Postmodern Design

Although western drama from Ibsen and Strindberg to the late twentieth century is often lumped together under the rubric of "modern drama," it is rare to come across a mention of "modern design." If design styles are discussed at all, it is usually when they are plainly related to identifiable art movements such as Constructivism or Surrealism or various branches of realism-suggestive realism, poetic realism, photorealism, etc. In the absence of any clear-cut movement known as modern design it may be difficult to talk about "postmodern design." Nonetheless, certain design characteristics definable as "modern" may be discerned across a broad spectrum of performances throughout the twentieth century, and over the 1970s and 1980s a new style has emerged, which is fundamentally different in approach and aesthetic values, has certain similarities to postmodern architecture, and challenges the standard ways of seeing conditioned by the design characteristics that held the stage for nearly a century. This new style can be called, rightfully, "postmodern."