Postmodernism – In pictures

Terry Farrell's MI6 HQ in Vauxhall, London "whose robotic forms a peevish critic once compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger" Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA Archive

Another shot of the MI6 building which locals refer to as Legoland Photograph: Kieran Doherty/Reuters

Michael Graves' municipal building in Portland, Oregon, with its distinctive block-like design and square windows, was postmodernism's "first major monument". It opened in 1982 Photograph: Harry Melchert/Corbis

By one definition, postmodernist architecture "favoured ornament, ironic wit and bright colours". Terry Farrell's TV-am Building exterior in Camden, 1983 is a prime example of the style Photograph: V&A Images

An interior shot of Terry Farrell's TV-am Building, 1983 Photograph: Richard Bryant/V&A Images

Postmodernism, seen by many as the style of the counterculture, was rapidly consumed by corporations such as AT&T. Here architect Philip Johnson poses with a model of his newly designed AT&T building in May 1978 Photograph: Bill Pierce/Getty Images

Johnson's AT&T Building in Manhattan, now the Sony Building, was completed in 1984 "and drew immediate comparison with a Chippendale bookcase" Photograph: Alan Schein/Corbis

Another corporation that adopted postmodernism's style was Disney. The Swan and Dolphin Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, designed by Michael Graves opened in 1990 Photograph: Victoria Slater-Madert/V&A Images

Postmodernist ideas spread from architecture to all areas of popular culture – from film to graphics, music and fashion. In 1979 Grace Jones had a constructivist maternity dress designed by her then-boyfriend, stylist Jean-Paul Goude Photograph: Jean-Paul Goude/V&A Images

Casablanca sideboard, Ettore Sottsass made by Memphis, 1981. Its bright colour, pattern and odd shape went against the Modernist belief that form should follow function Photograph: V&A Images

Michael Graves (for Alessi), kettle, 1983 – a postmodern design intended for the mass market Photograph: V&A Images