The boring domestic origins of 1980s hardcore music

2015-08-26T17:45:00-04:00

Hardcore Architecture is a project by Chicago artist Marc Fischer exploring the relationship between domestic spaces, urban and suburban neighborhoods, and underground hardcore and punk bands of the 1980s. [...] The results of his media archaelogy are a funny, ironic and intriguing snapshot of American vernacular architecture in the 1980s. It's also a fascinating alternative vision of the places where underground culture has been created and nurtured

"Hardcore Architecture" (which we also posted on back in May) is now available as a limited-edition booklet, featuring 68 Google Street View snapshots of homes that housed punk and hardcore bands in 1980s. Besides their shared genre-base, these homes all have one thing in common: they are pretty boring. Or to be more charitable, perfect examples of "American vernacular architecture in the 1980s".

In this MinnPost piece, Chicago-based artist and creator of "Hardcore Architecture" Marc Fischer spills some details behind the homes. Here's some select bits from his interview:

"...there are definitely sorts of trends in the building styles. If you’re looking at a gigantic, long brick building in Syracuse, New York, in all likelihood it’s student housing for Syracuse University if it’s not a house. And certainly the homes in Chicago that I found all look pretty normal variations on Chicago types of homes – like brick two-flat buildings. Or in New York, of course, it’s predictably either rea...

Hardcore Architecture: the homes that produced ’80s punk bands

2015-05-13T19:24:00-04:00

Of all the variants of punk rock, hardcore always gave the impression of having the most blue collar flavor to its anti-authoritarian vibes. Pulled from the 1982-1989 issues of the infamous punk fanzine Maximum Rocknroll, Hardcore Architecture examines how true that impression is. Cross-referencing the addresses of mostly long-extinct hardcore and punk bands with modern Google Street View [...] snapshot of the homes, neighborhoods, and early apartments of these struggling bands.

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The boring domestic origins of 1980s hardcore music

Hardcore Architecture: the homes that produced ’80s punk bands