Topic for Debate
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
We have classified many "ism's" through out the evolutions of architecture. Some of them being modernism, postmodernism, deconstruction-ism etc.

Which "ism" is now in course? Who decides which "ism" are we now in?
Kiran Aryan
Which era of "ism" are we in now?

Who defines these isms? Men, right? Do you think architecture is something that can be defined?

What I really feel is that the day when men started defining "isms", architecture has been degrading.

There was a time when architecture was a representation rather an adaptation of mans everyday life. Just like humans, it used to live. The older "tachans" did not have distinct concepts or never tried to categorize their buildings by saying "my building is a representation of the intermingling of forms...blah blah blah" that today's architects speaks so loudly about. The only thing that concerned him was the occupant, his lifestyle, his culture. Does any architect really think about this? I doubt it.

More than the occupant, it is he himself who is important. He wants his buildings to look good, his signature to be there, he wants to get awards, he wants them to be published in beautiful colorful mags.

Today's architecture is not worth classification. It has degraded and it is the architects and artists who are responsible for this. Why should we still try to define or classify?

It is my dream that one day, architects would rise up and hold hands to revive the past glories to lift architecture to a higher level where, devoid of classification, architecture would be a representation, rather a part of man himself, it would grow, breath and would feel man and his life.
R Soumini
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
hello Soumini,

I understand your views. I think it would be worth while if you could comment on the discussion topic "why do we need architects?". I think it's high time we discussed this issue.

Anyway, back to the point that you got at- most periods had a very distinct style that drew its inspitations for various social aspects, art moments, religious aspirations, etc., and this in turn has resulted in a unified expression.

100 years from now- what would be this period be labeled as? Not that it matters, but I would like to know if there was any classification at all.
Kiran Aryan
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
Soumini, Kiran,

My intuitive response to the first question is "Todays'-ism" is Nihilism".

For the second question, who decides which "ism" we are in now? :
The creation of "isms" is not a gender specific issue. To go down that blind alley is to copy the cult book "Women are from Venus, men are from Mars."

Yes, men and women are different and have different roles and functions. But, the origin of man is as the expendable defender of women. If a tribe's warriors were all women, then after a mutually destructive battle, then tribe with women warriors would not be able to replace the loss of people, because there would be very few women left. Whereas, man as the expendable defender means that even in a battle in which all the men die, there would be boy children and women and the tribe will survive and prosper.

And yes, I agree with you about the way the (empty) words of an architect are taken to mean more than what is actually designed by the architect.

I never took much notice of the "isms" in architecture, because it was and is hot air designed to inflate the ego of avante garde "talking head" architects and does nothing for the advance of culture, architecture or design.

So please keep your dreams bright. :)))
For myself, vernacular architecture is a form of cultural aesthetics which may possibly parallel your dreams. :)
Frank John Snelling
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
We are passing through 'The Space Era' and Technology has become the Principle of Design while already by nature it beholds the elements.
Most modren development we see is motivated by the crafts of modren technology itself.
Space is itself a symbol of privacy and freedom ..

Benjamin Franklin -ism ,that from my perspective is a simple talker ,respectable and to the point plus a responsible man..
Sher Saddozai
Which era of "ism" are we in now?

Modren Engineering and Technology..

Principal Motivator of Design..
Sher Saddozai
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
may be "self-destruction"ism...just want to remind the readers a famous saying which goes like...we have not inherited this planet from our ancestors, instead borrowed it from our children.(could not quote it exactly and i do not remember whose quote it is). we are doing exactly opposite to it.
remember nature reciprocates to what ever we do...I am not triggering a discussion about environmental issues. Its just my opinion about the topic
Sriraj Gokarakonda
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
Furqan Khatri
Which era of "ism" are we in now?

Furqan Khatri
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
trans urban-ISM...
Boris Zerjav
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
hello archnet members

so we can say find alot of ( ism ) at this time for example , we can say technoism & we can say cadism ... etc but the best ism term about this time will be appear in futre when we will be a past time and our architecture will be a case study at futre time .
Mufawek Hawas
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
Hello Kiran,
I am not not sure about the implication of the -ism globally, but can surely feed you with my answer about the era of -ism here in India. To stick with the Architecture the era through which we live now at least here in India since the year 1992 is the era of "intolerent-ism' following the demolition of the Babri Mosque which in itself 'was' a monument of architectural importance. Please correct me if you feel that I am wrong.
Haseeb Siddique Shaikh
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
'ism' is an responsive self continuity that contains majic of 'the art' or a philosophy that becomes a 'cult' which is non permissable in islam further than the five fundamentals ..
Sher Saddozai
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
'ism'why do we need any kind of terminology to define the intutive understanding of the style and building .. still the responsiveanswer definaly is "individual......ism"and anonymism
Rupali Vaidya
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
No Way ! ! if you can answer these questions than you will get your answer Q is ( which IMS we Are now as architecture is concerned ) assume you are a fanatic Hindu and me as a liberal Muslim ask you to design a mosque for my community .. what you will do?? Or You are a Muslim architect I come to you for design of i temple or a church,, what is your response??? If in both the case you start working as a professional architect ... there is no ISM for any one, and if Not than forget about professional part of architecture ... ISM is a addition word to separate the society .. right from beginning of history of human being... All the Ism has been created differences between the member of society .. please make it sure its not going to effect architecture
Ali Farid
Which era of "ism" are we in now?
i'm rather agree with rupali, yes we are in age of individualism. the contemporary time frame define by the concept of neo-liberalism which is the center fold of global power. the so called globalism. it doesn't matter whether we like to accept or not we are governing by certain guidelines of hidden truth. architecture , film or any other art form defined by the rhythms of those forces which we call "ism".

not like any other part of history , we tend to be segregate by the name of several issues. as a result of that architecture or built environment which we perceive now becomes a collection of several objects which demarcate their own taste or their identity not in the means of wholeness.

where s the harmony of urban context ? is it an urban fabric or collection of individual objects.
Rang' Soysa
Which era of
yes, we r in 'I'ism........where the collective results leading to chaos Individuals r trying to aling own defined styles, environments, territories.....I'sm where u can have u r own
Shridhar Washikar
Which era of
Yes, I was speaking of humanity as a whole. Have you ever read Fredrich Engels work "The origin of the Family, private property and the State"? This is a fascinating study in ancient world ethnology which is overshadowed by the indigestable (half-baked) work of Karl Marx. :)))
Frank John Snelling
Which era of
I think our architecture today is still in �postmodernisme�, because the idea of design today is still not going far away from the paradigme of postmodernisme. The simple example is deconstruction, deconstruction is the part of postmodernisme that still popular and still familiar in our neighborhood even in the newest building. That was the simple sign that postmodernisme are still exist.
So, maybe the new �isme� will come out when postmodernisme die. But it still alive, until the newest way of thingking is born.
Like a theory of the scientists, their theory will exist until a better theory come.

(Regard to all, I�am the newbie in this forum, and also newbie in speaking english, I�am sorry if I had mistaken in my language. nice to meet you)
Shofia Ishar
Which era of
Shofia, Unfortunately, "Postmodernism" ideologies are like plagues and like a plagues very difficult to eradicate.

Therefore no new theory will emerge because Postmodernism idealogies are so utterly absolute that nothing new will be allowed to emerge. What will emerge will appear to be new but it will be the same Postmodernisms being endlessly recycled. Sad really.
Frank John Snelling

