Adventure was the order ofthe day; fun and complexity quickly replaced the sim plicity of the International Style. Architects still called on the past. but often alm as und bitesofthe past, in jokes between architects. Architecture became style better plastic, a reflection of the society of consumerism. Nobody represents thi grand poly than Charles Moore whose Piazza d'Italia. New Orleans (1975 78) was a chromatic building that unashamedly exhibited kitsch. New small projects in Los Angeles also showed this flamboyancy, but unlike the Post-modern Classicism o Moore and Michael Graves. the young architects in LA. worked in a very insula area as one of the where their particular brand of architecture only gradually revealed itself most provocative to emerge. Some of the most extraordinary examples o the architec- tural free for all now being experienced were clearly visible in the World Exposition of 1967 in Montreal: it was here that Buckminster Fuller displayed a geodesic dom and Moshe Safdie created the Habitat Housing Europe, too, joined in producing buildings that still remain fascinating today, the likes of Hans Scharoun's Philharmonic concert Hall, Berlin (1956-63), a solution to acoustical problems, expressing a rational but irregular form. Innovations in new mat rials allowed the forms that were previously not possible: Frei otto in partnership with Gunter Behnisch presented the world with a spectacular tented roof for the Munich Games of 1972 Britain showed a great deal of reluctance to journey down this path; Peter and Alison Smithson, like many, stuck firmly to the beliefs in Le Corbusier way of think ing in the Economist (962-64) Building: James Stirling and James Gowan's Engineering Building, Leicester owed more to the past than the current climate abroad All this would soon change as a handful of pioneers celebrated the technology available leaders of this High-Tech movement were Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. who started out together and followed similar paths. The buildings they created fo commercial companies showed great faith in new technology and became instant icons willis Faber and Dumas, Ipswich (1974), Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Hon Kong (1979 86), Lloyds of London (1978-86) and Centre Pompidou (1971 especially Japan, was mirrored in ex e rise in economic power of the Far Eas imentation in architecture. The breadth of their imagination seemed boundless and indeed, contemporary architecture of the region would, in its turn. influence the West One of today's styles, however, certainly does confound the observer and challenge conventions on how spaces should be arranged Deconstructivism. grounded in the chaos f of Los Angeles. Initially restricted to southern California, many of its proponents have grown in reputation, although few as much as the "Godfather of the style, Frank o. hry. With huge commissions from multi-national comp ehry has created incredible such as the Guggenheim Museum structures lbao (1997)