The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture

The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture PDF

Author: Pier Vittorio Aureli

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2011-02-11

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0262515792

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Architectural form reconsidered in light of a unitary conception of architecture and the city. In The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture, Pier Vittorio Aureli proposes that a sharpened formal consciousness in architecture is a precondition for political, cultural, and social engagement with the city. Aureli uses the term absolute not in the conventional sense of “pure,” but to denote something that is resolutely itself after being separated from its other. In the pursuit of the possibility of an absolute architecture, the other is the space of the city, its extensive organization, and its government. Politics is agonism through separation and confrontation; the very condition of architectural form is to separate and be separated. Through its act of separation and being separated, architecture reveals at once the essence of the city and the essence of itself as political form: the city as the composition of (separate) parts. Aureli revisits the work of four architects whose projects were advanced through the making of architectural form but whose concern was the city at large: Andrea Palladio, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Étienne Louis-Boullée, and Oswald Mathias Ungers. The work of these architects, Aureli argues, addressed the transformations of the modern city and its urban implications through the elaboration of specific and strategic architectural forms. Their projects for the city do not take the form of an overall plan but are expressed as an “archipelago” of site-specific interventions.

The Possibility of (an) Architecture

The Possibility of (an) Architecture PDF

Author: Mark Goulthorpe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-06-02

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1135260982

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Articulating a radical agenda for the rethinking of the basic precepts of the construction industry in light of digital technologies, this book explores the profound shift that is underway in all aspects of architectural process. Essays and lectures from the last fifteen years discuss these changes in relation to dECOi Architects, created in 1991 as a forward-looking architectural practice. This excellent collection is relevant to architectural professionals, academics and students and also to practitioners in many related creative fields who are similarly engaged in trying to comprehend the significance of the import of digital media.

The Project of Autonomy

The Project of Autonomy PDF

Author: Pier Vittorio Aureli

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Published: 2008-07-04

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 9781568987941

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"The Project of Autonomy radically rediscusses the concept of autonomy in politics and architecture by tracing a concise and polemical argument about its history in Italy in the 1960's and early 1970's. Architect and educator Pier Vittorio Aureli analyzes the position of the Operaism movement, formed by a group of intellectuals that produced a powerful and rigorous critique of capitalism and its intersections with two of the most radical architectural-urban theories of the day: Aldo Rossi's redefinition of the architecture of the city and Archizoom's No-stop City. Readers are introduced to major figures like Mario Tronti and Raniero Panzieri who have previously been little known in the English-speaking world, especially in an architectural context, and to the political motivations behind the theories of Rossi and Archizoom. The book draws on significant new source material, including recent interviews by the author and untranslated documents."--PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE.

The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century

The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century PDF

Author: Bernard Tschumi

Publisher: Columbia Books of Architecture S.

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781580931342

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In 2003, Bernard Tschumi convened forty of the world's leading architectural designers and theorists for a conference at Columbia University. The State of Architecture brings together manifestos, musings, and meditations to capture the key polemics raised by this extraordinary convocation of thinkers.

Architects After Architecture

Architects After Architecture PDF

Author: Harriet Harriss

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-15

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1000316440

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What can you do with a degree in architecture? Where might it take you? What kind of challenges could you address? Architects After Architecture reframes architecture as a uniquely versatile way of acting on the world, far beyond that of designing buildings. In this volume, we meet forty practitioners through profiles, case studies, and interviews, who have used their architectural training in new and resourceful ways to tackle the climate crisis, work with refugees, advocate for diversity, start tech companies, become leading museum curators, tackle homelessness, draft public policy, become developers, design videogames, shape public discourse, and much more. Together, they describe a future of architecture that is diverse and engaged, expanding the limits of the discipline, and offering new paths forward in times of crisis. Whether you are an architecture student or a practicing architect considering a change, you’ll find this an encouraging and inspiring read. Please visit the Architects After Architecture website for more information, including future book launches and events: architectsafterarchitecture.com

Necessary Architecture

Necessary Architecture PDF

Author: Alisia Tognon

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-09-16

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1000441105

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Niger is sand, light, and heat. Starting from the necessity of the Mission Catholique du Dosso, which has worked in Niger for several years, this book speaks about the Nigerien situation which is characterized by a countrywide spread of poverty. Along with studying the country’s environmental, geographical conditions, the book discusses raw earth architecture in both vernacular and contemporary contexts. A number of the most common techniques are described. The possibilities for these methods to adapt to the contemporary language of architecture without losing the technical and physical benefits inherent in them are illustrated. The book embraces some topics that are not common but highly relevant in the Developing World, such as identity through the evolution of architecture and the value of transmitting knowledge related to the vernacular building process. Nowadays, Niger’s condition is characterized by a lack of resources, both physical and cultural. Earthen technology appears to be a valid solution in this situation for the creation of an environmentally sustainable approach. The book aims to provide an overview of the possibility of constructing new buildings related to the climate and traditional context, applying vernacular technology and solutions in a contemporary application. Providing a balance between teaching vernacular knowledge and the contemporary architectural language could help face this out-of-resource situation, aiming to get comfortable and affordable living spaces.

Architecture Depends

Architecture Depends PDF

Author: Jeremy Till

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2013-02-08

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0262518783

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Polemics and reflections on how to bridge the gap between what architecture actually is and what architects want it to be. Architecture depends—on what? On people, time, politics, ethics, mess: the real world. Architecture, Jeremy Till argues with conviction in this engaging, sometimes pugnacious book, cannot help itself; it is dependent for its very existence on things outside itself. Despite the claims of autonomy, purity, and control that architects like to make about their practice, architecture is buffeted by uncertainty and contingency. Circumstances invariably intervene to upset the architect's best-laid plans—at every stage in the process, from design through construction to occupancy. Architects, however, tend to deny this, fearing contingency and preferring to pursue perfection. With Architecture Depends, architect and critic Jeremy Till offers a proposal for rescuing architects from themselves: a way to bridge the gap between what architecture actually is and what architects want it to be. Mixing anecdote, design, social theory, and personal experience, Till's writing is always accessible, moving freely between high and low registers, much like his suggestions for architecture itself.

Perfect Acts of Architecture

Perfect Acts of Architecture PDF

Author: Jeffrey Kipnis

Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9780870700392

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This book presents drawings created between 1972 and 1987 by Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, Daniel Libeskind and Thom Mayne with Andrew Zago.

The Architecture of Change

The Architecture of Change PDF

Author: Jerilou Hammett

Publisher: UNM Press

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 082635386X

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The Architecture of Change: Building a Better World is a collection of articles that demonstrates the power of the human spirit to transform the environments in which we live. This inspiring book profiles people who refused to accept that things couldn’t change, who saw the possibility of making something better, and didn’t esitate to act. Breaking down the stereotypes surrounding “socially engaged architecture,” this book shows who can actually impact the lives of communities. Like Bernard Rudofsky’s seminal Architecture Without Architects, it explores communal architecture produced not by specialists but by people, drawing on their common lives and experiences, who have a unique insight into their particular needs and environments. These unsung heroes are teachers and artists, immigrants and activists, grandmothers in the projects, students and planners, architects and residents of some of our poorest places. Running through their stories is a constant theme of social justice as an underlying principle of the built environment. This book is about opening one’s eyes to new ways of interpreting the world, and how to go about changing it.