Post Modernism

Post Modernism is considered to be the style which broke down all the rules of the Modernist movements. It turned its back on their ideals and tried to re-introduce the idea of ornamentation which had been erased completely in the later modern movements.

This chair combines the perfect amount of functionality
and ornamentation in my opinion 

The start of this style (yes it is a style and not a movement) was practically Pop Design in the 60s as it rejected all of the International Style's rules. and started doing things a lot differently. Forms were more abstracted and to a lesser extent nonsensical. Pop design was a time when designers experimented with new materials and different ideas. Post Modernism as a style however saw the return of some form of functionalism but with more 'unneeded' ornamentation than before.

Post Modernism also used symbolism to help bridge the gap between different speaking countries - thus it became another international style. These symbols were not necessarily new innovative symbols - they were inspired by the early modern movements like Charles Jenks' Sun table and Chairs (chair pictured below) is inspired by Art Deco.

The symbolism in this chair is
reminiscent of certain Art Deco Patterns 

By the 1980s Post Modernism was the most influential design movement, it still had the colourful spontaneity of the 60s but when the 1990 global recession hit designers started using cheaper materials in order to keep Post Modernism widely accessible and thus it entered its minimalist phase where designers kept everything plain and simple such as Aldo Rossi's Conicle kettle for Alessi

Plain and simple yet still not common - the very ideal of Post Modernism

REFERENCES:

Charlotte & Peter Fiell, 2012. Design of the 20th Century (25). Edition. Taschen.

Thomas Hauffe, 2001. Design: From the Industrial Revolution to the 21st Century (Flipguides). Edition. Dumont Monte.

Unknown , (1985), Norbert Berkhof's Frankfurter FIII chair for Draenert [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.edilportale.com/immagini/prodotti-thumb/b_prodotti-45929-rela597ae79-1fc5-ee2f-42ea-92fe5905fb63.jpg [Accessed 20 December 13].

Unknown , (1984), Charles Jencks Sun Chair. [ONLINE]. Available at:http://193.238.185.184/images/3027734?size=large&index=4 [Accessed 20 December 13].

Unknown , (1988), Aldo Rossi's Il Conico Kettle for Alessi [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.huzza.net/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1500x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/4/0/400100403716_1.jpg[Accessed 20 December 13].