The exhibit is a powerful teaching tool. What a treat for students to learn from these provocative objects and to probe the meaning of architecture designed by their parents’ generation. Less effective parts of the show are the sections on postmodern exhibitions and the role of the art gallery, including the CCA itself. Lavin makes the point that the museum hosting the exhibit—the CCA—shaped postmodernism by its neo-neoclassical architecture, its early influential exhibits on figures like Eisenman, and its collecting of gems like a Piranesi drawing. So, the CCA is hosting an exhibit about how other CCA exhibits were important. It’s a bit too self-referential—but very postmodern!

Another challenge for visitors is that sources for the myths debunked in the show are not identified. The presumption is that we all think about postmodernism as autonomous, and that the exhibit shows a different way to see it, as connected. Who or what made us think about postmodern architecture as autonomous? 

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