Journal of History and Culture Journal of History and Culture

j o u r n a l o f h i s t o r y a n d c u l t u r e
we find Hobbes, Newton, Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche subscribing to and propagating the world view that ‘God is
either Dead’, or absent from universal existence. In the struggle to break free from the shackles of dualism and
materialism these men upheld the notion of a scientific world devoid of Divine intervention.
Postmodernism singlehandedly reasserted the sophistry of our allegorical Zeus and Prometheus, insofar as we have
been led to believe that the exchange between modern science and knowledge exemplifies a new ethos. Thus it
carried enormous weight in contemporary problems of theory and praxis. Although the god Hermes is not figured
in the School of Athens it might also be noted that in Pantheist belief he even fooled the other gods, because of
his magic and manipulation. Both in Postmodernism and Pantheism these tricks are so transparent one wonders
if today they simply exist today with the tacit approval of people in power. It follows that the consequence of this
narcissistic behavior ends up being yet another form of syncretism such as postmodernism, post-structuralism and
deconstruction with its emphasis on text, difference, discourse, and I might add ‘deception’; no one really believes that
architects are like gods except the false gods themselves.
Genius however has unfortunately tended towards extreme individuality taking credit for every design
decision by laying out theoretical falsifications divinity and the re-enactment of the Promethean myth. It follows
that the ‘god-like’ architect, who having changed ‘the world’ with her/his ‘creative genius’, must now move from
reward to ritual to claim some semantic label and blind obeisance.
Again, most people who follow the doctrine of monotheism depend on the Divine Creator a sustaining God
therefore it is not likely that architectural genius and adroitness will elevate the architect to divine status. In addition
the monotheistic view conceives of the world created out of overflowing generosity; tragedy is not an epic belief.
Yet, the post-modern debates of the last two decades may have placed a halo above the heads of distinct individual
architect/philosophers from within the camp, and the written text, or work of art is seen as some kind of divine
revelation. In addition, the very concept of a cathartic creation signals originality that is rooted in the euro-centric
experience; increasingly it seems to privilege a small sector of the architectural profession.
Postmodernism: O white gods!
Tom Wolfe refers to a handful of ambitious architects in America as ‘white gods’: “The white gods come
from the sky at last! O white gods.” 14 Wolfe of course was referring to Mies van de Rohe and Walter Gropius who
came to America from Germany in the 40’s and brought with them the modernist experiment which became the
hall mark of the International Style; by the late 50’s architecture in America had become increasingly an architecture
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