Charles Jencks

20TH CENTURY

TOA-2
6TH SEM
BY: NIDHI JOSHI.

INTRODUCTION:

BORN: June 21, 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland, United

states.
NATIONALITY : American
OCCUPATION : American architecture theorist and

critic,landscape architectand designer.

EDUCATION : Jencks received his Bachelor of Arts

degree in English literature atHarvard

Universityin 1961 and aMaster of Artsdegree in
architecture from theHarvard Graduate School of
Designin 1965. He took his studies even further in
1970, receiving his PhD in Architectural History
fromUniversity College, London.

His books on the history and criticism

ofmodernismandpostmodernismare widely read in
architectural circles.

INTRODUCTION:

He studied under the influential architectural

historiansSigfried GiedionandReyner Banham.

Jencks now lives in Scotland where he designs landscape

sculpture.

Jencks has lectured at over forty universities throughout

the globe, including in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Milan,
Barcelona, and in the US at Harvard, Columbia, Princeton,
and Yale.

Charles first became famous for his bubble diagram of

architecture and for his explanation of what Postmodernism
really means within the field of architecture.

He borrowed the term 'Postmodern' from literature and

applied it to architecture.

BIOGRAPHY
His father was the pianist and composer Gardner Jencks.
Although Charles was born in America his grandmother and ancestors were
Scottish.
Charles' interest in Scottish people and their travels throughout history to other
places in the world is used as inspiration for his most recent project in Fife.

Two sons by his first marriage; one works as a

landscape architect in Shanghai, other works for
Jardines in Vietnam.

He has two children by Maggie Keswick: John

Jencks, a London-based filmmaker, and Lily Clare
Jencks, a landscape architect.

Jencks married Louisa Fox Pitt as his third wife in

2006, and is stepfather of her daughtersMartha
Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho.

WORKS : AS AN AUTHOR

The Language of Post-Modern Architecture(1977)discusses the paradigm shift from modern to postmodern
architecture. Modern architecture concentrates on univalent
forms such as right angles and square buildings often
resembling office buildings. However, postmodern
architecture focuses on forms derived from the mind, body,
city context, and nature.

The Iconic Building(2005)

examines trend setting and celebrity culture. He writes that the
reason that our culture seeks the "iconic building" is because it has
the possibility of reversing the economic trend of a flagging
conurbation. An iconic building is created to make a splash, to
generate money, and the normal criteria of valuation do not apply.
He says that enigmatic signifiers can be used in an effective way
to support the deeper meaning of the building.

WORKS : AS AN AUTHOR

Critical Modernism - Where is Post-Modernism

Going?(2007)
came out in 2007. It is an overview of postmodernism
in which Jencks argues thatpostmodernismis a critical
reaction tomodernismthat comes from within
modernism itself.On March 26, 2007, theRoyal
Academyhosted a debate between Jencks andJohn N.
Gray centered around the book.

The Story of Post-Modernism, Five Decades of

the Ironic, Iconic and Critical in Architecture,
(2011)
summarises the history of the movement since its
origins in the 1960s.

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

P H I L O S O P H I E S
According to him, architectural post-modernism favours pluralism,
complexity, double coding, andhistorical contextualise.
CONTEXTUALIZE

CMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTION

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

P H I L O S O P H I E S
PLURALISM
All building mean something, indeed building carries a plurality of
meanings which people read into them despite what architects
intended. But because the architects have abandoned the traditional
'languages' of architecture and tried to design 'functional' buildings, modem
architecture has become so poverty stricken - Jencks call it univalent - that
this plurality of meanings simply cannot read into it. Most of us, indeed, have
been brought up to think that such over simple architecture is evidence of
social responsibility and integrity on the part of architect.
Pluralism the key to architects delivering the good life in a
hectic world, says Jencks
Pluralism is one of the deep values of the human condition and it is the
job of the architect to design for differing views,
But the social result of value-pluralism is to divide and segment the
architectural profession into various identifiable groups, and styles,
advocates and approaches, he says.
The good life is proven to be good not by scientists and accountants, not
by trade-offs and lawyers, not by the majority or war but by being lived,
every day, in acts of commitment and inattentiveness.

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

P H I L O S O P H I E S

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

CHARLES ON POST MODERN ARCHITECTURE

Jencks believes the glass-and-steel box has

become the single most used form in Modern
Architecture and it signifies throughout the
world office building

Thus, modern architecture is univalent in

terms of form, in other words it is designed
around one out of afew basic values using a
limited number of materials and right angles.

In contrast to modernist architecture, postmodernist is characterized by double-coding,

the inclusion of messages to be understood
by the buildings users and inhabitants and
aseparate set of messages to be understood
by other professional architects. Often, postmodern double-coding is ironic. For example,
AT&T Building in New York City looks both like
a traditional glass and steel skyscraper and at
the same time like the crest of an old
grandfather clock or Victorian bedpost. This
item gave the building its Chippendale
nickname, thus, it isdouble-coded.

Design principles of Charles Jencks

The garden of cosmic speculation

What is a garden if not a miniaturization, and celebration, of the place we are in, the
universe?
- Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

The garden of cosmic speculation

TheGarden of Cosmic Speculation, designed in part by Jencks and
begun in 1988, was dedicated to Jencks' late wife Maggie Keswick
Jencks.
Jencks' goal was to celebrate nature, but he also incorporated
elements from the modern sciences into the design.
The garden is a microcosm - as one walks through the gardens they
experience the universe in miniature.
Woven throughout the garden are themes from biology, cosmology,
mathematics, and philosophy.
It is a 30 acre garden sculpture
The garden features five major areas connected by a number of
man made lakes, bridges and hillside, representing the story of the
creation of universe.
The natural features of the garden blend and bond beautifully with
the arches, contours, curls and the bends of the sciences

Design principles of Charles Jencks

The garden of cosmic speculation

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Human cells

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Scottish Diaspora

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Wave forms and twists

Design principles of Charles Jencks

The octagon

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Mappa Mundi

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

Design principles of Charles Jencks

A concrete staircase that looks like a

waterfall and represents the universe.
Called The Universe Cascade, it has 25
landings that mark the important shifts
in cosmic history. Starting at the top, in
the present day, and descending down,
visitors are moving through 13 billion
years of cosmic evolution. The steps
finally disappear into the dark water
below, which represents the mystery of
the origin of the universe.