In its Heyday, Modernism was Taught in Architecture Schools

Reading Passage Question

In its heyday, modernism was taught in architecture schools as a moral imperative. Architectural form was supposed to embody the spatial, structural, and mechanical demands of the building. Implanted in every student’s mind were two terse aphorisms: “Form follows function” and “Less is more.” All new structures, from incinerators to cathedrals, commanded equal respect as products of our advanced technological culture. People began to complain that churches and banks looked alike; only very gradually did large numbers of architects acknowledge that such objections might be well founded. Eventually, a substantial proportion of architects lost faith in the modernist movement, and many embraced a body of architectural principles identifiable as postmodernist.

Postmodernist is a reaction against the characteristic modernist style. In typical modernist buildings of the 1950s, differences between interior and exterior, top and bottom, and back and front—or, indeed, between portions serving different functions—were deliberately minimized. Surrounding structures and local precedents were almost invariably ignored. Detailing was made to look as uncomplicated as the surfaces and joints of the architectural model, no matter what design and construction effort it took to achieve that effect. While modernist architecture is moralistic and exclusivist—based on a set of “Thou shalt nots”— postmodernist architecture is amoral and inclusivist, based on contextualism, allusion to other design, and ornament.

Postmodernist contextualism demands that whatever is built acknowledge its setting. In the 1950s, modernism conditioned architecture students to assume that surrounding construction was obsolescent and soon to be replaced by “improved” modernist work; more sensibly, postmodernist architects see a building as an incremental change in an existing environment. Contextualism means that architects adopt the visual axes and prevailing roof lines of existing buildings, or promote correspondences in form, scale, and materials between new and old buildings. Postmodernists allude to historical styles in various ways: they may borrow spatial organization from the Italian Baroque style or incisive abstract lines from early modernist European architecture of the 1920s or decorative motifs from movie palaces and diners of the twenties and thirties, thus encouraging the very impurity and heterogeneity the modernist movement condemned.

“In its heyday, modernism was taught in architecture schools” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The author is primarily concerned with

(A) describing the elements of a once-popular architectural style
(B) comparing two approaches to architectural design
(C) resolving a debate about the relative merits of two architectural styles
(D) summarizing the accomplishments of architects of the 1950’s
(E) explaining the cause of changes in architectural design since the 1950’s

2. It can be inferred from the passage that, because Modern architects of the 1950’s believed that “Less is more”, buildings they designed were NOT likely to

(A) feature contrasting materials such as stone and glass on their facades
(B) contain spaces serving only one purpose
(C) use complicated design and construction techniques
(D) employ unusual materials to express an architectural concept
(E) emphasizing purely decorative elements of building design

3. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph?

(A) A particulier set of principles is described and the consequences of challenges to that set of principles are stated.
(B) A theory is explained and modifications of that theory are listed.
(C) Specific examples of the application of a theory are given and reactions to those examples are detailed.
(D) Two opposing sets of principles are described and the merits of one over the other are explained.
(E) Criticism of a theory is elaborated and the sources of that criticism are mentioned.

4. Which if the following buildings would be most compatible in design with the principles of Postmodernism, as described in the passage?

(A) A cubical hight-rise apartment buildings with a glass facade that is located in a neighborhood of single-family brick houses
(B) A school in which classrooms, play areas, and offices all have identical design features
(C) A government office building that has brightly painted columns similar to those used in classical Greek architecture
(D) A movie theater that is faced with smooth white concrete
(E) A renovated warehouse in which the original pipes and ducts are obscured by featureless ceilings and panels

5. The author uses all of the following in discussing architecture EXCEPT

(A) a contrast
(B) an explanation of terms
(C) a literary analogy
(D) a generalization
(E) a value judgment

6. The author suggests that some of the general public’s objections to Modern architecture were based on the public’s

(A) moralistic and exclusivist ideas about architectural design
(B) desire to see architectural differences in buildings with different functions
(C) preference for architectural designs that directly allude to the history of a building
(D) inability to adapt to new ideas
(E) failure to respect buildings as products of an advanced technological culture

7. The author views the attitude toward existing buildings that was conveyed to architecture students in the 1950’s with

(A) indifference
(B) disapproval
(C) nostalgia
(D) regret
(E) amusement

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