Architecture and Avant-garde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Architecture and Avant-garde - Essay Example As acknowledged within the abstract section, Avant Garde is the French version for vanguard culture. In the context of art, vanguard culture refers to non-conformational and experimental approach of developing objects of art like music, structures and paintings. Dorita (2013) says that Avant Garde is distinct from traditional art of 19th Century because it employs substantial innovation and advanced skills in developing iconic pieces of art. This form of culture became dominant during the first four decades of 20th Century, especially in Europe and America. In operation, vanguard culture opposed mainstream norms. It labeled mainstream values as resulting from mass production effects of industrial revolution during the 19th Century. Early founders of Avant Garde criticized the manner in which traditional art and architecture incorporated superficial styling of objects in the name of innovation. In this regard, it sought to distance itself from mainstream habits and foster individual c reativity. It involved seeking autonomous excellence in artistic merit rather than following rigid conventions. Having gained an insight about Avant Garde, it is appropriate to extrapolate on the two concepts of modernism and postmodernism. Sharp (2002) says that most essayists including Max Horkheimer and Adorno assert that vanguard culture serves as an icon for modernism. According to Sharp (2002), autonomy in stylish creativity and innovation creates a distinction and draws boundaries between modernism and the post form. of modernism. In this context, modernism covers the artistic period of early 20th Century, especially the first four decades of this century. According to Heynen (2000), it was a period marked by employment of human intellect in enhancing aesthetical values of art. Innovations and autonomous creativity of modernism led to significant improvement in science and technology. In addition, vanguard ideologies motivated experimentation on almost all spheres of life as seen in architecture. It adopted a hierarchical and procedural approach of acquiring and applying knowledge in improving state of art. According to Heynen (2000), modernism is closely associated with the use of rational thinking models and logic in gaining and utilizing knowledge. Supposedly, modernism ended after 1945, thus giving way to postmodernism. Postmodernism Goldhagen (2005) says that as opposed to modernistic principles of logic and rational thinking, postmodernism adopts unscientific and irrational approach towards art. In the first four decades of 20th Century, architectural designs were taken as representing unique and genuine creativity of artists. However, postmodernism does not regard the work of architecture as the originating from authentic skills of an individual. According to Scoffham and Machedon (1999), postmodern era is marked by subjective and hyper-realistic models of thought as opposed to rigid and logical