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Over fifty years after the Situationist International appeared, its legacy continues to inspire activists, artists and theorists around the world. Such a legend has accrued to this movement that the story of the SI now demands to be told in a contemporary voice capable of putting it into the context of twenty-first-century struggles. McKenzie Wark delves into the(...)
The beach beneath the street : the everyday life and glorious times of the situationist international
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Over fifty years after the Situationist International appeared, its legacy continues to inspire activists, artists and theorists around the world. Such a legend has accrued to this movement that the story of the SI now demands to be told in a contemporary voice capable of putting it into the context of twenty-first-century struggles. McKenzie Wark delves into the Situationists' unacknowledged diversity, revealing a world as rich in practice as it is in theory. Tracing the group's development from the bohemian Paris of the '50s to the explosive days of May '68, Wark's take on the Situationists is biographically and historically rich, presenting the group as an ensemble creation, rather than the brainchild and dominion of its most famous member, Guy Debord. Roaming through Europe and the lives of those who made up the movement —including Constant, Asger Jorn, Michèle Bernstein, Alex Trocchi and Jacqueline De Jong —Wark uncovers an international movement riven with conflicting passions. Accessible to those who have only just discovered the Situationists and filled with new insights, The Beach Beneath the Street rereads the group's history in the light of our contemporary experience of communications, architecture, and everyday life. The Situationists tried to escape the world of twentieth-century spectacle and failed in the attempt. Wark argues that they may still help us to escape the twenty-first century, while we still can ...
Situationism
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The "ruins" of the modern era are the landmarks of recent art’s turn toward site and situation, history and memory. The abiding interest of artists in ruination and decay has led in particular to the concept of the modern ruin - an ambiguous site of artistic and architectural modernism, personal and collective memories, and the cultural afterlife of eras such as those of(...)
Ruins
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The "ruins" of the modern era are the landmarks of recent art’s turn toward site and situation, history and memory. The abiding interest of artists in ruination and decay has led in particular to the concept of the modern ruin - an ambiguous site of artistic and architectural modernism, personal and collective memories, and the cultural afterlife of eras such as those of state communism and colonialism. Contemporary art’s explorations of the ruin can evoke on the one hand diverse experiences of nostalgia and on the other a ceaselessly renewed encounter with catastrophes of the recent past and apprehensions of the future. For every relic of a harmonious era or utopian dream stands another recalling industrial decline, environmental disaster, and the depredations of war. This anthology provides a comprehensive survey of the contemporary ruin in cultural discourse, aesthetics, and artistic practice. It examines the development of ruin aesthetics from the early modern era to the present; the ruin as a privileged emblem of modernity’s decline; the relic as a portal onto the political history of the recent past; the destruction and decline of cities and landscapes, with the emergence of "non-places" and “drosscape”; the symbolism of the entropic and decayed in critical environmentalism; and the confusing temporalities of the ruin in recent art - its involution of timescales and perspectives as it addresses not just the past but the future.
Art Theory
Dubuffet as architect
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As the champion of "Art Brut," the artist Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) is remembered foremost as a painter. Yet his creative instinct extended far beyond the parameters of paint. Later in his life, in 1965, his interest in architecture was sparked by a commission for two large-scale paintings for the University of Nanterre in Paris. Although he ultimately abandoned that(...)
Dubuffet as architect
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As the champion of "Art Brut," the artist Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) is remembered foremost as a painter. Yet his creative instinct extended far beyond the parameters of paint. Later in his life, in 1965, his interest in architecture was sparked by a commission for two large-scale paintings for the University of Nanterre in Paris. Although he ultimately abandoned that project, he became intrigued by the idea of producing large works in a more enduring format, capable of withstanding the elements. He experimented with different media in search of a solution, producing works in ceramic, concrete, and eventually plastic resin. The large size and relief surface of his 1967 Mur Bleu (Blue Wall) catapulted his painting into the third dimension in a big way. Many commissions followed, and today Dubuffet's massive architectural forms grace several cities across the globe. The artist did not intend for these structures to be mere supports for his paintings; he meant for them to give his work architectural space. His efforts in this area earned him the medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1982. These stunningly inventive and playful works stand as a testament to Dubuffet's desire to expand his practice through new materials and techniques—and even into new dimensions. This publication is the first published account of this little-known aspect of this artist's work.
Architecture Monographs
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Wallace’s work has played an important role in contemporary art over the past 50 years, from his early experiments with minimalism to his production of serial photographic tableaux and his subsequent juxtapositions of photography with monochrome painting. Consistently demonstrating conceptual rigour and aesthetic innovation, Wallace’s work can be considered a reflection(...)
Ian Wallace : at the intersection of painting and photography
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Wallace’s work has played an important role in contemporary art over the past 50 years, from his early experiments with minimalism to his production of serial photographic tableaux and his subsequent juxtapositions of photography with monochrome painting. Consistently demonstrating conceptual rigour and aesthetic innovation, Wallace’s work can be considered a reflection of his position as social historian, critic and educator, with influences as far reaching as film and literature, the role of the institution, architecture, urban development, gender relations, environmentalism and civil disobedience. Organised in clear, concise sections that mirror the intersecting motifs that are present throughout Wallace’s practice : Minimalism, Narrative, Text Works, The Street, The Museum and The Studio, At the Intersection of Painting and Photography features essays that chart Wallace’s career over the past five decades by Daina Augaitis, Jeff Derksen, Diedrich Diederichsen, Stan Douglas, Jessica Morgan, Christine Poggi, Kathleen Ritter and William Wood. The book also includes a selection of five essays by the artist himself and an annotated chronology by Grant Arnold, providing the perfect introduction to Wallace’s lasting career and marking his influence on contemporary art today. A comprehensive publication exploring the oeuvre of Canadian artist Ian Wallace, At the Intersection of Painting and Photography accompanies a major survey of Wallace's work at the Vancouver Art Gallery, opening in October 2012.
Photography monographs
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In ''Alien agency,'' Chris Salter tells three stories of art in the making. Salter examines three works in which the materials of art—the ''stuff of the world''—behave and perform in ways beyond the creator's intent, becoming unknown, surprising, alien. Studying these works—all three deeply embroiled in and enabled by science and technology—allows him to focus on practice(...)
Alien agency: Experimental encounters with art in the making
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In ''Alien agency,'' Chris Salter tells three stories of art in the making. Salter examines three works in which the materials of art—the ''stuff of the world''—behave and perform in ways beyond the creator's intent, becoming unknown, surprising, alien. Studying these works—all three deeply embroiled in and enabled by science and technology—allows him to focus on practice through the experiential and affective elements of creation. Drawing on extensive ethnographic observation and on his own experience as an artist, Salter investigates how researcher-creators organize the conditions for these experimental, performative assemblages—assemblages that sidestep dichotomies between subjects and objects, human and nonhuman, mind and body, knowing and experiencing. Salter reports on the sound artists Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger (O+A) and their efforts to capture and then project unnoticed urban sounds; tracks the multi-year project TEMA (Tissue Engineered Muscle Actuators) at the art research lab SymbioticA and its construction of a hybrid ''semi-living'' machine from specially grown mouse muscle cells; and describes a research-creation project (which he himself initiated) that uses light, vibration, sound, smell, and other sensory stimuli to enable audiences to experience other cultures' ''ways of sensing.'' Combining theory, diary, history, and ethnography, Salter also explores a broader question: How do new things emerge into the world and what do they do?
Critical Theory
Shelter cookbook
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DIY architect, publisher and pioneer of the self-build movement, Lloyd Kahn (born 1935) is a legend of the American counterculture. Influenced by Buckminster Fuller, in 1968 Kahn started building geodesic domes, and was an editor for Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog. In 1970 Kahn published his first book, Domebook One, followed the next year by the bestselling Domebook(...)
Architectural Theory
December 2025
Shelter cookbook
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DIY architect, publisher and pioneer of the self-build movement, Lloyd Kahn (born 1935) is a legend of the American counterculture. Influenced by Buckminster Fuller, in 1968 Kahn started building geodesic domes, and was an editor for Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog. In 1970 Kahn published his first book, Domebook One, followed the next year by the bestselling Domebook 2. In 1971, he bought land in Bolinas and built a geodesic dome (later to be featured in Life magazine), but he soon pursued other ways to build, resulting in the classic 1973 book "Shelter." Kahn published numerous self-build books over the ensuing decades, most recently "Tiny Homes on the Move" (2014). "Shelter Cookbook" is an exploration of Kahn’s now iconic publications by the Swiss architect Leopold Banchini (born 1981) - whose practice makes emphatic use of DIY architecture culture- and the German author and curator Lukas Feireiss (born 1977). It relates Kahn’s building philosophy to contemporary practices, recording Banchini and Feireiss’ personal search for unexpected relationships between historical documents and contemporary architectural projects. The large-format volume includes interviews, photospreads and archival material on self-building, and also includes a mycological investigation. "Shelter Cookbook" will inspire architects, designers, artists and counterculture cognoscenti alike with its positive vision of the possibilities and legacy of the self-build movement.
Architectural Theory
La Fábrica, Ricardo Bofill
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La Fábrica is one of Ricardo Bofill’s most iconoclastic creations. A former cement factory on the outskirts of Barcelona, serendipitously discovered while driving, the building became the centre of the late Catalan architect’s life, serving both as his home and as the headquarters of his practice since 1973. Here, Ricardo created a world of his own, exposing the concrete(...)
La Fábrica, Ricardo Bofill
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La Fábrica is one of Ricardo Bofill’s most iconoclastic creations. A former cement factory on the outskirts of Barcelona, serendipitously discovered while driving, the building became the centre of the late Catalan architect’s life, serving both as his home and as the headquarters of his practice since 1973. Here, Ricardo created a world of his own, exposing the concrete forms from beneath years of dust and smoke, encouraging nature back onto the structure, and fine-tuning the balance between its monumental scale and a delicate, human sensibility, in one of the earliest examples of the reuse of an industrial building—and it’s still changing. This new edition expands on the book originally published in 2018, featuring exclusive archival imagery courtesy of RBTA and an expansive selection of photographs taken by Nacho Alegre on his visits to La Fábrica over the last decade. He returned in November 2022 to document the building in its current state, closing the book with 32 pages of otherwise unseen images—a portrait of Ricardo’s most cherished work at a moment of profound transformation. With an introduction by Pablo Bofill, the book also features an interview with Ricardo himself by Barcelona-based architects Arquitectura-G and Guillermo López, an extended version of the conversation originally published in issue #11 of Apartamento magazine.
Architecture Monographs
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A landmark study of one of Canada’s most important architectural movements The West Coast Modern House chronicles the development of Vancouver residential architecture from the 1940’s through its continued influence on contemporary practice. The post-war era in Vancouver defined what has become popularly known as the “West Coast Style.” Through the work of seminal(...)
The West Coast modern house: Vancouver residential architecture
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A landmark study of one of Canada’s most important architectural movements The West Coast Modern House chronicles the development of Vancouver residential architecture from the 1940’s through its continued influence on contemporary practice. The post-war era in Vancouver defined what has become popularly known as the “West Coast Style.” Through the work of seminal figures such as BC Binning, Ned Pratt, Ron Thom, Fred Hollingsworth, Douglas Simpson, Barry Downs and Arthur Erickson, Vancouver architects won national awards and international recognition for their innovative house designs. This period is now seen as one of the most important in the city’s architectural history. Focusing on the years from 1940 to the mid-1960’s, The West Coast Modern House features over fifty examples of modern houses. The book is illustrated by photographs taken at the time by noted architectural photographers Graham Warrington, Selwyn Pullan and John Fulker. Essays by Greg Bellerby, Jana Tyner and Chris Macdonald elaborate on the history and innovative design strategies of the early period, through to an examination of the ways modern architectural concerns are being used by contemporary practitioners. The West Coast Modern House enables the reader to come to a greater understanding of the significance of modern residential architecture on the west coast and the persistence and relevance of its innovative design, material and construction strategies
Architecture in Canada
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297 pages : illustrations, maps, diagrams ; 27 cm
[New York, NY] : Random House, [1940], ©1940
Magic motorways / Norman Bel Geddes.
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297 pages : illustrations, maps, diagrams ; 27 cm
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[New York, NY] : Random House, [1940], ©1940
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''Room 606'' preserves the definitive masterwork of the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen, in microcosm. Room 606 is the only surviving interior of the SAS House; the combined luxury hotel and satellite air terminal that Jacobsen designed for the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and completed in 1960. The SAS House was the most complete commission of(...)
Room 606: The SAS House and the Work of Arne Jacobsen
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''Room 606'' preserves the definitive masterwork of the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen, in microcosm. Room 606 is the only surviving interior of the SAS House; the combined luxury hotel and satellite air terminal that Jacobsen designed for the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and completed in 1960. The SAS House was the most complete commission of Jacobsen’s career, in which he exercised the full range of his talents as a designer of furniture, lamps, textiles, gardens, tableware and graphics. As the fragment that encapsulates the basic ideas of the whole building, Room 606 provides a lens for reconstructing Jacobsen’s vanished masterwork in words and images. Richly illustrated with nearly 500 photographs and drawings, this book guides the reader on a virtual tour through the Royal Hotel and SAS Air Terminal as they stood in 1960. Along the way, the author reveals the connections between the SAS House and Jacobsen’s earlier buildings and objects. As a result, the tour that begins in Room 606 provides a general introduction to Jacobsen’s career. Based on his ongoing study of modern Nordic architecture, Michael Sheridan has developed ideas established in his 2003 cult classic- also titled ''Room 606'' and long out of print- to arrive at a fresh perspective on Arne Jacobsen’s life’s work. Using new text and images, Sheridan reveals the essence of Jacobsen’s creative practice, in which he employed technology to heighten the presence of nature.
Architecture Monographs