1925-
Postmodern Architect

Eclectic.

The theories of Robert Venturi helped launch the postmodern movement in American architecture. Venturi, through his books Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966) and Learning from Las Vegas (1971), did more than any other author text to advance a shift away from the simple austerity of modern architecture. More than his buildings, Venturi's writings epitomized the rejection of modernism for a more eclectic, historical, and vernacular style of architecture. His attention to everyday life, ordinary buildings, and popular designs unsettled the architectural establishment in the 1970s while inspiring a new generation of designers.

Early Life.

Robert Venturi, the son of a wholesale fruit grocer, was born in 1925 in Philadelphia. From the age of four Venturi knew he wanted to be an architect. He nourished his love of architectural history at Princeton University. Venturi's studies in the history of architecture led him to appreciate the...