Robert Venturi: Postmodern Architect Guild House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1961) He was born on June 25, 1925 in Philadelphia.

He studied at Princeton University, School of Architecture and graduated summa cum laude (19471950). Venturi also studied architectural history with noted scholar Donald Drew Egbert. In 1958, he began his own practice as a member of Venturi, Cope and Lippincott. In 1961 he entered into a brief partnership with William Short. Then he worked as a designer in the architectural firms of Oscar Stonorov, Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn. He was a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Architecture in Philadelphia. (1957 to 1965) Venturi and John Rauch established their own architectural firm in 1964.In 1967; Denise Scott Brown joins the firm. John Rauch leaves the firm in 1989. From VRBA to VSBA Robert Venturi created an anecdote to Mies Van de Rohes Less is more which is Less is a Bore Robert Venturis architectural philosophy called for an eclectic approach to design and openness to different influences of tradition, ordinary commercial architecture and Pop Art. He captured the messy vitality of the great architecture of the past over the simple, functional buildings of the international style. Selected works: The Vanna Venturi Pennsylvania (1962) House in Philadelphia,

Guild House is a defining example of 20th-century postmodern architecture precisely because of its use of ordinary materials, familiar forms, and minimal decorative elements. "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture" Venturi's book encouraged architects to turn away from the rigid "form follows function" doctrines of modernists like Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe and to look instead to the rich architecture of the past. For Robert Venturi, the challenge in creating valuable architecture is through the consciousness of all the potential parts and finding a way to connect them in making a cohesive mass. Learning from Las Vegas The symbolism in Architectural form is the main focus on this book. Selected Awards: Rome Prize Fellow, American Academy in Rome; 1956 Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, 1978 The Pritzker Architecture Prize; 1991 Vincent Scully Prize, National Building Museum; 2002 (with Denise Scott Brown) Design Mind Award, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards; 2007 (with Denise Scott Brown) Robert Venturi: an Icon Retires At age of 87 announced his retirement from the Architectural firm that he founded the Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates (VSBA). Sources / References: Stephen Prokopoff. Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown: A Generation of Architecture. p23. Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas. p172. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Venturi http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuilding s/ig/Modern-and-Postmodern-Houses/VannaVenturi-House.htm http://www.archdaily.com/tag/robert-venturi/ http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Rob ert_Venturi.html Theory of Architecture Submitted by: Shealla Bigalbal

The Vanna Venturi House was recognized as a "Masterwork of Modern American Architecture" by the United States Postal Service in May 2005.It Shows sense of symmetry, yet the symmetry is often distorted. The house is a direct break from Modern architecture, designed in order to disrupt and contradict formal Modernist aesthetics. Tucker House, Mount Kisco, New York (1975) "A small house, but big in scale: its few parts are large and its form is simple and symmetrical. Although its form is bold, it is recessive in its color and in its shingletexture.

Theory of Architecture Submitted by: Shealla Bigalbal