Structuralism (architecture) - Structuralism As Parallel Movement To Postmodernism

Structuralism As Parallel Movement To Postmodernism

Important architects and architectural movements are awarded with prizes by architectural institutes. The two most famous honors are the American Pritzker Prize and the European RIBA Gold Medal. Both prizes are also known as the "Nobel Prize of Architecture". If the lists of the winners of the two institutions are compared to one another, it is striking to see that half of the listed architects have been given an award by both institutions. Another interesting finding is that three postmodernist architects (Robert Venturi, Aldo Rossi and Philip Johnson) were awarded with the American Pritzker Prize, but not with the European RIBA Gold Medal. On the other hand, the RIBA Institute has given the structuralists, Aldo van Eyck and Herman Hertzberger, an award, while the Pritzker Prize has not been awarded to them. This suggests that the taste and evaluation criteria of an international institution are partially influenced by a particular culture of architecture. An outcome of this tendency is that postmodern architecture is more esteemed in the US than in Europe, whereas structuralism has received more recognition, acknowledgment and appreciation in Europe.

In Europe, structuralism is seen as a parallel movement to American postmodern architecture. The first interpretations of both movements came up in the 1960s. Through publications and presentations by authors such as Charles Jencks, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, postmodern architecture was successful throughout the world for decades. While postmodernism is concerned with an architectural style, many different aspects of architecture and urbanism are treated in the structuralist movement.

In contrast to the postmodern movement, structuralism has developed more slowly, less noticeably during several different periods in the last decades. The most important theoretical contributions of structuralism were developed in Europe and Japan. In 2011, the first comprehensive compilation of structuralist activity appeared in a publication called, "Structuralism Reloaded". In this extensive book, articles by 47 international authors were published about philosophical, historical, artistic and other relevant aspects. The selecting process for all these different views, including what is more or less important, needs time to give a definitive overall picture of structuralism. The following parts of this article are based on the current state of the publication, "Structuralism Reloaded".

A few months after publishing this book, the RIBA Institute in London discussed the new candidates for the RIBA Gold Medal in 2012. An actual question was: "Should the Venturis be given this year's RIBA Gold Medal?" Surprisingly enough, the RIBA-committee did not award the Venturis with their postmodernist view, and instead, gave Herman Hertzberger the prize for his structuralist architecture and theoretical contributions. The times had changed and a shift in emphasis had occurred. The comment of the former RIBA president Jack Pringle was: "The Royal Gold Medal, Britain's most prestigious award, should go to an architect that has taken us forward, not backwards." Today, postmodern architecture can be compared, to some degree with the architectural movement, Traditionalismus, in Europe.