Deconstructivism

Deconstructivism: it's a long old word that refers to those modern buildings that look a bit like they've been designed by a child struggling to get to grips with Lego instructions and ends up creating something that looks kind of good in a peculiar way, but nothing like the original plan. It has its roots in Jacques Derrida's deconstruction theory which is a complicated concept that had me grappling for an ungraspable understanding when I was at university. Deconstruction says that texts have multiple interpretations that contradict each other, and that these interpretations are limitless, thus making the art of effective interpretation impossible.

This impossibility of finding interpretation was adopted by the world of architecture in the 1980s as designers started to produce fragmented odd looking structures. The link with Derrida's deconstruction is that rules, meaning and the observer's understanding are no longer important with artistic expression allowed to express itself in a whole new seemingly meaningless void. With beauty undefined, fresh undefined beauty was allowed to flourish.

It has its critics however, and Kenneth Frampton from Woking is one of them. He reckons that it is "elitist and detached" and it is true that ownership of such buildings is obviously beyond most people, but we all get to have a look at it don't we, even if our houses aren't likely to resemble crumpled Coke cans in the near future.

I'm personally not sure about all this deconstruction stuff - it is true that understanding of the world around us is complex and often beyond us, but we devalue the understanding that there is out there to be found if we allow ourselves to sit still in a foggy maze without at least attempting to find our way around. When we sit still and deny that meaning is important, I fear that a deconstructive approach to all art forms can be a bit pretentious and pointless, but at the same time, when we start searching and throwing off the straight-jackets of beauty, we can find fresh, invigorating wonderful things.