4 ms·

Maybe its just me but the art and style movements of the first part of the 20th century (up until the sixties) are somehow more profoundly beautiful (in differe

Maybe its just me but the art and style movements of the first part of the 20th century (up until the sixties) are somehow more profoundly beautiful (in different ways), wholesome and memorable. I don't even know what the "modern styles" are supposed to be. Maybe the time of coherent stylistic movements with a well articulated aesthetic is gone?

Loughla 3y ago
For architecture, modern style seems to be focused on maintaining resale value and/or blending in, depending on whether we're talking about residential or commercial spaces. Post-modern commercialism as a style?
- smeej 3y ago
  I wonder if this has to do with the fact that people don't live their whole lives in one place as often anymore. If I think I'm going to live out the rest of my life in my house, I'll want to change it to suit my taste, maybe even multiple times if new artistic styles crop up and I like them better. If I'm expecting I might need to sell the house in the next five years, I'm going to prioritize having the widest possible potential buyer pool.
- nologic01 3y ago
  What puzzles me (being a casual observer) is that post-modern commercialism does not seem to affect all design domains equally. I would say that e.g. current automobile design seems to have still fairly identifiable style propositions (whether I like them being a different matter).
  - detourdog 3y ago
    The forces of safety/market standards that an automobile must conform to is combining with capabilities of the materials available. This makes the easiest/safest answers pretty standard. Automobiles combine many disciplines which makes for long development time lines. This further reduces options. Multi-dwelling housing above 5 units will also show this same phenomenon. Coffee makers could be very dynamic market due to fewer dependencies.
nemo44x 3y ago
You pretty much delineated the “modernism” era and the era we are currently stuck in, “post modernism”. From the construction of the Eiffel Tower to WW2, you get rough markers indicating that era. A great book regarding art in particular is called “The Shock of the New”. There’s also an 8-part (nearly 8 hours long) TV version of it you can find on YouTube. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFtSvldL7Mh4ismj4BgH33pBR9hbtBkxz&si=sR_hyfR866AycAUn https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFtSvldL7Mh4ismj4BgH33pBR... Robert Hughes, the art critic who wrote the book agrees with your assessment I believe.
- detourdog 3y ago
  I sort of have a problem with "post modernism". I'm of the belief that as long as the culture continues to persist we will always be in the modern era. I see the modern era as directly linked to the machine age. My thinking is that at this stage design is so democratic and available to anyone that we are in the timeless era. I believe that 'post modernism" was invented by the second generation modernist and critiques as a way to create an artificial distinction. I think now we have gotten to the point where modern aesthetics are driven by everything the modernists where dealing with the addition of code compliance. The machine age has become so regulated as to dictate a WAG of 80% the design decisions. I identify as a modernist. I will check out the YouTube as I'm hungry for long form design content.
  - nemo44x 3y ago
    > I see the modern era as directly linked to the machine age. Agreed. I'd qualify further and say the mechanical machine age was to modernism as the digital machine age is to post modernism. From steam to screens. > we are in the timeless era. Yes, often referred to as the end of history. From Wikipedia: The idea of an "end of history" does not imply that nothing more will ever happen. Rather, what the postmodern sense of an end of history tends to signify is, in the words of contemporary historian Keith Jenkins, the idea that "the peculiar ways in which the past was historicized (was conceptualized in modernist, linear and essentially metanarrative forms) has now come to an end of its productive life; the all-encompassing 'experiment of modernity' ... is passing away into our postmodern condition". > with the addition of code compliance. That's actually really funny and an astute observation I've never considered. IT sort of aligns well with the delineations as well as things like building code came into existence starting in the 1950s mainly and have evolved to encompass more and more of the process. The managerial state.
detourdog 3y ago
The article wouldn't hold water in an art history 2 class (second half history). They ignore much and use Bauhaus Style as a term. The proper term for architecture from that school is International Style. A style that was intended to promote world peace through judicious use of materials and lack of culture references.
mnstngr 3y ago
Future generations are going to refer to today’s architectural style as the “HOA-approved” School or something equally silly.
- detourdog 3y ago
  I'm putting the finishing touches on the post-HOA-approved design movement. The reaction to the over meetification of the manufactured world. Our aesthetic terms are currently going through the final round of testing and we should have something to announce shortly.
trgn 3y ago
I wouldn't say sixties necessarily, but I'd agree. It toned down the glorious excess of the belle epoque, expanded away from classical tradition, but still preserved a timeless sense of balance and harmony. New technological advances also opened up the building, they could become light, dainty.

Loughla 3y ago

For architecture, modern style seems to be focused on maintaining resale value and/or blending in, depending on whether we're talking about residential or commercial spaces. Post-modern commercialism as a style?

smeej 3y ago
I wonder if this has to do with the fact that people don't live their whole lives in one place as often anymore. If I think I'm going to live out the rest of my life in my house, I'll want to change it to suit my taste, maybe even multiple times if new artistic styles crop up and I like them better. If I'm expecting I might need to sell the house in the next five years, I'm going to prioritize having the widest possible potential buyer pool.
nologic01 3y ago
What puzzles me (being a casual observer) is that post-modern commercialism does not seem to affect all design domains equally. I would say that e.g. current automobile design seems to have still fairly identifiable style propositions (whether I like them being a different matter).
- detourdog 3y ago
  The forces of safety/market standards that an automobile must conform to is combining with capabilities of the materials available. This makes the easiest/safest answers pretty standard. Automobiles combine many disciplines which makes for long development time lines. This further reduces options. Multi-dwelling housing above 5 units will also show this same phenomenon. Coffee makers could be very dynamic market due to fewer dependencies.

nemo44x 3y ago

You pretty much delineated the “modernism” era and the era we are currently stuck in, “post modernism”. From the construction of the Eiffel Tower to WW2, you get rough markers indicating that era. A great book regarding art in particular is called “The Shock of the New”. There’s also an 8-part (nearly 8 hours long) TV version of it you can find on YouTube. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFtSvldL7Mh4ismj4BgH33pBR9hbtBkxz&si=sR_hyfR866AycAUn https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFtSvldL7Mh4ismj4BgH33pBR... Robert Hughes, the art critic who wrote the book agrees with your assessment I believe.

detourdog 3y ago
I sort of have a problem with "post modernism". I'm of the belief that as long as the culture continues to persist we will always be in the modern era. I see the modern era as directly linked to the machine age. My thinking is that at this stage design is so democratic and available to anyone that we are in the timeless era. I believe that 'post modernism" was invented by the second generation modernist and critiques as a way to create an artificial distinction. I think now we have gotten to the point where modern aesthetics are driven by everything the modernists where dealing with the addition of code compliance. The machine age has become so regulated as to dictate a WAG of 80% the design decisions. I identify as a modernist. I will check out the YouTube as I'm hungry for long form design content.
- nemo44x 3y ago
  > I see the modern era as directly linked to the machine age. Agreed. I'd qualify further and say the mechanical machine age was to modernism as the digital machine age is to post modernism. From steam to screens. > we are in the timeless era. Yes, often referred to as the end of history. From Wikipedia: The idea of an "end of history" does not imply that nothing more will ever happen. Rather, what the postmodern sense of an end of history tends to signify is, in the words of contemporary historian Keith Jenkins, the idea that "the peculiar ways in which the past was historicized (was conceptualized in modernist, linear and essentially metanarrative forms) has now come to an end of its productive life; the all-encompassing 'experiment of modernity' ... is passing away into our postmodern condition". > with the addition of code compliance. That's actually really funny and an astute observation I've never considered. IT sort of aligns well with the delineations as well as things like building code came into existence starting in the 1950s mainly and have evolved to encompass more and more of the process. The managerial state.

detourdog 3y ago

The article wouldn't hold water in an art history 2 class (second half history). They ignore much and use Bauhaus Style as a term. The proper term for architecture from that school is International Style. A style that was intended to promote world peace through judicious use of materials and lack of culture references.

mnstngr 3y ago

Future generations are going to refer to today’s architectural style as the “HOA-approved” School or something equally silly.

detourdog 3y ago
I'm putting the finishing touches on the post-HOA-approved design movement. The reaction to the over meetification of the manufactured world. Our aesthetic terms are currently going through the final round of testing and we should have something to announce shortly.

trgn 3y ago

I wouldn't say sixties necessarily, but I'd agree. It toned down the glorious excess of the belle epoque, expanded away from classical tradition, but still preserved a timeless sense of balance and harmony. New technological advances also opened up the building, they could become light, dainty.