Postmodern Architecture: Are You a Fan or a Foe?

One of the 20th century's most divisive architectural trends, postmodernism is the ultimate mash-up style featuring bright colors, classical forms with a modern twist and an undeniable sense of playfulness from big name proponents like Michael Graves, Ettore Sottsass and Robert Stern. Read on for some of our fave examples of this eclectic style. With tongue-firmly-in-cheek, this fun picture book from Phaidon, Postmodern Architecture: Less is a Bore, features more than 200 postmodern buildings around the world and recounts how these architectural "atrocities and abominations" and "affronts to human dignity" (as one member of the public described them in a letter to the press) have inspired and incensed.

One of the most famous postmodern buildings in the world, the Chiat/Day Building (also called the "Binoculars Building") is part of Google's headquarters in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was created by starchitect Frank Gehry and artists Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen.

Located in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Ting 1, designed by Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, features 51 apartments atop an old courthouse. It's the ultimate postmodern mashup, with an older 1967 building capped by a uniquely colorful new addition whose stacked squares are inspired by hashtags.

Located in Brooklyn, New York, this animated-looking building is actually a mural created by London artist Camille Walala to reinvigorate the existing building. See the fascinating step-by-step for this project here.