Robert Venturi

Robert Venturi was an American architect. He collaborated with architect Denise Scott-Brown and the couple established their firm Venturi, Rauch and Scott-Brown in 1964. From there, they electrified the postmodern movement with controversial writings and buildings that challenged the modernist rejection of ornamentation and introduced whimsy and wit into what they felt had become an overly severe discipline. During the 1980s Venturi created a collection of chairs, tables and sofa created for Knoll. The chairs exemplified Venturi’s fascination with the façade; the idea that period styling could be applied for purely decorative purposes to a more functionalist frame.