Archigram: Architecture without Architecture [Paperback]

Simon Sadler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262693224 | ISBN-13: 978-0262693226 | Publication Date: June 24, 2005

In the 1960s, the architects of Britain's Archigram group and Archigram magazine turned away from conventional architecture to propose cities that move and houses worn like suits of clothes. In drawings inspired by pop art and psychedelia, architecture floated away, tethered by wires, gantries, tubes, and trucks. In Archigram: Architecture without Architecture, Simon Sadler argues that Archigram's sense of fun takes its place beside the other cultural agitants of the 1960s, originating attitudes and techniques that became standard for architects rethinking social space and building technology. The Archigram style was assembled from the Apollo missions, constructivism, biology, manufacturing, electronics, and popular culture, inspiring an architectural movement -- High Tech -- and influencing the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the late twentieth century.Although most Archigram projects were at the limits of possibility and remained unbuilt, the six architects at the center of the movement, Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron, and Michael Webb, became a focal point for the architectural avant-garde, because they redefined the purpose of architecture. Countering the habitual building practice of setting walls and spaces in place, Archigram architects wanted to provide the equipment for amplified living, and they welcomed any cultural rearrangements that would ensue. Archigram: Architecture without Architecture -- the first full-length critical and historical account of the Archigram phenomenon -- traces Archigram from its rediscovery of early modernist verve through its courting of students, to its ascent to international notoriety for advocating the "disappearance of architecture."

Editorial Reviews

Review

The first book-length critical and historical account of an ultramodern architectural movement of the 1960s that advocated "living equipment" instead of buildings.

About the Author

Catherine Myser, Ph.D., runs the Bioethics and Anthropology Consultation Service in Oakland, California. She has conducted bioethics research, education, and clinical ethics consultation in Australia, India, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. She is the author of articles in American Journal of Bioethics, Civil Rights Journal, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Journal of Law and Medicine, Journal of Medical Ethics, Medical Education, Medical Journal of Australia, and Seminars in Perinatology, as well as chapters in bioethics, cultural studies, and medical humanities books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (June 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262693224
• ISBN-13: 978-0262693226
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.