Multiform - Architecture in an Age of Transition

This issue of AD posits that this re-examination and redeployment of postmodernist approaches is the architectural attempt to reflect, grapple with and make sense of the current political and economic situation. The term 'ad hoc' is used to describe a resistance to stylistic conformity and predictability that embraces individuality, and which conceives architecture in a broader cultural space. As a mode of practice marked by stylistic divergence, the links, shared interest and continuities that exist among a range of architects are often overlooked. It will explore and provide a critical analysis of the design tactics and the strategies that inform them, and will investigate some key questions: What is it that has led architects to adopt tactics that have long been vilified within architectural culture? What connections exist between our present moment and the postmodern one, architecturally and in terms of the broader political shifts, in particular our present moment's return of the grand narrative - whether of populist nationalism, identity or climate change? What do these tactics represent, how do they reflect this situation, and what do they offer in articulating a position for architects and the public role of their profession?
 
This issue brings together a range of architects and critical voices to reflect on these questions and offer some answers. Essays by historians and critics situate practice in relation to postmodernism and its legacies. Following these will be essays by architects situating their work in relation to the ideas posited by the thematic introduction, and the broader contexts in which it operates and proceeds. The issue will be completed by interviews with early career architects, reflecting on their work thus far, its influences, pressures and future directions.

List of contents

About the Guest-Editors 05
Owen Hopkins
Erin McKellar
 
Introduction What is Multiform? 06
Owen Hopkins
 
Aiming for Personality An Exercise of Continuous Improvisation 12
Lera Samovich
 
PoMo, Collage and Citation Notes Towards an Etiology of Chunkiness 18
Mario Carpo
 
Nothing New Referencing, Remixing and Sampling 26
Graham Burn, James Crawford and Alexander Turner
 
Marni Sweaters and Rugby Shirts Colour Blocking in Architecture 32
Jennifer Bonner
 
More With Less Responding to Austerity 40
Catrina Stewart and Hugh McEwen
 
The Birth and Rebirth of a Movement Charles Jencks's Postmodern Odyssey in 2 48
Stephen Parnell
 
Pluralism and the Urban Landscape Towards a Strategic Eclecticism 56
Dirk Somers
 
#Architecturez Rackz, Shackz and the Opportunities In Between 64
Mat Barnes
 
Exploring, Building, Completing Context and Craft 70
Amin Taha
 
Screen's Domesticity From the Postmodern House to Our House 76
Léa-Catherine Szacka
 
Taking Joy Seriously An Interview with Artist and Designer Camille Walala 84
Owen Hopkins
 
Perceiving Postmodernism Learning from London's Marshlands 92
David Kohn
 
Working in Public Political and Design Inheritances in the Work of DK-CM 100
David Knight and Cristina Monteiro
 
The Joy of Architecture Evoking Emotions Through Building 108
Geoff Shearcroft
 
Remembering in Colour In Conversation with Artist / Designer Yinka Ilori 118
Erin McKellar
 
From Another Perspective Iconic Iconoclasm: David Connor 128
Neil Spiller
 
Contributors 134

Summary

This issue of AD posits that this re-examination and redeployment of postmodernist approaches is the architectural attempt to reflect, grapple with and make sense of the current political and economic situation. The term 'ad hoc' is used to describe a resistance to stylistic conformity and predictability that embraces individuality, and which conceives architecture in a broader cultural space. As a mode of practice marked by stylistic divergence, the links, shared interest and continuities that exist among a range of architects are often overlooked. It will explore and provide a critical analysis of the design tactics and the strategies that inform them, and will investigate some key questions: What is it that has led architects to adopt tactics that have long been vilified within architectural culture? What connections exist between our present moment and the postmodern one, architecturally and in terms of the broader political shifts, in particular our present moment's return of the grand narrative - whether of populist nationalism, identity or climate change? What do these tactics represent, how do they reflect this situation, and what do they offer in articulating a position for architects and the public role of their profession?

This issue brings together a range of architects and critical voices to reflect on these questions and offer some answers. Essays by historians and critics situate practice in relation to postmodernism and its legacies. Following these will be essays by architects situating their work in relation to the ideas posited by the thematic introduction, and the broader contexts in which it operates and proceeds. The issue will be completed by interviews with early career architects, reflecting on their work thus far, its influences, pressures and future directions.

Product details

• Authors: O Hopkins, Owen Hopkins, Erin McKellar
• Assisted by: Owe Hopkins (Editor), Owen Hopkins (Editor), MCKELLAR (Editor), McKellar (Editor), Erin McKellar (Editor)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.02.2021
• EAN: 9781119717669
• ISBN: 978-1-119-71766-9
• No. of pages: 136
• Series: Architectural Design
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; Architektur, Architecture, Bauentwurf, Architectural History & Styles, Architektur- u. Stilgeschichte, Building Design