insight arq . vol 22 . no 3 . 2018 271 review and insight arq . vol 22 . no 3 . 2018 271 Insight: life, death, and ephemerality of Postmodern Architecture Léa-Catherine Szacka In De Arquitectura, Vitruvius lists three interrelated Latin terms – frmitas (strength or structural stability), utilitas (functionality or appropriate spatial accommodation), and venustas (beauty or attractive appearance), as being the basis of good architecture. Regarding frmitas, he implies that a good architect needs to choose the best and most solid materials, regardless of their cost. Yet, perhaps dismissing Vitruvius’s advice, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, most Postmodern architects went on to erect buildings that often looked more like stage sets than anything strong and durable. Postmodern designers applied colour, pattern, and ornament to buildings, transferring ordinary and everyday popular imagery, forms, and material into high culture. By rejecting modern design and aesthetics, they also dismissed the building techniques 1 Teatro del Mondo, Venice. Aldo Rossi, 1979. arq (2018), 22.3, 271–274. ©Cambridge University Press 2018 doi: 10.1017/S1359135518000659 Many postmodern gems were conceived as ephemeral constructions. Now under threat, these buildings pose new theoretical questions linked to architecture’s preservation and authenticity. and materials used by their predecessors. As explained by experts from the Portland-based architecture frm Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA), ‘there is an inherent impermanence of the original materials based on a default decision making process that limited a building’s longevity to a twenty-fve year life-cycle’ 1 for Postmodern architecture. In other words, Postmodern buildings were often built as ephemeral constructions, for which longevity was not an absolute value. Etymology Ephemeral is an adjective derived from the Greek ephemeros, meaning ‘lasting for a very short time’ or ‘lasting for a day’. Ephemeral architecture, like paper architecture, constitutes a genre of its own, a genre defned not so much by its life span, than by the initial intention of its creators. 2 Thus, ephemeral architecture is defned by its construction but also – and perhaps more importantly – by its eventual and imminent destruction. It permanently lies in a sort of indeterminate time and space. And while the word ‘ephemeral’ could perhaps be interchanged with other words such as temporary, transitory, transient, or feeting, ‘ephemeral’ implies that something is not only short-lived but also inconsequential or of limited value. 3 In recent years, and challenging ideas of ephemerality versus permanence, re-evaluation has emerged on the historical value of Postmodern buildings. 4 As part of this movement, in May 2018 Historic England announced that ‘seventeen bold, playful, brightly coloured Postmodern buildings of insight