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Looking for reading suggestions

All,

Hoping you can point me to books/essays which explore links between participatory-design/performance and political and ecological engagement in architecture and urbanism

Specifically within context of counter/sub-cultural movements of 1960s/70s.

Thinking of groups like Ant Farm, SuperStudio (and although not specifically architects) Drop City artists' commune, et al.

Closest i could seem to find was some works by Simon Sadler out of UC Davis...

 
Sep 4, 14 11:57 am

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Non Sequitur

Nam, perhaps you may find this interesting:

Mathews, Stanley:  From Agit-Prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price

http://books.google.ca/books/about/From_Agit_prop_to_Free_Space.html?id=1xsLRQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Sep 4, 14 1:36 pm  · 
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Bukmeister fuller

Sep 4, 14 1:56 pm  · 
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thanks guys...

Sep 4, 14 2:01 pm  · 
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Featured Comment
boy in a well

Felicity Scott's book, what is it? Arch or techno-utopia? spends a chunk of time on ant farm.

Sep 4, 14 4:10 pm  · 
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toasteroven

design for ecological democracy - hester

Sep 4, 14 4:14 pm  · 
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toasteroven

oops - misread your request - good book, anyway...

Sep 4, 14 5:05 pm  · 
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Some links re:  groups like Ant Farm, SuperStudio (and although not specifically architects referenced within architecture discourse a bit) and the Drop City artists' commune.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17541320902909623#.VAh4XvmwJrU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_Farm_(group)

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1531-314X.2006.00029.x#.VAiK2fmwJrU

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=9z_zrQLuY3kC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=avant+garde+architecture+of+1960s+1970s+experience&source=bl&ots=5mTa53EGgw&sig=2du8b2jWskQ4FGfVRHQOQ1fYyBY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_XgIVKKHJpLoggTb84DwBA&ved=0CB0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=avant%20garde%20architecture%20of%201960s%201970s%20experience&f=false

One particular thing that caught my eye from above google books link is the idea that architecture of this period was influenced by "Whole Earth Worry" (a la Stewart Brand and Whole Earth catalog) which led to an interest in autonomy from the grid as a result of a new ecological consciousness.

 

The one architect/academic i found who has focused on this topic quite a bit is Simon Sadler out of UC Davis...

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1531-314X.2008.00194.x/full

http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/profiles/2011/06/simon-sadler.html

 

For a more contemporary look at these ideas applied to Burning Man, Coachella etc... see

http://www.ruthconnell.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Connell-Temporary-Architecture-at-Music-Festivals.pdf

Sep 10, 14 10:02 am  · 
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A related post from News section re: the Walker Art Centers new exhibit 'Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia'

Nov 11, 15 11:36 pm  · 
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Zaina

 maybe...Spontaneous Shelter: International Perspectives and Prospects by Carl Patton

Nov 12, 15 10:00 am  · 
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In the spirit of keeping this thread up to date, as a resource, worth
noting one of the 2019 Graham Foundation awardees is a book 'Burnt Offerings: Ant Farm and the Making of an Image' which promises to delve

"into car culture, image proliferation, radical architectural practice, and a close exegesis of Media Burn’s numerous
texts, speeches, and artifacts
"

Jun 2, 19 11:15 pm  · 
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Just came across a 2015 article by Greg Castillo 'Hippie Modernism' over at Places, that touches on many of the broader themes, published in coordination with the Walker Art Center exhibition.

Aug 11, 19 8:39 pm  · 
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Although I am familiar with the various American answers/examples of this sort of work, recently learned about a British example via a review of a new book on the "radical history" of Street Farm over at The Nature of Cities.

Wherein we read

"Street Farm were the antidote to Archigram, nascent technocrats brewing at the same time in the same school of architecture, who purveyed images of cities as slick, mechanical devices, even walking machines. In an attempt to break down the traditional walls of alienation associated with architecture, Street Farm used multi-media in their presentations at a time when that meant slide projectors and tape recorders. Adopting the roles of entertainers and jesters, they created ragged montage-rich movies and their magazines made extensive use of collage—all to convey the message that architecture and cities could be reclaimed by people through revolutionary direct action, that alienation could be overcome."

Nov 3, 19 9:18 am  · 
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Related; 2020 Graham Foundation grantee 'Design Radicals: Spaces of Bay Area Counterculture' which will document "how, 50 years ago, the synergies of urban adjacency, outlaw style, and shared tactics of spatial occupation propelled multiple emancipatory movements toward their transformative goals."

Aug 7, 20 1:11 am  · 
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