ı r ı m Yavuz for his invaluable

assistance, support and o r i e n tation in completing this

work. Also, I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cengiz

Yener and Assist. Prof. Dr. Zuhal Ulusoy for their

useful suggestions.
 TAB L E OF C O N T E N T S

ABSTRACT 111

ÖZET iV

A C K N O W L E D G E ME N T S V

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF FIGURES vi i i

PREFACE xi

1. INTRODUCTION: THE POS T M O D E R N C O N D I T I O N 1

2. POSTMODERN ARCHIT E C T U R E 8

2.1. Breakthroug h to Postmodernism:

Robert Venturi 9

2.2. American Postmodernism: SITE 11

2.3. Ration a l i s m 12

2.4. Po s t m o d e r n i s m in Urban Space and Public

Bui 1di ngs 14

2.5. Po s t m o d e r n i s m in 1980s 16

3. POSTMODERN INTERIORS 27

3.1. Emergence of P o s t m o d e r n i sm in

Interior Design 27

3.1.1. Hi-Tech M o vement 31

3.2. Examples of Postmodern Interiors 32

3.3. Main Trends in Postmodern Interior Design 40

3.3.1. E cle c t i c i s m 41

3.3.2. H i s t o r i c i s m or R e v i v a l i s m 41

3.3.3. O r n a m e n t a l i s m 42

vi
 3.3.4. Contextualism 42

4. P O S TMODERN EXPE R I E N C E OF T U RKEY 59

5. C O N C L U S I O N 78

S E L E C T E D BIBLI O G R A P H Y 82

APPENDICES

APP E N D I X A: COLOR PLATES 84

APP E N D I X B: GLOSS A R Y 89

VI 1
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig,1. Tucker House, V e n t u r i ,Rauch and Scott Brown,

F i g . 2. Gordon Wu Dining Hall, Venturi, Rauch and S.Brown

Fig.3. Best S u p e r m a r k e t , Houston, SITE.

Fig.4. Best Supermarket, Sacramento, SITE.

F i g . 5, Museum for Berlin Project, Oswald M.Ungers.

F i g . 6. Modena Cemetery, Aldo Rossi.

F i g . 7. Regional A d m i n i s t r a t io n Building, Aldo Rossi.

F i g . 8. Casa "Rotonda", Mario Botta.

F i g . 9. The Completi o n of W a s h i n g t o n DC, Leon Krier.

F i g . 10. Public Service Building, Michael Graves.

F i g . 11. W u r t t e m b e r g i s h e Staatsgalerie, James Stirling.

F i g . 12. Muse u m for Arts and Crafts, Richard Meier.

F i g . 13. Deutches Arhitekturmuseum, Oswald Mathias Ungers.

F i g . 14. "Arena" A p ar t m e n t Complex, R i cardo Bofill.

F i g . 15. Orinda House, Charles Moore.

F i g . 16. Cohn Pool House, Robert Stern.

F i g . 17. Chicago Sunar Showroom, Michael Graves.

F i g . 18. New York Sunar Showroom, Michael Graves.

F i g . 19. Thematic House, Charles Jencks.

F i g . 20. M inister of C u l t u r e ’s Office, Andree Putmann.

F i g . 21. Bazaar Shop, Ron Arad.

F i g . 22. Katherine Ha m n e t Shop, Norman Foster.

F i g . 23. Schullin Jewelry Store, Hans Hollein.

F i g . 24. Austrian Travel Bureau, Hans Hollein.

vi i i
F i g . 25. Austrian Travel Bureau Axonometric, Hans Hollein.

F i g . 26. Detail of Column and Palmtree, Austrian Travel

Bureau, Hans Hollein.

F i g . 27. Facade of Schullin II Jewelry Store, Hans Hollein

F i g . 28. Schullin II Jewelry Store (interior), Hans

Hoi l e i n .

F i g . 29. Schullin II Jewelry Store (Axonometric), Hans

Hoi 1ei n .

F i g , 30. Musee D ’Orsay, Gae Aulenti and ACT.

F i g . 31, Musee D ’Orsay, Gae Aulenti and ACT.

F i g , 32. Memphis Bar, B.D.M.

F i g . 33. Cafe Costes, Philippe Starck.

F i g . 34. Detail of Chairs, Table and Clock, Cafe Costes,

Phillippe Starck.

F i g . 35. Caffe Bongo (view from the entrance), Nigel

Coates and Nato.

F i g . 36. P a lladium Discotheque, Arata Isozaki.

F i g . 37. Turkish History Society, Tur g u t Cansever.

F i g . 38. Office Building in Kızılay, Sezar Aygen.

F i g . 39. özaltın C o n s t r u c t i o n Company, Haluk Bozoğlu.

Fig.40. Doğuş C o n s tr u c t i o n Company, Erol Aksoy.

F i g . 41. Doğuş C o n s tr u c t i o n Company, Erol Aksoy.

Fig.42. Shopping Mall and Tower, Ragip Buluç.

Fig.43. Shopping Mall and Tower, Ragip Buluç.

F i g . 44. Sürücü Terrace Houses, Merih Karaaslan.

F i g . 45. Sürücü Terrace Houses, Merih Karaaslan.

F i g . 46. Vakk o r a m a Coffee Shop (sections), B a rbara Pensoy

F i g . 47. Vakk o r a m a Coffee Shop, B a rbara Pensoy.

IX
Fig.48. Prestige Billiard Parlor (facade), Güner Mutaf,

Namık Özer.

Fig.49. Twenty Bar, Kadir Akorak.

F i g . 50. Twenty Bar, Kadir Akorak.

F i g . 51. Hilton Hotel, Gr a h a m and Salone Architects.

F i g . 52. Beymen Store, Hasan Mingü.

F i g . 53. Beymen Store, Hasan Mingü.

Plate 1. Cafe Bongo, Nigel Coates.

Plate 2. Sitting Room, M e mphis Group.

Plate 3. V a kkorama Coffee Shop, Barbara Pensoy.

Plate 4 . ' C a r l t o n ’ Room Divider, Ettore Sottsass.

 PREFACE

Pos t m o d e r n i sm is a subject that s u r rounded Western

cultural discourse from philosophy to literature, from

a r c h i tecture to arts in the recent years. The Modern Age

became a thing of the past. For some it ended with the

sink of the Titanic, for others with the expl o s i o n of

Atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The myth of ' p r o g r e s s ’ and

messiah of technolog y is under scrutiny after the

equation E=mc2 cost the lives of about hundred thousand

human beings. From the beginning of 1960s our lives are

embedded in a network of computers, sate l l i t e dishes,

mass media and television. The e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g global

c o mmunication and information e x c h a n g e leads the world to

be a 'Global V i l l a g e ’ . This information flow provides a

legitimate background for the diversified, fragmented

genres to be flowered. In the chaotic world of

postmodern, we observe the jamais vu (never seen) and

deja vu (already seen) at the same time. It becomes more

and more difficult for the subject to locate h i m/herself

in this ' m a p l e s s ’ world with lost referents.

Physical e n v i ronment s u r r o unding us, as emerged by the

designers and culture producers, contri b u t e s to the

formation of this situation. Yet, simultaneously, it

presents to us the clues to o v e r c o m e the tradegy of

t o d a y ’s man, the contem p o r a r y Icarus.

xi
Interior design which is concerned with a 1 1 the elements

of the interior spaces of the architectural shell is the

most influencing part of physical e n v i r o n m e n t design that

affects the life styles of human beings.

In attempting to provide better living and working

conditions, the Modern Movem e n t created a type of

interior design which was ideologically motivated, plain

and purist. During the 1960s and 1970s, Mo d e r n i s t

principles began to be questioned by the growth of

e c l e c t i c i s m and revivalist trends. The c o n d itions and the

reasons of such changes in interior design taste are the

subject matter of this thesis.

XI 1
 1. INTRODUCT I O N : THE P O S T M O D E R N C O N D I T I O N

In Octo b e r 1981, Le Mon d e a nnounced to its readers that

a specter was haunting Europe, the s p ecter of

Postmodernism. Clement Greenberg, the t h e o r i s t of

American M o d e r n i s m defined P o s t m o d e r n i s m in 1979 as the

"lowering of aesthetic stan d a r d s caused by the

democra t i z a ti o n of culture under industrialism. He saw

the danger as a lack of artis t i c j u d g e m e n t wher e a s

Lemaire in Le Monde called it nihilism" (Jencks, 1989,

1 2 ).

The term ' modern ’ is first used in fifth century A.D.

as ' m o d e r n u s ’ in Latin, to separ a t e that C h ristian era

from the Roman and Pagan past. "The c o ncept of

P o s t m o d e r n i sm was first used by the Spanish writer

Frederico De Onis in his A n t o l o g i a de la Poesia E spañola

e H i s p a n o a m e r i c a n a . 1934 to descr i b e a reaction from

within Modernism" (Jencks, 1989, 8).

The debate that the Mod e r n Age -the cha n g e in the world

view brought on by Nietzche, Einstein, Freud and the

philosophers of the E n l i g h t e n m e nt Age- is becoming a

thing of the past is continuing. We are living t h rough a

turning point in history. This point should not be seen

only as a cultural phenomenon. S o c i o l o g i s t s announce us

1
a new society type has been emerg i n g from the end of

1950s. This society type is best known as 'post­

industrial society ’ yet called sometimes as consumer

society, m e dia society, information society or hi-tech

society.

Con t e m p o r a r y a n t h rop o l o g is t s tend to divide the world

history -merely, the W e s t e r n history -in t o three phases

according to the form of p r o duction :

1. Pre-Industrial / Agricultural Society w h e r e

agricultural surplus is important. [ 10.000 B.C.-

1450 ]

2. Industrial / C a p i t a l i s t Society : industrial surplus

is important. [ 1450 - 1960 ]

3. Post-industrial / Informative S o ciety : information

surplus is important. [ 1960 - ]

All the data about the ' First Wor l d ’ shows us that

society has been transf o r m i n g f rom labor / p roduction

para d i g m to information / t e c hnology paradigm. Factory

labor is giving way to home and office work. Political

leaders heralded the end of w o rking class, the

proletariat, a decade ago. If it is the end of

proletariat, it must be the end of b o u r g e o i s i e who own

the production means. Perhaps, a new d u ality has been

born : office worker s versus the par a - c l a s s of

cognitariat.

Indeed, some writers claim that the first time in history

2
we achieved a society w i t h o u t class ( then the

utopia of Marx is achie v e d ).

What we know today, the s i tuation is more complex than

the customary models with which we have worked - the

notions of the two - party sy s t e m ’left- and r i g h t - w i n g ’ ,

working and capitali s t class. "Postmodern world is m a king

a nonsense of such polarities" (Jencks, 1989, 47).

Jean Baudrillard, one of the p rominent figures in

contemporary French philosophy, states that the social

p h enomena cannot be ' r e a d ’ in the d imension of binary

o p p o sitions as M a r x i s m -Capitalism.

"I believe that the real logic is the logic of

potentialization, not the dialectical logic."

(Baudrillard, 1991, 72).

His w ritings are currently at the centre of p o s t m o d e r n i st

debate. He stresses the ways in w h ich our lives are

e mbedded in a world of images which have no clear

referents and which are reproduced by the new m e c h a n i s m s

of cultural producti o n in contem p o r a r y societies.

According to Baudrillard, there is no ' r e a l ’ in our

present life; all we have is the v a rious mod e l s to

reproduce the real, and the ' simulations ’ that are the

genetic reductions of the real. The ' m e d i a ’ play the

major role in this deception. The med i a make the indirect

perception of the wor l d impossible.

Masses are neutraliz e d - actually, prefer to be

neutralized -by this ' s h o w ’ which is prepared by the

media. They choose to be indifferent and unre a c t i o n a ry to

the content of the information. To say that they have

been directed and deceived by the ' g o v e r n m e n t ’

(discourse), is a humiliation to the masses. The reality

is that; they chose the indifference, and in spite of the

g o v e r n m e n t ’s call for them to participate, they remain

silent. "The ' m e a n i n g ’ lost its meaning. This is the

tragedy of our time" (Baudrillard, 1991, 13-15).

Another French philosopher J e a n - F r a n ç o is Lyotard, in his

book The Postmodern Condition: A Re p o r t on K n owledge ,

argues the condition of knowledge in highly d e v e loped

societies. He confirms that the k nowledge is produced to

be sold and will be produced to be sold; is consumed to

be valued in a new production and will be consumed.

In po s t i n d u s t r ia l i s t societies, k nowledge gains an

e conomic value, m e an w h i l e loses its validity to educate

individuals and society for the wel l - b e i n g of mankind.

What Lyotard underli n e s is that; language is becoming an

object of technology in p o s t i n d u s t r i a l i s t societies. The

' p e r f o r m i t y ’ or 'highest e f f i c i e n c y ’ c r i t e r i a are applied

to the language. The aim is to make the s e ntences coded,

deciphered, emitted, and grouped messages.

Fredric Jameson , an Ameri c a n Marxist, in his long

essay, "Post-Moderni s m Or The Cultural Logic Of Late-

4
Capitalism", goes into an intellectual analy s i s of

cultural t r a n sformat io n s in the pos t m o d e r n world and

relates it to politics stating that the s o ciety we are

living in is the third - and natural -step of c a p i t a l i s m

which is a more pure c a p i t a l i s m (after the e c o n o m i s t

Ernst Mandel). "The position taken for p o s t m o d e r n i s m in

culture - whether it be against or for it - s i m u l t a n e o u s l y

and obligatorily, is a political attit u d e -open or

concealed -relating to the nature of t o d a y ’s

multinational capitalism" (Zeka, 1990, 61). All of the

cultural production today cannot be c o n s i d e r e d as

' p o s t m o d e r n ’ in the broad sense of the word. Yet,

pos t m o d e r n i sm creates a power point w h e r e the various

cultural moti v a t i o n s -cultural remainings and new-born

forms - ought to have a place in it. He points out the

fact of erasure of the old border (high m o d e r n i s t in

content) between the high culture and the popular

culture. C omparing Van G o g h ’s 'Old Shoes With L a c e s ’

painting (modernist) and Andy W a r h o l ’s 'Diamond Dust

S h o e s ’ (postmodernist) , Jameson c oncludes that we can

observe the emergenc e of a new surfaceness, or new

plainness and shallowness.

The leitmotifs of modernism; alienation, anomy,

loneliness, social explosion, isolation, anxiety could be

o bserved in the whimsical atm o s p h e r e of Kafka (Trial,

Metamorphosis), in Cam u s ( L ’E t r a n g e r ) , in Antonioni (Blow

up. Red Desert, Passenger, La Notte), in dra m a Beckett

( Waiting for Godot) or Jean Genet (The Maids, Balcony).

5
These themes are no more e x i s t e n t in the world of

postmodern. We can define this slide in cultural

pathology dynamics as; the plac e m e n t of fragmentation

(explosion) of the su bject instead of the ali e n a t i o n of

the subject. Applications, discourses, textual game

concept took place in the new world. One can o b s e r v e the

surface or multi surfaces instead of the depth of mode r n

culture.

The vanishing of the individual subject c r eates an

universal practice called pastiche. Pastiche is an

imitational artwork - an exact replica. Jameson warns us

not to confuse it with ' p a r o d y ’ , which found an

envi r o n m e n t to grow in m o d e r n s ’ d i s i m i t a t a b l e styles.

Parody, is an imitation of a poem, song, etc., whe r e the

style is the same but the theme ludicrously different; a

feeble imitation (compare Le C o r b u s i e r ’s interpretation

of Turkish civil arch i t e c t u r e and V e n t u r i ’s imitation of

the A merican vernacular). Pastiche, like parody, is an

imitation, to speak in a dead language, but p r a c t i c e s it

without having the irony, the m o t i v a t i o n s that u nderlie

in parody and wit h o u t having humor. Then, ' h i s t o r y ’ is

the only place that c u lture p roducers can apply to after

the fall of the style ideology. (A literature critic

accused Umberto E c o ’s novels - i n c l u d i n g his last

Foucault's Pendulum -as having two spoons of sociology,

three spoons of witc h c r a f t and some spoons of history and

lacking the ' s p i r i t ’ or ' a u r a ’ of the novels of Stendhal

or Balzac).

6
Jameson sees the cultural periods realism, modernism,

p o s t m o d e r n i sm in parallel with H a n d e l ’s three steps of

capitalism: market capitalism, monop o l y or the step of

imperialism and our period which can be called the

multinational capital. The technological d e v e l o p m e n t in

the d i fferent periods shows us the slide in the relation

with the machine and the r e presentation of the machine.

"The technology of our period does not have

the capacity to be represented: neither
turbine nor the silos and factory chimneys.
The computer who s e envel o p e does not have a
visual or symbolic power, and the f i nishing of
various media, for instance the telev i s i o n
which absorbs eve r y t h i n g into itself..."
(Zeka, 1990, 94).

These machines are reproduction m a c h i n e s more than the

production machines.

Finally, Jameson concludes that the new political art

(if it is possible), should stand on the reality of

po s t m o d e r n i sm -the global space of multinational capital·

and "should reach to the new style that can provide us

with our skill of strug g l e and action which are

ineffected by our social chaos" (Zeka, 1990, 116).

 2. P O S T M O D E R N A R C H I T E C T U R E

Modern m ovement in ar c h i t e c t u r e which stood as a

reaction to the nineteenth century Arts and Crafts

move m e n t prevailed from early 1920s to late 1960s.

T o d a y ’s architecture is d i f f e r e n t from the early

twentieth c e n t u r y ’s. From the beginning of 1970s most of

the architectural theories and practices has taken

position against the authority of Mo d e r n movement. The

m odernist attitude su b limated the functional aspect of

the building which is one of the three concepts that form

architecture; function, structure and aesthetics. The

extreme valorising of function -which is actually equal

to the other two- caused in the e x c l u s i o n of fiction from

the architecture and the only thing left was the

technique of building. The building became an a b stract

play of geometry lacking f r e e d o m and humanity.

Economy, being a dimension of function, d e t e r m i n e d the

form and space and eve r y w h e r e thr o u g h o u t the world same

pragmatic ' b o x e s ’ grew w i t h o u t having the local identity.

In 1960s, the belief in the modern m o v e m e n t ’s ideas had

been shaken from its roots. The une a s i n e s s felt for the

physical env i r o n m e n t created by arc h i t e c t s and urban

designers led toward the refusal of the modern ideology.

The rejected historical v o c abulary has been rediscovered.

8
The historical forms and styles provided a repository of

references for the building to convey a message. The

architect uses a language that is hybrid, eclectic.

"Charles Jencks has emp h a s i z e d stylistic p l u r a l i s m as the

essential feature of p o s tmodern architecture. No

stylistic dogmas are in force any longer" (Klotz, 1988,

129). The idea of ev e r - l a s t i n g ' p r o g r e s s ’ in science,

technology and art which was the goal of m o d ernity

produced a practice called 'a v a n t g a r d e ’ . To create works

of art and architect u r e that had been done before was

considered as a crime. Society, on the other hand, lost

its trust in progress looking for instead the past. The

change in the style toward the 't r a n s - a v a n t g a r d e ’

provided architects to retrospect the styles, forms which

were rejected and to use past v o c a b u l a r y with o u t

hesitation.

2.1. B r e a k through to Postmodernism: R o b e r t Venturi

American architect, Rob e r t Venturi, in his 1966 t r eatise

on a r c h i tecture Com p l e x i t y and C o n t r a d i c t i o n in

A r c h i t e c t u r e . had attacked modern architecture. He blamed

the belief that the quality of a building could be

heightened by attenu a t i n g its form and that the reduction

to the lowest common d e n o m inator could be the solution of

all problems. Venturi insisted that any ' g o o d ’ building

had complexity and cont r a d i c t i on in itself and the

e xamples he gave to prove his thesis included the much

favored buildings from history.

9
Complexity is the si m u l t a n e o u s action of various factors

in a r c h i tecture with o u t the excl u s i o n of c ontrary

demands. The three fundamental aspects of a r c h i t e c t u r e -

whether it be function, stru c t u r e and form or interior

space, mass and facade- always oppose each other. To

give importance to one aspect over the others results in

the simplification, reduction. The proper way to design a

building is to include all the c o n t r a d i c t o ry factors and

let them show themselves w i t h o u t any shame.

The design of the facade became important for Venturi as

the whole building. Contrary to the modern b u i l d i n g ’s

reflection of interior to exterior, the uns e p a r a b i l it y of

interior and exterior, he a d vocated the cont r a d i c t i on of

the facade with the interior. The facade can be an

o r n amented wall applied to the building, the shed. This

is a "decorated shed" (Klotz, 1988, 154) whe r e the

ornament is not an inherent part of the building. The

situations where the whole building became an or n a m e n t

are not acceptable. This was called as "duck" (Klotz,

1988, 154) by him where the inspiration came f rom a

roadside store selling poultry, built as a big duck.

S a a r i n e n ’s TWA Terminal in New York (a bird with e xtended

wings in flight) or U t z o n ’s Sydney O p e r a Hou s e can be

considered as "duck"s of the modern a r c h i t e c t u r e in using

w e l l-known stereomet r i c forms in an e x p l i c i t manner.

The importance given to the d e c o r a t i o n of the shed brings

the f a c a d e ’s design into light. The addition of symbols,

10
signs, commercial graphics that are used by the American

popular culture on the facade improve the visual field

and heighten the quality of life by c o m m u n i c a t i ng

messages. Venturi accepted the reality of the popular

culture and blamed the a r c hitects and decision makers of

being elitist.

2.2. Amer i c a n P o s t m o d e r n i s m : SITE ("Sculpture in the

Envi r o n m e n t " )

The works of the New York group SITE are guided by

V e n t u r i ’s concept of a building as a shed with a s i g n ­

bearing facade. In the works of SITE, facade becomes a

huge poster of an ar c h i t e c t u r e that is imperfect, ugly,

crumbling and fragmenting. "De-architecture" (Klotz,

1988, 193) is the theme of SITE. SITE group designed many

suburban showrooms for Best Products C o . , H o uston and

Sacramento among them. In the Ho u s t o n S h o w r o o m (1974) the

brick veneer of the facade is exten d e d in a ragged

profile beyond the roofline, resulting in an a r c h i t e c t u r e

of demolition (Fig.3). A section of the facade is

fragmented for a pile of bricks to spill over the top of

the pedestrian canopy. The Sac r a m e n t o S h o w r o o m (1977) is

penetrated by a raw-edged gap that serves as the main

entrance and the for t y-five ton wedge draws out from this

gap moves 12 meters to open and close the s h o w r o o m ( F i g .4)

SITE treats architec t u r e as the raw material for art and

the projects can be interpreted as sculptural m o n u m e n t s

against the neutral suburban environment.

11
2.3. R a t i o n a l i s m

Rati o n a l i s m - the theory and practice that reason rather

than sense perception is the c r iterion of design- stood

as an opposition to f u n c t i o n a l i sm in Europe. Reason found

its e x istence in the abstr a c t relationship of geometry.

Europe witnessed the evol u t i o n of rational thought in its

history. Nowhere else the r a t i o nalistic attitude could

find better place to grow.

Rati o n a l i s m was initiated by the Italian a r c h i t e c t Aldo

Rossi and the German a rchitect Oswald Mathias Ungers.

These architects did not use the popular culture as their

inspiration as their colleagues in North Amer i c a

exploited the references to the e v e r y d a y world and the

Pop Art. The architects of European R a t i o n a l i s m have not

developed a sensibility receptive to all the fictional

material that found its way into a r c h i t e c t u r e as a result

of Pop culture. On the contrary, they made an attempt to

renew the significan c e of historical typology a t t a cking

the functi o n a l i st banal i z a t i o n of structure.

For the functionalists, what d e t ermined the look of a

form was the purpose for which it was most generally

used. Oswald Mathias Ungers believed the morphological

t r a nsformation of a basic concept could be varied

avoiding monotony. D i f f e r e n t i a ti o n of forms stemm i n g from

a simple idea scheme leads unity as well as articulation.

The geometric relation of basic forms coll e c t e d with

12
analytical reasoning results in ' w h o l e s ’ where each

individual structure speaks its own language.

Italian rationalist architect, Aldo Rossi has proved that

function has to adapt itself to form in the course of

time in his most important architectural treatise

L ’a r c h i tettura della C i t t a (The A r c h i t e c t u r e of the C i t y )

first published in 1966. Rossi gave importance to form

over function and he used the historical a r c h etypes of

building in his designs. Rossi had emp h a s i z e d the

m u l t ivalent nature of a r c h i t e c t u r e , how str u c t u r e s like

Roman arena could be t r a n s formed in various cultures and

re-used for d i fferen t function, like dwelling. Rossi made

use of g e o m e t r y ’s rich potential of symbolic con n o t a t i o n s

in his project for a cemetery in M o d e n a (Fig.6). Rossi

states,

"I thought of f a s hioning the cemetery on a

R a t i onalist co ncept of death, as a disruption
of life. I tried t herefore to represent it as a
deserted house with empty w i ndows and as a
factory with a smokestack whe r e the work has
been disrupted" (Klotz ,1988, 242).

The monumental presence, public memory and s y m b o l i s m are

the c h a racteristic features of the Modena cemetery.

Mario Botta, another Italian architect, has generally

followed a path of his own, independent of Rossi. His

design for a house in Stabio (Fig,8) built between 1979-

81 takes its name 'Casa R o t o n d a ’ from its cylinder shape.

The contrast between fort i f i c a t i on and openness is the

theme of the house. The ch i a r o s c u r o effect which is an

13
influence of Louis Kahn is achieved by tearing the

masonry violently apart. Botta reaches to the postmodern

concept not by using historical typology, but by

including all the c o n t r a d i c t o ry visual tensions into his

buildings. This visual play of forms leads him to design

formalistic boxes -boxes that are not an outcome of

function and simplicity as in m o d e r n i s t buildings.

2.4. P o s t m o d e r n i sm in Urban Space and Public B u i l dings

The dividing line between m o d e r n i s m and p o s t m o d e r n i s m was

clearer in the field of city planning than in other areas

of architecture. On the one side were the glamorous urban

utopias of modernism, which seemed to be on another

planet. On the other side were the designs that took

their bearings from the cities of the nineteenth century.

Modern city planning proposed the s e p aration of

activities -work, dwelling, recreation- for efficiency.

City was considered as a huge factory where the d i f f e r e n t

stages of production were seg r e g a t e d rationally in favor

of maxi m u m output with m i n i m u m input. Zoning, the

physical separation of these activities, resulted in the

Central Business Districts inhabited by crim i n a l s during

the night times. H i s t o r i c a l l y considered, the cities of

the pre-industrial era were a blend of f unctions where

every district has its own c haracter as well as

n e i gbourliness was an important issue. The co- e x i s t e n c e

of work p l a c e s and houses and recreation in a nei g b o u r h o o d

suited for a human scale physical environment.

14
Rob Krier, in his book Stadr a u m in T h eorie und Praxis

(Urban Space in Theory and Practice), goes into an

analysis of urban spaces, streets and facades and draws

typologies. The expe r i e n c e and the sensual per c e p t i o n of

the pre-industrial city stood in o p p osition to the

dry, inhumane accumu l a t i o n of f unctions in the modern

city.

One of the first postmodern public b uildings is the

Public Service Building ( F i g . 10) in Portland, Oregon

designed by Michael Graves. Graves used a voc a b u l a r y of

Art Deco of 1930s. The s e v e n - s t o r y -h i g h c r o s s -barred

window is a supermot i f that p e n e trates the facade and

opens up the center of the block. The two p ilasters and

the giant keystone are stylized references to the

historical post and lintel c o n s t r u c t i o n in a huge scale.

The British architect James Stirling, who has e x p e r i e n c e d

or influenced the most important t r a n s f o r m a t io n s of

postwar architecture, arrived at a p o s t m o d e r n i sm

determined by h i stor i c i z i ng tendencies after leaving the

orbit of New Brutal ism and Team X. The a dditions to the

W u r t t e m b e r g is h e S t a a t s g a l e r ie ( F i g . 11) in S t u t tgart

constituted the most important project of S t i r l i n g ’s

postmodern phase.

Stirling reflects the classical plan of the e x isting

building by mirrorin g its U-shape. He has used

traditional rustication and classical motifs including an

15
Egyptian cornice, an open-air Pantheon and segmental

arches. According to Jencks,

"these are beautiful in an un d e r s t a t e d and

conventional way, but they are not revivalist
either because of small distortions, or the use
of modern material such as reinforced concrete.
They say, 'We are beautiful like the A c r o p o l i s
or Pantheon, but we are also based on c o ncrete
technology and d e c e i t ’ " (Jencks, 1989, 19).

Stirling confronts t radition and modern technology giving

neither a priority.

Kisho Kurokawa, one of J a p a n ’s leading architects,

considers t o d a y ’s ar c h i t e c t u r e as an intercultural

phenomenon in his book Intercultural Architecture: The

Philosophy of S y m b i o s i s . Symbiosis, a term taken from

biology, is the essential feature of his architectural

philosophy. Symbiosis of Eastern and W e stern cultures,

past and present, culture and nature, tradition and

technology, the ' l i v i n g - t o g e t h e r ’ of these varying

components leads towards a p l u r a listic and rich way of

life. Western society excluded the other cultures for the

benefit of progress and now an archit e c t u r e of inclusion

has to be emerged. K u r o k a w a ’s inspirations are from the

traditional Japanese Edo st o r e h o u s e s of the seve n t e e n t h

century as well as the W e stern rotunda melted in a pot of

technology in his Mu s e u m of C o n t e m p o r a r y Art, H i r o s h i m a

built in 1988.

2.5. Postmodern Arc h i t e c t u r e in 1980s

Since 1980, postmodern trends in archit e c t u r e have gained

16
ground all over the world. Modern a r c h i t e c t u r e considered

ornament as a crime. A r c hitects of the postmodern

movement has taken p o s t m o d e r n i sm as a reaction to

buildings without ornament. Thus, a building designed in

a m o dernist manner could become postmodern with the

addition of false details. This make-up is to consider

architecture as a two-dimensional d e c oration w i t h o u t any

content and Robert V e n t u r i ’s s u b l i mation of the

"decorated shed" is partly responsible for this tacked-

upon aesthetics.

Most of the buildings of the postmodern m a n i f e s t a t i on

were small residences or condom i n i u m s before the

acceptance of po s t m o d e r n i s m as a style. In the 1980s, the

trend proved itself to realize public buildings, office

towers and museums. The international architectural

discussion has been influenced by two m u seums in

Frankfurt : Richard M e i e r ’s Mus e u m for Arts and Crafts

and Oswald Mathias U n g e r s ’s German A r c h i t e c t u r e Museum.

In Arts and Crafts M u s e u m ( F i g . 12), Meier was faced with

having to combine a new building with a villa built in

1816. He solved the p r oblem by su b d i v i d i n g the new

building into interconnecting pavilions that reproduce

the proportions of the old building, which they surround.

He showed here how an exte n s i o n building can become

complementary structure that respects the existing

elements yet demonst r a t e s an o r i g i n a l i t y of its own.

With German Architec t u r e Mu s e u m ( F i g . 13), Ungers was able

17
for the first time to realize a project that illustrated

his program for a morphological a r c h i t e c t u r e . Ungers

removed the interior of an old villa and inserted a new

structure in it. The stru c t u r e turned into a 'house

within a h o u s e ’ , standing inside the shell of the old

building as a symbol of architecture. Thus, Ungers used a

typological structure to c o m m u nicate by symbolism.

Ricardo Bofill, a Spanish a r chitect who worked for small

scale buildings in 1960s and 1970s in Spain, d esigned

superscale buildings in France. His designs w ere the

huge condominiums, all of s u p e rscale proportions, for the

mid d l e - i n c o me in the manner of 'Versailles for the

P u b l i c ’ . In ' A r e n a ’ apartment complex ( F i g . 14) in M a m a

la valle, he has succeeded in p roducing a s eparated realm

that offers a refuge from urban chaos. However, the

exterior of the complex is fortresslike, discouraging,

and intimidatingly alien. A ten - s t o r e y a m phitheater is

evenly divided into three visual storeys. The double

Tuscan columns raise three storeys giving a rhythm

between windows; the fluted Art Deco columns conti n u i n g

through ten storeys act as vertical c i r c u lation shafts.

The play with the contr a s t of small and colossal order is

reminiscent to M i c h e l a n g e l o ’s buildings.

According to Jencks, all these instances show that

postmo d e r n i sm has become a w i d e s p r e a d tradition in 1980s

with many prominent offices p roducing works labelled as

postmodern (Jencks, 1987, 167). This tradition will

18
continue to expand with v a r i ations as it gains popularity

among the public eye. Yet there exists a danger of

c o m m e r cialization and co n s u m p t i o n of this tradition. This

fact leads to the pr o d uction of many medio c r e works and

helps to accelerate the death of a movement. As we

f o rmulate p o s t m o dern i sm as a p l u r a l i s m of styles, it is

obvious that the c o m m e r c i a l i za t i o n process occurs faster.

19
 Fig.1. Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown
Tucker House
Katonah, New York (1974-75)

7 ■ ·* "v · · ·' .....

···■ / ··· ■ '

F i g . 2. Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown

Gordon Wu Dining Hall
Princeton, New Jersey (1981-83)

20
 Fig.3. SITE
Best S u p ermarket
Houston (1974)

F i g . 4. SITE
Best Supermarket
S a c ramento (1977)

21
r ^ -lAÍ·» ''*'"■'· \V'<

V '0 ?^ *í^ 'í f^ ’ í^í’·''’ · ^' ^':·

h '* *’ ii:i ·' . ' ·*

^i%.;''.#-ík-·'::
|?f.%''^v!:.r·^;;·' ■
íx·'^· .■:"■.•'V
^'1 (l·* *' "7·
m
’" ' ■ ' i / f g ’!
d-J<í|íitt/ -
» < /
^ iV ' ■■'■-■
tfv,;,'·-·
Í'''d ^vC '^"'‘' d # F ‘

Fig.5. Oswald M a thias Ungers

Mus e u m for Berlin Project
1965

F i g . 6. Aldo Rossi
M o d e n a Cemetery
(1971-85)

22
 .......... · · · · '

F i g . 7. Regional A d m i n i s t r a t i o n Building
T r ieste (project)
1974

F i g . 8. Mario Botta
"Casa Rotonda"
Stabio (1981)

23
 ifS^f^... .i/:,. , -·:'> ¿M'· ■ rrf,
!jf?;*;·■.;·:·■' · J
■■:'i·-r;^
.■ .<
). r ’' J .

IS v ^ iE 'l'.-.....

F i g . 9. Leon Krier
The C o m p l e t i o n of W a s h i n g t o n DC
Aerial Pe r s p e c t i v e (1985)

F i g . 10. Michael Graves

Publ i c S e rvice Building
Portland, Or e g o n (1980-83)

24
 Fig.11. James Stirling
Württe m b e r g is h e S t a a t s g a l e r ie
Stuttgart (1977-84)

Fig.12, Richard Meier

Mus e u m for Arts and Crafts
Fran k f u r t Am Main (1981-85)

25
 F i g . 13. Os w a l d M a thias Ungers
Deutches A r c h i t e k t u r m u s e u m
Frankfurt Am Main (1980-83)

F i g . 14. R i cardo Bofill

"Arena" A p a r t m e n t Complex
Marne La Valle, France (1980-84)

26
 3, POS T M O D E R N INTERIORS

3.1. Emergence of P o s t m o d e r n i s m in Interior Design

In the early 1970s a new plur a l i s m e m erged in interior

design as in architecture. Return to t r a d i t i o n a l i s m and

the revival of past styles prevailed in the Western world

especially in Britain and America.

The single approach of the Modern M o v e m e n t was rejected

for the multiplicity of approaches, p o s s i bilities and

directions. Instead of the pure and the geometrical, the

fragmented and the layered were favored. The

inconsistent, the ad hoc and spontaneous, the irregular

and the incomplete became a new vision for 1970s.

Postmodern design was o r i ginated in architectural

practice. In 1962 Ch arles Moore designed and built a

house for himself in Orinda, C a l i f o r n i a ( F i g . 15). The

outside is simple with a rectangular plan and a pyramidal

roof. However, the interior is a single large space

where the two pyramidal s k ylights are supp o r t e d by four

Tuscan columns. These columns define two square areas; a

living area under a large dome and a bath tub under the

smaller. The space bounded by four columns in a square

form like a baldachin along with the skylight is a

historical motif from the Roman atrium type dwellings.

27
The found objects as part of the f u r nishing act as

expressions of identity and individuality a g ainst the

anonymisation of m o d e r n i s t residential interiors. Moore

designed many furnitures in the postmodern aesthetic

serving eclectic tastes later on.

Robert A.M. Stern, with his designs for apartment

renovations, showrooms and houses a d v o cated

postmodernism. His interiors and de c o r a t i o n s included a

variety of historical styles; Palladian p ilasters and

arched windows, Art Deco cabinets. Gothic elements,

indirect lighting coves.

Stern rediscovered the n eglected d esigners and a rchitects

of the 1920s and 1930s and designed b u ildings and

interiors with diver g e n t historical influences of the

postmodern. In the Cohn Pool House ( F i g . 16) in New Jersey

(1982) Deco-Grecian stairs and stai n l e s s steel palm trees

of John N a s h ’s Brighton Pavillion of 1815-21 lead to the

indoor swimming pool. Stern mixed all classical and

decorative motifs with S e c e s s i o n i s t tilework, stocky

Tuscan columns and Deco lighting e f fects in a free- s t y l e

way.

Stern has been inspired from the Shingle style (a term,

for the American domestic revival of the 1870s and

1880s), the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens, Art Deco and

Classicism.

28
The a r c h i t e ct-design e r Michael Graves has affected the

postmodern discussion with his furniture for the Italian-

based Memphis group. Symbolic use of colors and his

mannered classical ornamentation, pastel colors and

furniture designs co n t r i b u t e d to the interior design of

1970s, The primary concerns for Graves were the

relationships of his interiors and a r c h i t e c t u r e to their

physical sites and cultural backgrounds for contextual

consistency,

Michael Graves designed a series of eight s h owrooms in

different cities for the Sunar f urniture company,

beginning in 1979. G r a v e s ’ c o ncept for these showrooms

was a hierarchical sequence of separate rooms instead of

a flowing space. He has used color symbol i c a l l y in his

interiors. In the C h i c a g o Sunar s h o w r o o m (1982), he had

used dark colors and soft fabrics in contrast to hard

surfaces ( F i g . 17). In his Sunar s h o w r o o m in New York

(1979), he uses sky blue, t e r r a - c o t t a red and green to

suggest trees ( F i g . 18).

He drew analogies from a n t r o p o m o r p ho l o g y as 'foot, body

and h e a d ’ for the t h r ee-part division of wal l s into base,

middle and top. G r a v e s ’ designs can be considered

completely historic i s t and neoclassical and he has

rejected his earlier "abstraction" for the sake of

"symbolic and mythic representation" (Collins, 1989,

131 ).

29
The architectural theorist Charles Jencks designed houses

in Britain and America, the interior of his own Thematic

House ( F i g . 19) in London being amongst them. Designed in

collaboration with British a rchitect Terry Barrel from

1979 to 1984, this house has rooms devoted to the

seasons- spring, summer, autumn and wint e r - a s well as

many others which are thematic, such as the Egyptian room

and the Architectural Library. Jencks has designed

symbolic furniture for his house. His furn i t u r e has

Classical inspirations ranging from Egypt, Greece,

Neoclassicism, Biedermeier and Art Deco.

Postmodern interior design owes great debt to the Italian

designers of the 1970s. Mario Bellini, Ettore Sottsass

and Joe Col umbo rejected accepted ideas about home

interiors and about Modernism. Sottsass formed the

Memphis Group in 1981. Designing within a postmodern

aesthetic Memphis Group had an important influence on

interior design. Furniture was finis h e d with brightly

patterned plastic laminate which was aimed towards the

m a s s - consumption and was in unconventional forms that are

inappropriate for the function. Although it o r i g i n a t e d in

furniture design, Memphis style affected the interior

designs of shops and fast food restaurants during the

1980s.

In France, Andree Putman designed the interior of the

Minister of C u l t u r e ’s office in 1985 (Fig.20). The s e m i ­

circular desk, Hi-Tech lamp and postmodern chairs provide

30
a pluralism of styles in contrast with the classic French

w a l 1-panel 1 ing and chandelier.

3.1.1. Hi-Tech Movem e n t

Interior design of the 1970s and 1980s was not a complete

reaction against Modernism. The Futuristic approach of

the 1920s was popularized in 1970s as ' H i - T e c h ’ Movement.

The ' H i - T e c h ’ moveme n t which takes its name from 'high

t e c h n o l o g y ’ elevated the industrial production to an

aesthetical level. Designers exposed structural systems,

air-conditioning ducts, sprinkler systems, electrical

equipments as expressible design elements.

Designer Joseph Paul D ’Urso f urnished his apartment in

New York with hospital doors, stainless-steel sink and

metal fencing to divide the interior.

Ron Arad used industrial m aterials in his designs for

interiors. In a clothes-shop called Bazaar (Fig.21), in

London (1985-86), he used rough, coarse mate r i a l s for the

interior. The atmosphere of destruction and decay which

has become a popular theme a f t erwards caused this type of

interior be termed as ' P o s t - H o l o c a u s t ’ .

Norman Robert Foster used the voc a b u l a r y of Hi-Tech

aesthetic in the Shanghai Bank Building, Hong Kong, and

the interior of Katharine H a m n e t t ’s shop (Fig.22) in

London (1986). T w o - s t o r e y - hi g h w a r e h o u s e of the

nineteenth century was designed as a pure, white space.

The f r ee-standing metal clothing rails and m i r r o r - w a l l s

31
on two sides giving an illusion of spatial infinity are

' h i - t e c h ’ touches.

3.2. Examples of Pos tmodern Interiors

Postmo d e r n i sm has found fertile ground to develop in

interior design because realization of an interior space

was easier, less expensive and quicker than the

realization of a whole building or urban planning. Many

building and urban designs remained on ' p a p e r ’ for a long

time, whereas interior d esigners found o p p o r t u n i t i es to

experiment with p o st m o d e r n i sm freely.

Most of the postmodern interior designs created were

commercial spaces (such as stores, restaurants, night

clubs) because commercial spaces became the most

important type of space in the 'p o s t i n d u s t r i a l ’ ,

multinational market society.

To see a place or a city became equal with to dine in its

famous restaurants, to be in its chic night clubs or to

shop from its famous boutiques. Thus, the owners of these

commercial spaces gave unseen importance to the design

and ' p a c k a g i n g ’ of these spaces and the interior

designers had chances to e x p e r i m e n t new ideas and to

fulfill their c l i e n t s ’ demands which would not be

possible with the conse r v a t i v e bureaucracy.

What differs postmod e r n i st interior space from the

modernist space is that the m o d e r n i s m c o n s idered space

32
homogeneous in every direction, abstract and rational

whereas postmodern interiors are heterogeneous,

irrational and ambiguous.

Austrian architect and designer, Hans Hollein was one of

the architects who has not received a public commission

for several decades. In 1965 Hollein became known to

public with his Retti candle shop, which was followed by

the CM Boutique (1966-67): an extension of the Feigen art

gallery in New York (1967-69); the Section N, an

extension of a Viennese house of the seventeenth century

(1971); and the Schullin Jewelry Store in Vienna (1972-

74).

Whereas the Retti and CM facades were defined by

modernist notions, a variety of forms - irregular,

disruptive ones as well as precise ones - occur in the

facade of the Schullin Store (Fig.23). The facade recalls

the ' d e - a r c h i t e c t u r e ’ of the SITE group. The contrast of

slick marble and the irregular rupture which seems to be

the result of metal tubes depicts a tale of decay, of

imperfect. The rupture c ontinues towards the steel door

and distorts it. The tearing on a slick facade became

a popular theme after Hollein.

Hollein described the Schullin facade as follows:

"An example of a c o m m u n i c a t i ve store front. An

architecture that is semiotic, associative,
ambivalent. No anecdotal m e ssage about the
purpose and contents (of the store). The
c o mmunicative means not e x t ernally applied but

33
 integral part of the a r c h i t e c t u r e developed
from the fu nctionally necessary elements"
(Klotz, 1988, 134).

In Gsterre i c h i sh e s Ve r k e r s b u r o (Austrian Travel Bureau),

in Vienna built between 1976-78 (Fig.24-26), behind the

nondescript front of an older building, under a glass

roof. Hoi lein composed an e n v i r onment that recounts tales

of travels in many d ifferent ways and even prepares

people for travel just as a stage prepares one for a play

or an opera. On the exterior the neutral, grey urban

fabric is preserved w h ereas on the inside the various

fantasies and stereotypes of foreign travel

are spoken appropriate for the content. Desert travel is

communicated by brass stems of metal palm trees after

entering the travel bureau. Ruined column, in which a

stainless steel shaft is embedded signify travel in

Greece and Italy. The column sets o n e ’s perceptions

oscillating between the longing for classical antiquity

and the contemporary myth of technology. Air travel is

recalled by the two eagle sculptures in flight. The

space is the space of the theater stage, a visitor moves

in it as if playing a part in a play, as if partic i p a t i ng

in a wider fiction. Interior design blends with images,

travel metaphors, and symbols of the theater. H o l l e i n ’s

design for the travel agency is both contextual and

eclectic; contextual because of its narrative content and

the expression of local characters (light-filled coffered

vault reminiscent of Post Office Savings Bank by Otto

Wagner built in 1906), eclectic because its m u l t i v a l e n t

34
semantic references (including the palm columns of John

Nash at the Brighton Pavilion).

Local reference is set against stereotype, and existing

urban fabric against infill. Hollein c o mmunicates to a

mass-culture by using its cliches with a taste that does

not exist in the products of popular culture.

H o l l e i n ’s new Schullin II Jewelry Store (Fig.27-29) is

located near V i e n n a ’s Kohlmarkt. In this store Hollein

has created a decor rich in symb o l i s m pertaining to the

commerce of gold and precious stones. The store is built

on an irregular floor plan. The small facade has been so

overburdened with elements that serves a paradigm of the

postmodern recuperation of Art Nouveau and Art Deco

styles. The columns which frame the narrow entrance door

support an independent piece which ' p r o t e c t s ’ the facade,

like an imaginary marquee.

Hollein explains his work as,

"The images, composed with in the postmodern

aesthetic, give way to objects. These, in-turn,
create an undefined atmosphere, one which can
be labeled with precision. With its suggestion
of a ' g e n e r a l ’ archaic culture, however, this
project emphasizes the cult of the a r c h i tecture
aspect" (Cerver, b, 216).

The Viennese critic Dietmar Steiner gives his opinion on

this work of Hollein : "He used mate r i a l s and objects

which would provoke the irritation of the visitor, and

which lead into a m a n n e r i s m of m a x i m u m perfection"

(Cerver, b, 216).

35
The interior archite c t u r e of the Musee D ’Ors a y in Paris

(Fig.30-31) was entrusted in 1980 to the Italian Gae

Aulenti. Musee d ’Orsay, formerly train station and hotel

is today the second most important mu s e u m in France. It

was originally the Palais d ’Orsay, built between 1830 and

1840 opposite the Tuileries along the quay that was built

at the beginning of the e i g hteenth century by Charles

Boucher d ’Orsay. It was transformed into a train station

and hotel at the turn of the century by C ompagnie du

Chemin de Fer d ’Orléans, e n t rusting Victor Laloux with

the design.

Charles Jencks comments on the reconversion;

"An inclusive a r chitecture and view of the past

and present which accepts contrary values and
makes a varied comment on them. Nineteenth
century tastes in art, both academic and Modern
are mirrored by t w e n t i e t h - c en t u r y ironies and
technology, as well as beautiful lighting and a
very rich devel o p m e n t of layered space"
(Jencks, 1989, 56).

In the Musee d ’Orsay, the sculpture admirably furnishes

and decorates the spaces, reaffirming that during the

period 1840-1914, the French domi n a t e d this art form.

Unique pieces by Rodin, Degas, and Victor Segoffin are

exhibited in the rooms where Gae Aulenti installed a more

uniform, subtle and complete lighting system. The brown,

black blue and gray stone is o m n i p r e s e n t and reaffirms

the fact that this museum is not in the least a m onument

glorifying the ephemeral, but rather a solid and

permanent work. Gae Aulenti designed a remarkable variety

of spaces and lighting adapted to the works on display.

36
Gae Aulenti actively partic i p a t e d in a vast, magnificent,

and complicated project that combines two coexisting

a r c h i t e c t u r e s , that of a station and a museum,

maintaining a respect for both. Each level and space of

Musee d ’Orsay offers architectural s urprises that are

often complementary to the works on display.

The Memphis Bar in Spain (Fig.32) was designed by B.D.M.,

a group of Barcelona architects. The task was a very

difficult one for a narrow area measuring 160 m2 - a

h o r s e shoe-shaped gallery whose only entries are from the

facade. The designers felt that the solution required

the sublimation of the negative and unsal v a g e a b le

aspects: the chaotic and busy street, the conceptual

desert and dark premises reminiscent of an artificial

cave. These are all a s s ociations that led to an image of

an Egyptian cave-tem p l e and a neon delirium. Memphis,

The ancient capital of the Pharaohs and Memphis,

Tennessee, the ancient capital of rock music and

fastfood.

The need was immediately of c o n verting the interior

design into a whimsical meta-language, a sort of amusing

game full of images that would t ranspose the customer

beyond the space perceived through his eyes.

The b a r ’s two entrance ways in the b u i l d i n g ’s main

facade, between which is located the entra n c e to the

upper floor apartments were d e corated in an Egyptian

style. "For BDM, ar chitecture is u n d erstood to be

37
language that speaks to us through formulae and

archetypes, and that links the s u bconscious and myth"

(Cerver, b, 47).

The Cafe Costes in Paris (Fig.33-34), designed by

Philippe Starck, is a large, eight meter high cube formed

by the combined area of three commercial spaces. The

ground floor is connected to the upper floor by a central

staircase which serves as the column and d e t e r minant axis

of spatial distribution for both levels. At the top of

the stairs an enormous clock "pays homage to the train

station cafes" (Cerver, b, 468) in the words of the

owner, Jean Lois Coste.

Though not well-know n outside fa s h i o n a b l e London circles,

English interior designer, Nigel Coates, has designed

three controversial interiors in Tokyo, Caffe Bongo

(Fig.35) being amongst them. F l a mboyant and fragmented,

his interiors encapsulate the visual chaos of the c i t y ’s

obsession with consp icuous c onsumption through a

frenzied, theatrical display of knowing kitsch. The

sources of his inspiration are eclectic, ranging from

Italian Renaissance and Baroque gardens and piazzas to

contemporary theater and street culture. Though the

exaggerated, manneri s t s pectacle of his recent projects

has been labeled ' New Baroque ’ , C o a t e s ’s drawings and

interiors project an attitude rather than a style,

adapted according to a given site. The theatrical image

is how we can describe the project. The particulars of

38
the imagery, derived from pop culture as much as history,

are created according to the site.

Caffe Bongo captures the Pel 1ini-esque excess of Coates

with its riotous combination of archaeological

excavations, homo-erotic statuary, and exploded aircraft

parts. "Piranesi meets ’50s espresso Modern" is how the

architect characterizes the project (Dietsch, 1987, 143).

Organized as a t h e a t e r - i n - t h e - r o u n d , the space focuses on

the bar and opens to the street activity outside plate-

glass front. Coates crowned the entrance with a huge

airplane wing. A baroque mural depicting the birth of the

universe and a solar system chandelier that swirls

overhead and a Pompeiian ruin engulf these streamlined

forms. This cafe is typically a P o s t - H o l o c a us t design

since it celebrates the destruction and decay of advanced

technology in a manner i S t i c way.

T h e 'Pal 1adiurn’ Discot h e q u e (Fig.36) realized in New York

in 1985 by the Japanese a rchitect Arata Isozaki is an

alteration of an old theater co n s t r u c t e d in the 1920s.

Isozaki designed a 'club within a c l u b ’ juxt a p o s i n g

modern style with the landmark theater which underwent

restoration. I s o z a k i ’s strategy involved the insertion

of new elements rendered in bright colors and unusual

materials. The promenaded dance floor whose cubic

geometries contrast radically with the curvilinear

volumes of the old hall is the core of the scheme.

Isozaki used here 'architectural p r o m e n a d e ’ , a technique

39
of directing m ovemen t through space. By controlling paths

of circulation, Isozaki has created a lively o r ganism

whose heart is the dance floor. From the dance area, the

contrasting images of the floating, light-perforated

linear bar and the light-filled upper bar which forms a

small structure with a crushed glass roof can be

perceived. The rectilinear room above the highest bar ,

the round seating areas and the pillow seating

incorporating the existing upper balcony provide

o p portunities for gathering and watching the human

movement that the spaces activate. The interaction of

sound, light and color in the dance area is u n p recedented

and depends on the a r c h i t e c t ’s use of metal columns and

beams as a frame enclosing m u l t i c o l o r e d lights providing

background for the 25-screen video arrays.

In ' P a l l a d i u m ’ architectural space works as a reference

to time, getting over the limit of historical reference.

The hidden character in I s o z a k i ’s a r c h i t e c t u r e ; the

duality of the present and the unforeseen future can be

found in this interior design of this discotheque.

3.3. Main Trends in P o s tmodern Interior Design

There are different comments on the definition of

postmodern interior design. Yet we can state that the

primary components of p o s tmodern design are historicism,

classical ornamentation, color, a plur a l i s m of a pproaches

and simultaneity of multiple approaches, meanings,

messages, historical inspiration and emotional content.

40
Main trends in postmodern interior design are discussed

in the following subsections.

3.3.1. Eclect i c i s m

Eclecticism is choosing what seems best from the

doctrines, works or styles of others resulting in a

composition of such selections. Absol u t e attachment to a

single style was abandoned. Eclect i c i s m uses the

resources of history and adapts for modern use without

any contradiction. The plur a l i s m of the late twentieth

century is expressed in the single works of designers.

The unexpected combinations of pluralistic p o s sibilities

created multiple, di s c o n tinuous images that are

' i n c l u s i v e ’ rather than ' e x c l u s i v e ’ , ' c h a o t i c ’ rather

than 'o r d e r 1y ’ .

3.3.2. H i s t o r i c i s m or R e v i v a l i s m

His t o r i c i s m or R e v iv a l i s m stands for the use of past

styles, historical elements that are been rejected by the

Modern Movement. Historical recall from the Greek

temples. Renaissance villas. Gothic cathedrals, English

domestic houses are layered into a b u i l d i n g ’s interior

opposing an open, free- f l o w i n g interior space appropriate

for universal tastes and lifestyles.

Historical revivalism brought back some period styles;

Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Victorian, Biedermeier Style,

primarily eighteenth and nineteenth century as well as

revivals with inclusions of twent i e t h - c en t u r y mannerism.

41
The eclectic chooses a historical model as his point of

departure and ends up in a hybrid, d o u b l e - c o d e d style

benefitting both the historical and the contemporary

whereas the historicist only favors the historical.

3.3.3. Ornamental ism

The application of m e aning with familiar references in

texture and color. In interiors, colored hues of paint,

stenciling and wallp a p e r were used. The Mode r n i s t belief

that all external detailing is unnecessary and

inappropriate found its f ormulation in the famous d i ctum

of Adolf Loos; " ornament is crime ". Postmodern

designers adopted flattened, outlined ornamentation.

Pediments, lintels, columns, frescoes and moldings are

employed in offices, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants

and houses.

3.3.4. C o n t e x t ú a 1ism

Contextual ism, a term that ori g i n a t e d in architectural

practice, is the effort to integrate the existing

surrounding e n v i ronm e n t with the proposed new structure.

In interior, designs that are reflective, exp r e s s i v e of

their locale or content, of the c l i e n t ’s background or

history has become important. With contextual ism, the

regional and vernacular design approaches, solutions have

been taken into consideration.

42
F i g . 15. Charles Moore
O r i n d a House
1962

43
F i g . 16. Robert Stern
Cohn Pool House
New Jersey 1982

F i g . 17. Michael Graves

Sunar S howroom
Chicago

44
F i g . 18. Michael G r a v e s
Sunar S h owroom
New York

45
F i g . 19. Charles Jenc k s
Thema t i c House

46
 Fi g . 20. Andree Putmann
Minister of C u l t u r e ’s Office
Paris (1985)

47
 Fi g . 2 1 . Ron Arad
Bazaar Shop
London (1985-86)

F i g . 22. Norman Foster

Katherine Hamnet Shop
London

48
 Fi g . 23. Hans Hollein
Schul 1 in Jewelry Store
Vienna (1972-74)

49
 F i g . 24. Hans Hollein
Austrian Travel Bureau
Vienna (1976-78)

.lij- ·.

<

F i g . 25.Hans Hollein
Axonometric Drawing of
Austrian Travel Bureau

50
 F i g . 26. Hans Hol l e i n
Detail of Column and Palmtree
A u s t r i a n Travel Bureau

51
 f'''9-27. Hans Hollein
Facade of Schul 1 in II Jewelry Store
Vienna

52
 F i g . 28. Hans Hollein
S c h u l ! in II Jewelry Store
(interior)

F i g . 29. Hans Hollein

Schul 1 in II Jewelry Store
(Axonometrie Drawing)

53
Fig.30. Gae Aulenti and ACT
Musee D ’Orsay
Paris (1980-86)

54
F i g . 31. Gae Aulenti and ACT
Musee D ’Orsay

F i g . 32. B.D.M,
M e mphis Bar
B a r celona

55
F ig . 33. Philippe Starck
Cafe Costes
Paris

56
 F i g . 34. Philippe Starck
Cafe Costes
Detail of Chairs, Table and Clock

57
F i g . 35. Nigel Coates and Nato
Caffe Bongo
(view from the entrance)

F i g . 36. Ara t a Isozaki

P a l l a d i u m Discotheque
New York

58
 4. P O S T M O D E R N EXPERIENCE O F T U RKEY

The transformation from m o d e r n i s m to post m o d e r n i sm in

Turkey did not happen as it did in po s t i n d u s t r ia l i s t

Western societies. The postmodern was in a sense a

consequence -whether it be against or for it - of

Enlightenment (Aufklorung) Project of the W e s t e r n ( i z e d )

societies.

Experiencing mod e r n i s m is not a p r econdition for

postmodernism, yet what has been e x p e r ienced - especially

when taking architecture and design into c o n s i deration -

was experienced in societies where capital surpluses,

consequently certain ' l u x u r i e s ’ in life were

unnegligable. When considering the ' c l a s s i c a l ’

literature on postmodernism, the instances are seen to

flourish from such conditions and periphery and se m i ­

periphery countries in the W a l l e r s t e i n ia n sense seems to

be left non-flowered.

One impact of the instant progress within a transitional

frame is to generate not only one gap between classes but

many gaps among classes, purchasing manners and powers,

life style and consequently design. Therefore, although

it is not possible to talk about genres which would lead

to massive examples, it is quite possible to talk about

59
'a n a c h r o n o u s ’ pieces of creation which would be annexed

to an ever-growing discourse- a discourse in which

referents are missing, i e . , postmodernism.

The first rejection to the international language of the

modernist architecture in Turkey came from Turgut

Cansever with his Turkish Historical Society building

(Fig.37) in Ankara in 1960s. "He c o n t r ibuted a new symbol

/
for Turkish architecture by applying the protected

dwelling type of Islamic architecture in the symbolic

level and showed the consistency of a solution that is

affected from history" (Aksoy, 1992, 106).

Later works of Cansever, e s p ecially his designs for

dwellings, showed how human can relate with his physical

and social environment. Cansever tried to capture the

irrationale, the poetical, the humane essence versus the

rational, solid, progressive approach of the Western

modern movement.

In Turkey, postmoder n i sm is mostly understood as the

decoration of the facades, of the surfaces of m o d e rnist

buildings, a 'packaging a e s t h e t i c ’ . One of the examples

for this is architect Sezar A y g e n ’s office building

(Fig.38) in the business district of Ankara.

The b u i l d i n g ’s interior space o r ganization and the use of

the structure is formed by a rationalistic f u n ctionalist

modernist office building concept. However, the front

60
facade which faces the main boulevard is a blend of the

functional curtain wall that allows the natural light to

penetrate into the offices and colorful a l u m inium

finishings. The entrance is an a l u m i n i u m - c la d d e d arch in

striking red. The building does not affirm p o s t m o d e r n i sm

in an architectonic way, rather it wishes to be

postmodern in being the spatial boundary of the urban

space.

Another example for the Turkish interpretation of

postmodern architecture as a 't a c k e d - u p o n ’ a e s thetics is

the facade of the Oz altin Constr u c t i o n Company Building

(Fig.39) designed by the architect Haluk Bozoglu in 1989-

90. The facade reminds the 'Miesian B o x e s ’ of 1960s

modern office buildings only in d i f ference with its

curtain wall clad on a conventional building surface.

However, the entrance of the building is e m p hasized with

a Greek pediment on which the logo of the company is

taken place instead of the reliefs. A dishonesty about

the structure is existent in the entrance. The Doric

columns which seem to carry the pediment are forgeries

and a paradoxical tension is created by cutting one of

the columns into two parts leaving the upper part

suspending in the air. Do the columns carry the pediment

or are they carried by it instead ?

Erol A k s o y ’s building for the headquarters of Doğuş

Construction Company (Fig.40-41) serves as an example of

an ' e x p o r t e d ’ historical p o s t m odernist architecture.

61
 The building is completely a s i m ulation of Western

classical, late Re n a i ssance a r c h i t e c t u r e with its huge

pediment, colossal Doric Orders, Palladian balustrades,

corner rustications and openings o r n a m e n t e d with

pediments. The Neoclassical revivalism of the building

can be considered as an eclectic piece of arc h i t e c t u r e

with respect to its relation to the physical and cultural

context formed by the pra g m a t i s m and the land s p e culation

of 1960s.

"The Shopping Mall designed by Ragip Buluç on

the Çankaya Hill in Ankara presents a
w e ll-balanced example to the postmodern
architecture. The reflective glasses remove
the concrete reality of the building. The urban
texture of the en v i r o n m e n t reflects on the
facades of the building that loses its
boundaries. Therefore, both the negative and
the distorted visions of the texture are
obtained" (Aksoy, 1992, 107).

According to Prof. Erdem Aksoy, "The mirror, becoming a

symbol of the postmodern era shall be a key element to

solve the language of t o d a y ’s architectural visions by

concealing the meanings of reflection" (Aksoy, 1992,

107).

The Shopping Mall (Fig.42-43) is the r e interpretation of

the historical ' B e d e s t e n ’s with the c o n t emporary

technological materials w i thout falling into the

pastiche. The Tower is a symbolic s tructure that crowns

one of the highest hills of Ankara and has allusions to

the historic examples of o b s e r vation towers and minarets.

B u l u p ’s Shopping Mall and Tower (built between 1987-89)

62
is a controversial example of how the traditional

and the contemporaneo u s can be melted in a ' s y m b i o t i c ’

pot.

Merih K a r a a s l a n ’s design for Terrace Houses (Fig.44-45)

is another example that diverges from the m o d e rnist

architectural discourse. The terrace houses try to create

a ' v a l l e y ’ , an ' o a s i s ’ in the midst of a hostile

environment. The houses with their playful colors and

individualistic forms proves that it is still possible

for one to live in a community and at the same time to

maintain the individuality which is a formulation of

postmodern culture.

V a kkorama is a fashion store a d d r essing towards young

generation and has a ' d y n a m i c ’ image. The interior design

of the coffee shop for V a kkorama in Istanbul (Fig.46-47)

by Barbara Pensoy, e xpresses this dynamic image by

oblique bookshelves and exploded elements. "The different

angles that come from the architectural design are used

and emphasized for the sake of the image. The column

which is surrounded by the ticket office for theater is

treated as a sculpture. It is designed as a d ecomposed

face; nose, eye, face, hair and hat" (Pensoy, 1991,

103-104). The cubist paintings by Picasso and the Russian

c o n structivism of 1920s had been an inspiration for the

design. The space does not attempt to declare to be a

never seen (jamais vu) example. The reinterpretation of

the 'early m o d e r n ’ can become

63
postmodern in its audacity to state ; "this has been done

before " and "this has been done e l sewhere ".

The authors of the interior design of ' P r e s t i j ’ Billiard

Parlor in Ankara (Fig.48), architect Güner Mutaf and

industrial designer Namık özer, designed the entrance

facade as a communicative sign of the content. The large

billiard balls are organized in a facade that transcends

the two dimensions and become a direct narration of the

interior. The vestibule is arranged as a linear 'street’.

A wall with graffiti - which is a form sublimated by Pop

Art -defines a boundary for the street. The tables and

chairs alongside the wall are attribute to the street

cafe. The front of a truck mounted on the wall of the

space in which the billiard tables located tells a story

of a truck that went beyond the control of the driver and

protruded into an 'u n d e r g r o u n d ’ space - which is overly

used in American movies.

The artist Kadir Akorak is the interior designer of a

small night club (it has a width of 4.30 m. and 20 m.

length) in Istanbul called ' T w e n t y ’ (Fig.49-50). The

garage, shipwreck and ' u n d e r g r o u n d ’ themes are inherent

in this single space club.

"The steel construction that carries the lighting system

and the exposed electric wires create a garage

atmosphere. The only alternative for the ones who want

to sit is the very few steel stools that are mounted onto

the wall" (öneş, 1990, 160-162).

64
 The tale of decay and the ' i m p e r f e c t ’ is reminiscent of

the Best facades of the SITE group. Nothing is modernist

and slick, here. The space stimulates and provokes the

' v i s i t o r s ’ to reveal their inherent energy and take part

in the fragmented frenzy of p o s tmodern world.

The interior design of Ankara Hilton Hotel (Fig.51)

realized in 1987-88 belongs to a British interior design

firm; Graham and Salone Architects. The design reflects

the vision of Turkey from the eyes of a Western designer.

The location of the hotel is Asia Minor where once the

Ottoman Empire reigned. The O t toman Empire had always

been considered as a part of oriental culture. The hotel

exploits the oriental tastes in an e x treme and

indifferent manner. The oriental figures transcend

themselves and become arabesque. The domes over the

entrance portico and an o v e r-scale baldachin in the

middle of the lobby space stand as examples of how the

awkward usage of historical elements out of context and

proportion create ' u g l i n e s s ’.

C o n c u r r e n t l y , another story is depic t e d in the interior.

This is the story of 'soap o p e r a ’ culture which was

originated in North A m e r i c a and imposed on the d eveloping

countries from which Turkey took its share. The spaces

act like parts of an artificial movie scene design with

the middle class American lamp shades and heavy a r mchair

designs. The oblong chandeliers remind the baroque

Viennese palaces. But again, these are used in an

65
 isolated manner. Nothing is remained from the historical

and contextual content. Everything is s i m u l a c r u m ; the

reproductions of the real becoming more real than the

reality, the simulations of o r i e n t a l i s m and American

middle class culture blended to give the traveller

businessman a wrong impression of the regional identity

and the local visitors a wrong impression of the global

identity in a concentrated way.

With its shiny brass railings, the grayish pink marbles,

the stairwell lit in ' c a s i n o ’ aesthetics, the plastic

plants and with its ' n e g a t i v e ’ contradictions, this hotel

stands as an example of tasteless kitsch eclecticism.

The hotel is a mani f e station of a s t e reotype postmodern

design for the non-postindustrial societies.

The dressing store ' B e y m e n ’ in Ankara designed by Hasan

Mingu is located in a shopping mall which became one of

prominent contemporary building types in Turkey with the

market economy experience in 1980s. In the interior

design, the space fulfills its function as a dressing

store design. Though a certain attraction to the

passerby is sought with the playful colors and forms. The

pediment purged from its emb e l l i s h m e nt s mounted on the

wall serves as a center point of attraction. The capitals

of the elements that hold the shelves are designed in an

Art Deco manner. The space completely intends to be

striking and attractive with individual distinction and

elegance.

66
 The chaotic postmodern situation creates an advantageous

point for the ' p e r i p h e r y ’ countries like Turkey which for

many years has taken the universal model as an ideal

model for development. It has now been u n d erstood that

this was a distant model for Turkish culture and this

distance prepared its failure.

The existence of the indications of Po s t m o d e r n i st

condition both in the social life and the f ormation of

the physical environ m e n t is a fact in our country.

"In spite of the spread of M o d e r n i s m as a national state

ideology, postmo d e r n i sm gains d iffusion both in life and

formation of our physical en v i r o n m e n t in the form of

i m i t a t i o n ” (Yıldırım, 1992, 29). P o s t m o d e r n i sm has been

co nsidered in relation with the late cap i t a l i s t culture.

It is a subject of discussion whether Turkey is in this

economic transformatio n process or not. At this point,

architects and designers ought to interrogate the reasons

and the content of the postmodern condition.

67
F i g . 37. T u r k i s h History Society
Tur g u t Ca n s e v e r
Anka r a

F i g . 38. O f f i c e Building in Kızılay

Sezar Aygen
Ankara

68
F i g . 39. ö z a l t ı n C o n s t r u c t i o n Company
Hal u k Bozoğlu
A n k a r a (1989-90)

69
Fig.40. Doğuş C o n s t r u c t i o n Company
Erol Aksoy
A n kara

Fig.41. Doğuş C o n s t r u c t i o n Company

Erol Aksoy

70
Fig.42. Shopping Mall and Tower
Ragip Bulug
Ankara (1987-89)

71
Fig.43. Shopp i n g Mall and Tower
Ragip Buluç

Fig.44, Sürücü T e r r a c e Houses

Merih K a r a aslan
Ankara

72
 F i g . 45. Sürücü Terrace Houses
Merih Karaaslan

Fig.46. V a k k o r a m a Coffee Shop (sections)

Barbara Pensoy
istanbu1

73
 Fig.47. Vakk o r a m a Coffee Shop
Barbara Pensoy

Fig.48. Prestige Billiard Parlor (facade)

Güner Mutaf, Namık özer
Ankara (1992)

74
Fi g . 49. Twenty Bar
Kadir Akorak
İstanbul

F i g . 50. Twenty Bar

Kadir Akorak

75
 F i g . 51. Hilton Hotel
Grah a m and Salone Architects
Ankara (1987-88)

F i g . 52. Beymen Store

Hasan MingCi
Ankara ( 1992 )

76
F i g . 53. Beymen Store
Hasan Mingü

77
 5. C O N C L U S I O N

By the 1960s Modern i s m had become repetitive and s e l f ­

preserving and serious charges were leveled against it:

that it had become close to the t o t a l i t a r i a ni s m it once

opposed. In the 1980s the broadest range of directions,

approaches, styles and interests was at work in interior

design. ' I n c l u s i v e n e s s ’ and the ' p l u r a l i s m ’ of approaches

were the keywords of this phenomenon.

As we look at the postmodern interior design instances,

we grasp some features that diverge from the previous

interior design approach. Hence, the below-mentioned

characteristics seem to prove that postmodern design has

become a discourse which magnetizes and attracts

most of the design practice to itself.

1. Regionalism has replaced internationalism.

Postmodern interior space aims the regional uniqueness

whereas the modern space is anonymous and homogeneous in

every direction and e xpresses the universal tastes.

2. Fictional representation -tending toward the

figurative- has taken place of geometric abstraction.

Modern interior space can be c h a r a cterized as abstract

limited by boundaries or edges. In contrast, postmodern

78
space uses symbolism and reference.

3. Postmodern interior space relies on a multiplicity of

meanings, not on the symbolic value of machine and of

construction as defining progress in design.

4. Instead of a dominant style, with its tendency to

become a dogma, a wide range of vocabu l a r i e s and

stylistic languages exist alongside one another in

interior design.

5. Instead of looking for the untouchable perfection,

postmodern interior space favors the disturbed and the

imperfect, which are now seen signs of life. Irregular,

ambiguous and irrational space is considered more

appropriate for the human character than the rational and

perfectionist space.

6. Mode r n i s m freed itself from history and made design

purely a thing of the present. With post m o d e r n i sm we have

regained memory.

7. Rather than considering an interior space as

universally valid geometric volume, postm o d e r n i sm

considers it as formed by its historical, regional and

contextual conditions.

8. The modernist slogan " only function ! " transformed

79
into " Fiction as well as function ! ” (Klotz, 1988,

421 ).

The return to tradition, history and eclec t i c i s m

accompanies certain dangers. Postmodern interior is

rapidly becoming a style and it has already become

overbearing. The relearning of history is not an easy

process. Historical reference began to take place at a

surface level, without a thorough e xamination of content.

The more superficial kinds of postmodern interior design

are often just nostalgia, dressed up and marketed

history. Postmodern interior designers look at history in

an almost blind manner, ignoring the social and technical

conditions that lie behind them.

P o s t m o d e r n i s m ’s use of history in interior design carries

further dangers in that the altogether rejection of

progress in design serves to underestimate the human

struggle towards better spaces for the changing

conditions. Thus, a conser v a t i s m that elevates the

traditional values emerges as an obstacle to the

formation of interiors that aim towards future.

It is still early to value the contribution of Postmodern

interior design to design history, since it is an

unfinished chapter, only mea s u r a b l e as a work in

progress. Postmodern interior design has attempted a

return to symbolism, metaphor, wit and reference which

were excluded from the modern interiors. On the one

80
hand, postmodern interior design is a luxury, an affair

of the elite. Postmodern design became a high-style.

Postmodern interiors shall coexist with all other forms

of interior design in the diverse world we live in.

The future of interior design points in no single

direction. In the 1990s design styles become a matter of

interest as they affect the interior as the fashion-life

of any one style becomes shorter. Interior design is the

most fastest growing area of design as we approach the

twenty-first century.

Postmodern design should be considered as a new point of

view rather than as a process that should be imitated

entirely. This phenomenon shall necessitate to

interrogate the modern concepts and design m e thods that

we accept as true.

Finally, consideration of postmodern design as a new

point of view for Turkey shall help us to substantiate an

interior design that emerges from our realities.

Therefore, creation of our original interior design that

is distant from formal imitation and that continues the

traditional and cultural values meeting with our

contemporaneous life shall be provided. A unique model

including our own ' v a l u e s ’ both for the socio-cultural

and for the physical enviro n m e n t shall enable us to

express our cultural and regional divergence in an

individualistic way.

81
 SELEC T E D B I B L I OGRAPHY

Aksoy, Erdem. 1992. "Mimarlıkta Modern Sonrası Dönem ve

Türkiye." Tas a r ı m Eylül; 104-107.

Baudrillard, Jean. 1991. Sessiz Y ı ğ ınların Gölgesinde

va da Toplumsalın S o n u . Trans. Oğuz Adanır.
İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.

Cerver, Francisco Asensio, ed. a. Annual of

A r c h i t e c t u r e / 1 . Barcelona: Atrium.

Cerver, Francisco Asensio, ed. b. Annual of Commercial

Ş p a c e s / I . Barcelona: Atrium.

Collins, Michael. 1989. Post-Modern D e s i g n . Ed.

Andreas Papadakis. London: Academy Editions.

Dietsch, Deborah K. 1987. "The Empire Strikes Back."

Architectural Record 175: 142-151.

Jencks, Charles. 1987. The Language of Post-Modern

A r c h i t e c t u r e . 5th ed. London: Academy Editions.

Jencks, Charles. 1989. What is Po s t - M o d e r n is m ? 3rd

ed. New York: Academy Editions/ St. M a r t i n ’s Press.

Klotz, Heinrich. 1988. The History of Postmodern

A r c h i t e c t u r e . Trans. Radka D o n n e 1. London: MIT
Press.

Kurokawa, Kisho. 1991. Intercultural Architecture: The

Philosophy of S y m b i o s i s . London: Academy Editions.

Lyotard, Jean François. 1990. Postmodern D u r u m . Trans.

Ahmet çiğdem. İstanbul; Ara Yayınları.

Massey, Anne. 1990. Interior Design of the 20th

Century. London; Thames and Hudson.

ö n e ş , Hakan and Mine Haydaroğlu. 1990. "Çok Küçük; Çok

Rahatsız; Çok Moda: ' T w e n t y ’ ." Dekorasyon Aralık:
160-164.

Pensoy, Barbara. 1991. "Uluslararası Genç Bir

Tasarımcı." Tasarım Mayıs; 100-111.

82
P o r t o g h e s i , Paolo. 1983. Postmodern: The Architecture
of the Postindustria1 S o c i e t y . Trans. Ellen
Shapiro. New York: Rizzoli.

Rossi, Aldo. 1982. The Architecture of the C i t y .

Cambridge: Mass. Press.

Russell, Beverly. 1989. A r chitecture and Design. 1970-

1990: New Ideas in A m e r i c a . New York: Harry N.
Abrams.

Smith, C.Ray. 1987. Interior Design in 20th-Century

America. New York: Harper and Row.

Thackera, John, ed. 1988. Design after M o d e r n i s m .

London; Thames and Hudson.

Tzonis, Alexander and Liane Lefaiure. 1992.

Architecture in Europe Since 1968: Memory and
I n v e n t i o n . London: Thames and Hudson.

Venturi, Robert. 1966. Complexity and C ontradiction in

A r c h i t e c t u r e . New York; Mu s e u m of Modern Art.

Yıldırım, Sercan. 1992. "Modern ve Post M o d e r n i z m ’de

Kent Mimarlık ilişkisi." M i m a r i ik Ekim: 25-29.

Zeka, N e c m i , ed. 1990. P o s t m o d e r n i z m . By Jürgen

Habermas, Fredric Jameson, Jean François Lyotard and
Necmi Zeka. Istanbul: Kıyı Y a y ı n l a n .

83
APRENDICI
 APPENDIX A; COLOR PLATES

Plate 1. (page 85) Cafe Bongo

Nigel Coates
Tokyo
1987

Plate 2. (page 86) Sitting Room

Memphis Group
Singapore
1986

Plate 3. (page 87) V akkorama Coffee Shop

Barbara Pensoy
Istanbul

Plate 4. (page 88) ' C a r l t o n ’ Room Divider

Ettore Sottsass
1981

84
85
86
87
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88
 APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY

Anachronism: Anything foreign to or out of keeping with a

specified epoch; any error in chronological order
which implies the misplacing, usually earlier, of
persons or events in time.

Arabesque: Ornamentation in which flowers, foliage,

fruits, geometrical figures, etc. (in strict
Mohammedan use, no animals), are combined in an
intricate pattern.
In Turkish, the word is associated with the
lifestyle, music and behavior of a certain cultural
group.

Archetype: [Gr. archetypon< archein, beginning, and

typos, form] A model or first form; the original
pattern after which a thing is made, or to which it
corresponds.

Cognitariat: The class of salaried employees, as clerks,

stockbrokers, programmers etc. whose jobs do not
usually include manual labor like the proletariat,
rather process of information.

Communication: The imparting, interchange or transmission

of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech,
writing, signs or by electronic facilities.

Contextual Architecture: Architecture that considers the

circumstances, or facts which form the surrounding
envi r o n m e n t .

Deja vu: [Fr. lit. already seen] The feeling of having

experienced something at some prior time.

Eclectic: Choosing what seems best from doctrines, works,

or styles of others; composed of such selections, -n.
One who follows an eclectic method, -eclecticism. The
doctrine or practice of an eclectic approach or
method.

Fordism: The belief in the high productivity of a large

corporation with central planning and mass-production
in industrialization, as set down by H.Ford in Ford
Motor Company.

89
Postindustrialism: An economic system in which
informational interests predominate, as opposed to
the interests of industry.

Regionalism: The emphasis of local characteristics, as

topographical features, social and cultural mores in
art and architecture.

Retrospective: Directed to the past; contemplative of

past events; looking or directed backward.

Revivalism: The tendency to revive what belongs to the

past, esp. architectural and artistic style of a
certain period.

Semiotic: Pertaining to signs or symptoms; symptomatic.

Simulacrum: pi. simulacra. [L.] An image or likeness of

something. Baudrillard uses the term as the
reproduction of a reality, the reproduction taking
place of the original model as ' r e a l ’.

Simulation: The act of simulating or of feigning; a copy,

imitation or fake.

Symbiosis: [Gr.syn, together, bios, life.] Biol, the

state of two different organisms living in close
relationship, each benefiting from such an
associ ati o n .

Vernacular: Native or peculiar to a place or to a

fashionable taste, as a style of architecture; native
speech or language of a place.

91