I was just watching a skateboard documentary, and it got me to thinking that I've been involved in some activities that are slightly... well.... I've probably scared your parents enough for them to have called the police on me. (I worry a little a bit about how my personality might translate into a 'professional' career.)
Who are the outlaws of architecture? I mean the people who do things their own way, or not at all - for better or worse. Gaudi would have been such a person in the past, for example.
I am aching for something to blow my mind. I've had a week off school, (and I'm sick with bronchitis) so I haven't had much energy to do much of anything and I need a pick-me-up!
yup, need a definition. Everyone must conform to the real world, to some degree. Unless you are very wealthy, you'll be doing work for someone (a boss, a client, a competition brief) and you have to conform to general guidelines.
Crazy designs and the avant garde still have to meet code requirements, budget requirements, etc.
mm is right, though. You need to define 'outlaws'.
Gaudí wasn't an outlaw, Gaudí was above the law... which is a quite different thing.
Actually, more than above, he was beyond the law... far, far away, both architecturally and socially, especially in the 1920s.
And, slantix, like you today he used to be very sick when he was a boy, not bronchitis but rheumatic problems which didn't let him go around playing with other kids.. that marked the first stage for becoming the true maverick of Modernisme architecture.. being a pioneer is always a very outlawish sort of position
I like the idea that there are some people out there who are doing really experimental things for no other reason than to do them (or out of necessity). And although they were part of a larger body of work, Isler's ice structures are striking to me in that they were done in his backyard, and sort of outside of the mainstream stuff going on around him.
I don't know what I was asking exactly (I think it was near 4am when I posted). I guess it's sort of a weird question - if the person I'm asking for is not a part of the establishment OR in academia, probably nobody knows about them, anyway.
I think folk artists are the closest thing I can think of.
i am thinking of mark west and his crew. i think he was always doing his own mildly crazy thing and then the world caught up to him so now he is almost the establishment, but there was a time when it was just him trying things out...i would say unno, one of the guys coming to that fabric formwork conference mark organised is also outlaw...he is into self-build as well as design build, so he teaches people to make crazy architecture on their own...very cool stuff som of it..
also, maybe the open university at valparaiso. they have a very anachronistic system for educating their architects there. super cool, very personal and slightly incomprehensible...is that outlaw? it is at least not columbia or aa school, but in a good way, and just as interesting...ask mark or nada to show pictures sometime...they got all that stuff ready and they love it.
I know a bit about the Open City thing through Mark and Nada (she's my studio instructor this year).... after reading a bit about the place, I see that quite a few exercises we've done this year come pretty directly from Valparaiso. Exercises I've enjoyed for the most part, actually (except that week where we had to stand outside for hours at a time - at night - in January. I think that one works better in Chile!)
dammson, when you post those pics.... hmmm..... I think only an architect or artist could argue that there's some sort of beauty there (but of course that denies the suffering going on simultaneously.)
I'm going to start looking more at the architecture of the slums. Maybe that'll give me some inspiration. (Maybe I'll drive up to the north end and hopefully not get shot!)
hah, man i used to WORK in the north end (as as sign painter, back in the dark ages). was pretty much like the place i grew up so didn't mind it...but still, be careful...;-)
i just read NY times article on technology and architecture show now on at MOMA. interesting fringe-y things on display. wish i could go. anyway does that kind of work count i wonder? have we come to a place where both the hippies and the geeks can be outlaws of architecture?
funny about the cold nights outside. in undergrad we had to make a shelter that could be heated in winnipeg winter with just a candle, theoretically to learn about the building envelope and insulation...i can't remember what we actually built but recall something about walls made of snow and some serious chilly times. but we didn't die, so i guess we learned something...
Santiago Cirugeda is probably the truest form of outlaw architect. He chooses to build projects in gray zones of building codes and regulations that form a subversive part of the urban landscape.
My nomination for both outlaw and outsider goes out to Hundertwasser.
At the university library in Delft the book Hundertwasser - architecture can be found in the arts section.
Vive la revolution! This thread rocks so hard. Lots of interesting posts.
Some other thoughts - the utopians / visionaries of the 60s and 70s are good examples of outlaws, both in terms of society and the architectural 'laws' of the time.
archigram:
superstudio:
And of course bucky:
These days it's harder to identify outlaws - seems most anything goes. Hard to rebel against a bunch of rebellions. Still there is establishment that continues to be broken down - the music industry comes to mind.
It does make me think of one of my hero's though - Lucien Kroll. The story I've heard is that he gets fired from many of his jobs because he takes power out of the hands of the lawmen (politicians, developers, etc) and puts it in the hands of the people:
"The first enterprise I was invited to manage in France was Vignes Blanches (Illus. 1) 130 council houses in Cergy-Pontoise. I had asked the prospective residents to do drawings themselves of where they would like to live, and I would merely verify the constructibility of the designs, copy them faithfully (removing neither contradictions nor stylistic awkwardness, and retaining diversity), and get them built. This simple and fresh proposal nevertheless invoked violent opposition - hate! - on the part of both fellow architects and developers who cling on to the last vestige of power to remain in charge. For example, a photographic display, which I put up in the French Architectural Institute, was retrieved covered in abuse. Evidently, I had chosen an impossible path: persuading 'the enemy, through temptation 'by the book' to follow me, and then using every means possible to counteract established practice in reaching as quickly as possible the point of no return." - Kroll
I agree - it's hard to rebel against something that's hard to define, and seemingly everything is acceptable today. There's a lot of diversity in certain areas of design (much less so in others).
contemporary outlaws of architecture
I was just watching a skateboard documentary, and it got me to thinking that I've been involved in some activities that are slightly... well.... I've probably scared your parents enough for them to have called the police on me. (I worry a little a bit about how my personality might translate into a 'professional' career.)
Who are the outlaws of architecture? I mean the people who do things their own way, or not at all - for better or worse. Gaudi would have been such a person in the past, for example.
I am aching for something to blow my mind. I've had a week off school, (and I'm sick with bronchitis) so I haven't had much energy to do much of anything and I need a pick-me-up!
Popeye You ! Kill The Brick !
yup, need a definition. Everyone must conform to the real world, to some degree. Unless you are very wealthy, you'll be doing work for someone (a boss, a client, a competition brief) and you have to conform to general guidelines.
Crazy designs and the avant garde still have to meet code requirements, budget requirements, etc.
mm is right, though. You need to define 'outlaws'.
Michael Reynolds..as non conformist as they come.
to live outside the law you must be honest
Become a spatial outlaw
It's not about being outsider, not about laws it's about life and honesty.
^^spoken by the true outlaw himself^^
Gaudí wasn't an outlaw, Gaudí was above the law... which is a quite different thing.
Actually, more than above, he was beyond the law... far, far away, both architecturally and socially, especially in the 1920s.
And, slantix, like you today he used to be very sick when he was a boy, not bronchitis but rheumatic problems which didn't let him go around playing with other kids.. that marked the first stage for becoming the true maverick of Modernisme architecture.. being a pioneer is always a very outlawish sort of position
Why didn't I think of Per???
I like the idea that there are some people out there who are doing really experimental things for no other reason than to do them (or out of necessity). And although they were part of a larger body of work, Isler's ice structures are striking to me in that they were done in his backyard, and sort of outside of the mainstream stuff going on around him.
I don't know what I was asking exactly (I think it was near 4am when I posted). I guess it's sort of a weird question - if the person I'm asking for is not a part of the establishment OR in academia, probably nobody knows about them, anyway.
I think folk artists are the closest thing I can think of.
hmmm...maybe you have an outlaw or two at uofm
i am thinking of mark west and his crew. i think he was always doing his own mildly crazy thing and then the world caught up to him so now he is almost the establishment, but there was a time when it was just him trying things out...i would say unno, one of the guys coming to that fabric formwork conference mark organised is also outlaw...he is into self-build as well as design build, so he teaches people to make crazy architecture on their own...very cool stuff som of it..
also, maybe the open university at valparaiso. they have a very anachronistic system for educating their architects there. super cool, very personal and slightly incomprehensible...is that outlaw? it is at least not columbia or aa school, but in a good way, and just as interesting...ask mark or nada to show pictures sometime...they got all that stuff ready and they love it.
if you are going to say Reynolds, then you must mention Soleri
to live outside the law you must be HoNeSt!
skid row, los scandalous
jump..... I think you're right!
I know a bit about the Open City thing through Mark and Nada (she's my studio instructor this year).... after reading a bit about the place, I see that quite a few exercises we've done this year come pretty directly from Valparaiso. Exercises I've enjoyed for the most part, actually (except that week where we had to stand outside for hours at a time - at night - in January. I think that one works better in Chile!)
dammson, when you post those pics.... hmmm..... I think only an architect or artist could argue that there's some sort of beauty there (but of course that denies the suffering going on simultaneously.)
I'm going to start looking more at the architecture of the slums. Maybe that'll give me some inspiration. (Maybe I'll drive up to the north end and hopefully not get shot!)
hah, man i used to WORK in the north end (as as sign painter, back in the dark ages). was pretty much like the place i grew up so didn't mind it...but still, be careful...;-)
i just read NY times article on technology and architecture show now on at MOMA. interesting fringe-y things on display. wish i could go. anyway does that kind of work count i wonder? have we come to a place where both the hippies and the geeks can be outlaws of architecture?
funny about the cold nights outside. in undergrad we had to make a shelter that could be heated in winnipeg winter with just a candle, theoretically to learn about the building envelope and insulation...i can't remember what we actually built but recall something about walls made of snow and some serious chilly times. but we didn't die, so i guess we learned something...
builders of homearama houses are the outlaws of architecture. duh.
LOL (with tears in my eyes because it's true)!!
Mike Reynold IS an architectural outlaw. The State of New Mexico pulled his license around 2001.
Santiago Cirugeda is probably the truest form of outlaw architect. He chooses to build projects in gray zones of building codes and regulations that form a subversive part of the urban landscape.
This became an awesome thread..
What Archinect is good at.
well, since Hejduk is in both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Five it'd be like asking who'd win a fight between Ditka and Da Bears...right?
Lebbeus Woods wrote about something similar on his blog: outsider-architecture
My nomination for both outlaw and outsider goes out to Hundertwasser.
At the university library in Delft the book Hundertwasser - architecture can be found in the arts section.
I think I had a Lebbeus dream two nights ago. Hopefully it comes back to me.
Vive la revolution! This thread rocks so hard. Lots of interesting posts.
Some other thoughts - the utopians / visionaries of the 60s and 70s are good examples of outlaws, both in terms of society and the architectural 'laws' of the time.
archigram:
superstudio:
And of course bucky:
These days it's harder to identify outlaws - seems most anything goes. Hard to rebel against a bunch of rebellions. Still there is establishment that continues to be broken down - the music industry comes to mind.
It does make me think of one of my hero's though - Lucien Kroll. The story I've heard is that he gets fired from many of his jobs because he takes power out of the hands of the lawmen (politicians, developers, etc) and puts it in the hands of the people:
"The first enterprise I was invited to manage in France was Vignes Blanches (Illus. 1) 130 council houses in Cergy-Pontoise. I had asked the prospective residents to do drawings themselves of where they would like to live, and I would merely verify the constructibility of the designs, copy them faithfully (removing neither contradictions nor stylistic awkwardness, and retaining diversity), and get them built. This simple and fresh proposal nevertheless invoked violent opposition - hate! - on the part of both fellow architects and developers who cling on to the last vestige of power to remain in charge. For example, a photographic display, which I put up in the French Architectural Institute, was retrieved covered in abuse. Evidently, I had chosen an impossible path: persuading 'the enemy, through temptation 'by the book' to follow me, and then using every means possible to counteract established practice in reaching as quickly as possible the point of no return." - Kroll
I love that last story about Kroll, thanks.
I agree - it's hard to rebel against something that's hard to define, and seemingly everything is acceptable today. There's a lot of diversity in certain areas of design (much less so in others).
"To realy appreciate architecture, you may even need to commit a murder"
KILL THE BRICK !!!
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