Is International Style making a comeback?

[Charlotteman]

International Style highrise architecture was all the rage worldwide for many many years. LeCorbusier was one of the first architects who attracted everyone's attention with his ideas on how tall buildings could look. International Style took hold and glass boxes went up all over the world in the 1960s, 70s and even into the early 80s. It looked like International Style would continue into architectural infinity.......

But by the 1980s many people were tiring of the plain look of tall flat-roofed boxes in their CBDs. Post Modernism was born, and with it came the idea that high rise architecture could actually be inspiring. By the early 1990s Post Modernism brought the world such gems as Liberty Place in Philadelphia, 191 Peachtree and 1 Atlantic Center in Atlanta, Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle, Americas Tower in New York, and Interstate Tower and BofA Corp Tower in Charlotte.

I assumed Post Modernism had permanently exposed International Style for it's stylistic shortcomings, and that unimaginative architecture from past decades was over. I'm starting to wonder if I was wrong. Is International Style making a comeback?

In so many proposed high rises throughout the world, the boring legacy of International Style looks like it's peeking right over the horizon! Not only proposed towers, but recently constructed towers as well.

Take a look at some of these recent high rises and see if you agree:

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=137730

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=timewa...yorkcity-ny-usa

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=7world...kcity-ny-usa868

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=191nor...-chicago-il-usa

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=25bank...n-unitedkingdom

[tamias6]

The building you've linked all look fine to me. The one in London does look very dated, though. Over all these buildings had nice details and broke away from the tissue paper box look of the international style. Overall from what I see I think that these buildings are more of a fusion of postmodernism and the international style.

The other thing to look at to is that like any other well design building, these buildings have to take some cues from there surroundings in order to maintain continuity of the urban landscape, in the case of most of them shown, surrounding buildings were of similar styles.