An Investigation of the Perception of Neoclassical, Eclectic, Modernist, and Postmodern Architecture within Different Urban Landscapes: Athens vs. Paris

Amaury Chesné and Romanos Ioannidis ()
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Amaury Chesné: School of Urban Engineering, Ecole des Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris, 75019 Paris, France
Romanos Ioannidis: School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-29

Abstract: The public perception of buildings belonging to different architectural movements is a largely unexplored area from a quantitative scientific perspective. However, a better scientific understanding of perceptions of architectural movements is important for the formation of improved planning and design policies. In this work, we carry out an initial exploration of the public preferences of the architectural movements of Neoclassicism, Eclecticism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. To this aim, a total of 103 citizens from Athens (Greece) and Paris (France) were presented with the same questions regarding their opinions on buildings belonging to those movements. In the analysis and interpretation of the collected data, the different cultural, professional, and demographic characteristics of participants were then considered, as well as the role of the urban landscapes of Athens and Paris as the historical, societal, and aesthetic contexts that influence and shape perceptions. The results demonstrated a clear and uniform prevalence of Neoclassical architecture in terms of positive public perception in both cities. Similarly, in both cities, Eclecticism followed with a relatively more positive perception than Modern and Postmodern architectural styles, which were rated the lowest. However, a significant difference between the two cities was that when participants singled out their primary favorite style, Modernism enjoyed higher favorability in Athens than in Paris. These findings and their theoretical exploration provide inferences into the complexities of public perceptions of architectural styles, with potential implications for the integration of citizen preferences into future research on architectural/urban design and planning.

Keywords: public perception; architecture; landscape; architectural styles; urban landscape; Paris; Athens; Modernism; Neoclassicism; Postmodernism; Eclecticism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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