Deconstructivism is a postmodern movement in architecture and design that emerged as a response to the standardized, rational approaches of modernism, emphasizing complexity, diversity, and the multifaceted nature of identity. Originating from psychological concepts by Freud and philosophical ideas by Derrida, it seeks to reveal the underlying complexities and contradictions in forms and texts, challenging the illusion of unity. In both architecture and graphic design, deconstructivism aims to disrupt conventional aesthetics, introducing elements of play, irony, and ambiguity to foster multiple interpretations.

1. Deconstructivism The Topics
1. What it is.
2. Where it comes from.
3. Decon’s history.
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4. In architecture
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5. In graphic design
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2. Deconstructivism What it is
From this: 19th
century >>>To This: Modern design

3. Deconstructivism What it is
Modern Design emerges in the 1920s in Architecture,
Graphics and Product Design.
NOTE THE DATES:
Early Modernism (1917-1950): The Bauhaus
Modernism (1950-1970): The International Style
Postmodernism (1970-Now): Postmodernism
Deconstructivism
is part of the Postmodern period

4. Deconstructivism What it is
Modernism:
A single theory or explanation for many
different events. A belief in
Science, Progress, Order
Logic and calculation
Analysis and Functionalism
Reducing experience to small
fragments easily understood by
science
Rejection of the importance of
Personal experience

5. Deconstructivism What it is
Modernism standardizes people, societies, processes
and shapes them into a ‘one size fits all’
– rejecting the real complexity of things
Deconstructivism - along with other movements - is a
rejection of this mass society

6. Deconstructivism What it is
The Modern Image The Postmodern image
By the 1970s there was a reaction against Modernist ideas
of order and functionalism – towards COMPLEXITY
This was called the Postmodern period

7. Deconstructivism What it is
Postmodernism
Towards diversity &
Complexity
of opinions, explanations and
ideas
different ways of doing the same
thing
Towards identity, ethnicity,
feminism, anti-science,
individuality & subjectivity

8. Deconstructivism What it is
By the 1970s Modernism had split up into a series of
different styles – those it had REPRESSED in the
past:
Regionalism (cultural identity)
Historicism (Memory)
Pop (familiar-popular images)
Hi Tech (Technological fetishism)
Eclecticism (Mix ‘n match)
Deconstructivism (reveals complexity)

9. Deconstructivism What it is
Deconstructivism tries to reveal the complexity and
multiplicity of things that lies under the smooth,
integrated surface of things.
********I AM MULTITUDE********
Where did this idea come from ?

10. Deconstructivism From Psychology
Origins in
Psychology
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)
And his
Theory of
REPRESSION

11. Deconstructivism From Psychology
Freud’s Theory suggested the existence of a:
Conscious mind and Unconscious mind
plus
Repression:
In order to live in society
Repression excludes ‘unacceptable’ ideas and
instincts from the conscious mind

12. Deconstructivism From Psychology
Repression of unconscious
thoughts and desires
allows an individual to produce
an ‘acceptable’ image in public.
But……….
Distorts the real identity – all the memories, the
feelings, the dreams, the loves, the hates….
maybe leading to sickness

13. Deconstructivism From Psychology
Psychoanalysis requires:
opening
of the unconscious mind
to find repressed
and buried thoughts
What is the patient hiding?
In their:
Slips of the tongue, Avoidance of certain subjects
Nervous gestures, strange behaviour

14. Deconstructivism From Psychology
By psychoanalysis
Freud
Deconstructs
the public image of the
person to find the
repressed reality
What the patient
excludes from their
normal perfect image

15. Deconstructivism Towards Philosophy
Jacques Derrida (b. 1930)
Philosopher
Applies Freud’s
‘Deconstructivism’ to
Writing and Philosophy
How can these texts pretend to
be perfect and true?
What are they hiding?

16. Deconstructivism Towards Philosophy
Derrida coined the term:
Deconstructivism
The real TRUTH of the text is that
it is made up of:
many ideas, associations,slips
of the tongue, exclusions,
emphases, mistakes, biases and
corrections….
IT LOOKS SMOOTH AND UNIFIED --
But it isn’t REALLY!

17. Deconstructivism REMEMBER
Deconstructivism
means:
Open up the form to reveal, identify and
magnify:
The sources, the identities and
the marginal elements of the
smooth, integrated final
image.
Reveal the TRUTH of this
thing, this form…..
And the Truth is many things

18. Deconstructivism In Design
Deconstructivism was one reaction to Modernism
And a philosophical approach to truth. BUT…
What does it have to do with Design?

19. Deconstructivism In Design
DESIGN IS A LANGUAGE
It involves
Selection and Combination
Of forms
To Represent a group of functions
Sometimes these functions are complex and
the forms chosen have to express that.
Merging different forms is Design

20. Deconstructivism In Design
Different Forms have different Associations
To mix forms is to mix and overlap associations
By DESIGN or By ACCIDENT

21. Deconstructivism In Design
Deconstructivism
Enters
DESIGN
****
Modern Design
has reached the end
of its cycle

22. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Deconstructivism
was introduced into architecture
in the 1980s
WHY?
There was a feeling that
Modern Architecture
Had failed –
International Modern >
Is this all it had to offer?

23. Deconstructivism In Architecture
The new Modern Architecture was rational,
functional and perfect.
To be that, it had to REPRESS its many
sources and complexities. What were they?

24. Deconstructivism To Architecture
Modern architecture
represses
COMPLEXITY
Simplifying and
isolating functions to
make them easy to
manage
Using Functionalism &
GRID

25. Deconstructivism In Architecture
1. Modern Architecture integrates (represses)
different functions into a single perfect whole
(controlled by the grid)
2. Deconstructivism emphasizes the DIFFERENCE
between different FUNCTIONS
3. Deconstructivism tries to reveal the actual
complexity of things interacting with one another
4. Deconstructivism tries to reintroduce joy, sensuality
and pleasure into architecture

26. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Examples of
Deconstructivist
Architecture
The Box
Culver City
California
Eric Owen Moss

27. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Bernard Tschumi Parc La Villette Paris 1980s

28. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Coop Himmelbau Attic Office Addition 1980s

29. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Disorientation?
Distortion? The
design issue is no
longer practical but
semantic.
L) Eisenman Housing
Berlin
R) Eisenman Office
Berlin

30. Deconstructivism In Architecture
A new
Architectural
icon in Spain
Frank Gehry’s
Guggenheim
Museum
Bilbao
Spain 1999

31. Deconstructivism In Architecture
Any angle BUT the
REPRESSIVE
Right Angle of the
Modern Grid
Frank Gehry
Aircraft Museum
USA

32. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Deconstructivism
entered Graphic
Design in the 1980s
For the same reasons as
architecture
An attempt to
overcome the smooth
integrated standard
image

33. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Is this text or image?
Or Both?
The monks who copied
this book played
with the text and
images
The Book of Kells
9th
century Celtic
manuscript

34. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Text becomes graphic
Graphic is a text
Functionalism is not
the issue here
Even in a list, like this,
the overall image is
Is one of the Presence
of the TEXT

35. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Where text is
graphic image
Not just a functional
means of
communication
TEXT HAS IDENTITY
Chinese text with a Japanese
commentary

36. Deconstructivism
Typical Concepts:
1. Changing type sizes and fonts (Diversity)
2. Unusual or custom fonts (Individuality)
3. Richly cluttered pages (Complexity)
4. Stripped down pages (No overall order)
5. Mistakes revealed (Truth & Authenticity)
Deconstructivism In Graphic Design

37. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Deconstructivism
More Typical Concepts:
6. No Grid (Freedom as against Order)
7. Big Ideas (Beyond Functionalism)
8. Accepting the Ambiguous (the Unsaid)
9. Possibility of Other Meanings (Uncontrolled)
10. Multiple Messages (Plurality)

38. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Text becomes a independent element
Neville Brody

39. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Text - communication at two levels:
shape & meaning. David Carson

40. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Deconstructivist Techniques:
1. Clash (of images and text types)
2. Collision and overlap (of sub grids & elements)
3. Disruption (of assumptions and stereotypes)
4. Disintegration (of overall image & viewpoint)
5. Fracturing (of wholeness & unity)
6. Each element is an independent reality
7. Each element reveals what it really is
8. Free-floating elements within the frame

41. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
The Palimpsest
An Example of
multiple overlaid
images and meanings
Text on text
Meaning on meaning
Image on image

42. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
The torn and faded
poster
Meanings lost or
partially understood
Fragments of messages
Superimpose one on the
other
So many associations

43. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Deconstructivist attitudes:
1. Play…….. the creative search – the random
2. Humour…the clash of assumptions
3. Irony……. the double meaning
4. Parody….. exaggeration of character
5. Pastiche... The obvious fake – (humour)
6. Contention..Challenging the stereotypes
7. De-Centering..No dominant message
8. Ambiguity & complexity…reality

44. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Text has form – it can define the whole image
David Carson

45. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Communication isn’t
The production of
simple clear
messages
The whole image
delivers the
message
David Carson

46. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
“…Against those columns of text, neatly boxed
pictures, steady relationships of headline, body
copy and captions, numbered leaves…..
These free form inked sheets are more akin to
paintings than publication design.
The reliable features that dominate our daily diet
of print are here:
questioned, played with, broken or ignored…”

47. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Imagination
Shock
You can’t hang this
on your mother’s
Living Room Wall
David Carson

48. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Text as Independent Pattern David Carson

49. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Nike Advert David Carson

50. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Look, Mum: ‘No grid’! David Carson

51. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Fragments together make up the message
The torn poster David Carson

52. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Overlaid messages like memories

53. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Text Freedom David Carson

54. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Have you gone mad?
I can’t read what it
says.
(Jim Smith, Aged 87)
Text explosion
Davis Carson

55. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
David Carson

56. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
The Impact of Negative Space David Carson

57. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Beyond Functionalism Davis Carson

58. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Cuniform Middle East 2600 BC

59. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Text and Graphics Egypt c. 2000BC

60. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
Layers and multiple meanings

61. Deconstructivism In Graphic Design
David Carson

62. Deconstructivism In Graphic design
Layers of Text David Carson

63. Deconstructivism
That’s It!
Thank you for
your attention
Have a nice day!
Alex Brown