Fantasy Temple, Sketch

Many recognizable buildings of the postmodern era capitalize on the sculptural and symbolic qualities of historical architecture, from the riotous landscape of neoclassical fragments in Charles Moore’s Piazza d’Italia of 1978 to the graphic evocation of giant-order columns in the 1982 Portland Building by Michael Graves. In Stanley Tigerman’s Architoon sketches, references to historical buildings appear in fantastic environments populated by a mix of real and imagined buildings and figures. Although these drawings may initially appear as playful evocations of Tigerman’s signature style, they are layered with dense references to architectural history, theology, bawdy humor, and his own personal narrative. In this sketch, for example, caryatids mingle with what appears to be a parachuting angel, and large column fragments support miniature versions of Tigerman’s buildings, including the phallic Daisy House. Expressing the iconoclastic attitude of the era, the Architoons present a world in which monuments mingle with parking garages, and Classical architecture is subject to devious torments by Tigerman’s many avatars.