Study of 'ARCHIGRAM'

ARC 6989

MAAD

Wenhao Sun

08/05/2011

Introduction

When I was standing in front of the Villa Savoye, which is a classical building in the lastcentury, and watching it carefully, I thought this White House has totally become a delicateexhibits for everyone to visit and worship. Villa Savoye,as same as the Versailles and theNotre Dame de Paris, has a souvenir shop, which selling something about itself. Villa Savoyeseems to use less than a hundred years to make itself turn into a building with classicaltemperament, which is much more quick than those gothic architecture. This is probably thecharacteristic of our age. The development and blending of economy, technology, media, andother various elements accelerated our paces, architecture is also changing rapidly in acritical process. Georges pompidou art center has already become a life container: differentpeople with different background arriving, leaving or passing the square, entering or going outof the building, where their life and personality happened. It is difficult for us to describ itsstate because of that it changing all the time. The previous controversy with its form now hascompletely disappeared in human activities. Obviously, the building has no definitecompletion status, just like consumer goods from our impression: transition, expansion andcollapse.

Therefore, the evaluation criterion architecture has become quite different from that of before,more and more ways of study came out and various trends of thought and theory collided andgave us different shock and inspired. Need less to say, Archigram is one of the most uniquegroup is last 50 years. It rose in the early 1960s. they were based in London, and the mainstage for their activities was the magazine that shared their name, Archigram. Published from1961 to 1974, its avant-garde architectural designs and urban plans, combined with anexperimental editing style, ran counter to the main- stream architectural magazines of the era,a unique phenomenon. Although their bold, utopian proposals were rarely brought to fruitionat the time, the ideas they championed greatly expanded the vision of architecture, directly orindirectly influencing the architectural perspectives and spatial concepts that were to follow.

There is no doubt that now all areas of status, compared with last century from the 1960s to1970s, had undergone tremendous changes, all sorts of social problems and contradictionsforced architectural schools frantically diversification, architecture have no longer led by oneor two authority anymore, the worldwide architecture activities unprecedentedly impetuousand uncontrollable. Against this background, we can easily find that Archigram's numerousproposals still have strong forward-looking and guidance today. Archigram owned a hugenumber of proposals and concepts. I will try mt best to analyzing and exploring their designand thinking method in this essay, researching the significance and influence of their projects,and then contacting with this current society, talking about their roles and enlightenments forus.

Design methodology

"Drawing is to architects whit writing is to authors." In Archigram's active period, theypublished many theory articles in their magazines , in addition with plenty of pictures andposters, to express their unique architectural ideas and concepts. First of all, drawing can be

motive of design and theoretical. As we all know that building will develop in retorts andcriticism, so the new theory really need a powerful way to vent, as peter cook said, to insist,awaken, and reveal. Archigram often used some distinctive and exaggerated drawings,whichare filled with pop culture, to show to the world their thoughts, this method gave people agreat impact.

Plug - In city, 1964

For example, the Plug - In city was put forward by Peter cook in 1964, it combined withNottingham shopping viaduct and Montreal tower and then became such a maturing project.Peter cook used a clarify axonometric view from above to expressed this concept, at thesame time he spent several bright color to distinguish different components: insert cabin,sentence structure, equipment and traffic network and so on, we can see from the drawingthat the Plug-In City was hardly a familiar built form, and most of the viewers can easily getthe main idea from it. These similar advertising techniques, which are quite similar withadvertisement, are very attractive, also accord with contemporary pop art.

Sometimes, drawing may not tell us about the form and structure of urban or architecture, itoften becomes a powerful describing picture. In this situation, architecture intention could bea process, which can make people involved, it also contains the change of environment andcultural features, evenmore, different characters or culture with different background maycontact and interweave with each other very well in drawing by collage gimmick, and formednew environment, it always expresses architects outlook for the upcoming world, or forarchitecture a new definition of significance. Before Georges pompidou art center' s formknown by the whole world, the planning plaza, which occupy half areaof the site, hasdemonstrated that human life and culture has already considered by architects . In 1968, forexample, archigrampresented their project, Instant City, into several stages: 1. Before ic-asleeping town. 2.descent. 3.event. 4.highest intensity. 5.infiltration. 6.network takes over.

Instant City, 1968

Here, the begining and ending of architectural and urban design have already gone, it isdescribed as a process or some segments. Drawing can easily express such kind of changes.meanwhile, architectural form as a supporter was slackened, architects want to emphasizethat the activity, culture, entertainment, transportation and how these realistic elements workand connect with each other. MAD's drawing project - China town was emphasizing only avery aggressive architectural form, it is only a kind of static display, and we cannot see howthe city is running.

China town by MAD

Obviously, although archigram with plenty of illustrations and painting pounding the world, butmost of these solutions are basically paper buildings, which are difficult or cannot achieve,those fantastic scene, scale, structure and users always let people feel panic andincomprehensible. actually a lot of architects early works, such as Rem Koolhaas and Zahahadid, were all paper architecture. they mostly expressed architect's ideas and declaration,directly or indirectly affect whole world architectural design, at this moment, these designworks were not for actual build out but just a theoretical exploration method. However,however, these projects will be refused by investors or the government. When Ron Herronmentioned Walking City, he said: yet in visionary architecture such concepts as prefabbedapartments hoisted into position on a skeletal frame, to be plugged into prepared utilities, arestill considered impractical by most designers and builders. MAD once used a drawing of a

satirical metaphor the government's ambition which is in imminent danger in a skyscrapercompetition, and need less to say, he failed.

800M Tower by MAD

However, most of the time in practical projects, they willuse some more realistic language andtechnique to transform and response their declarations and theorys. Such as Peter cook'sproject of Gas Council house in 1961, which is almost a completely dogmatic modernarchitecture. The interesting thing is, John Hejduk, who was always using drawing forarchitecture research and education, owned a lot of admirer. after he died for one year, one ofhis design - walls house, was really built up in Groningen , but according to the people whohas visited this house, it is really a beautiful mistake, paper architecture should stay on paper.

Walls house by John Hejduk

Effect and significant

Archigram never avoid dependent technology and pop culture to carry on the design, theythink it will be the tendency of architecture development, it has great differences with then andnow many architectural schools. The original intention of Modern architecture no longer exists,modernism became a kind of luxury fashion, a fake classical skin, it is quite like the ClassicalRevival Movement. Modern form, material and function became a dogma. On the other hand,archigram was unexpectedly interested in all the human needs. Peter cook boldly announced

the coming of Consumption Period: almost without realising it, we have absorbed into ourlives the first generation of expendables...foodbags, paper tissues, polythene wrappers,ballpens, EPs...so many things about which we don't have to think. We throw them awayalways as soon as acquire them. It is a sophisticated cosumer society, rather than a stagnantsociety. Archigram define building as consumer products which can satisfy humanneeds,such as politics, economy, science, technology, art, movies, pop music, fashion and soon, and these things effect and control with each other. This forward-looking ideas gave us alot of inspiration and guidance.

It is probably of interest that whereas Archigram tried to make what is essentially an inertobject, a building, into something fluid the formal evolution of a contemporary building such asthe Guggenheim at Bilbao is an insert object.

- Mike Webb

The pace of change in the contemporary society is very rapid, many problems constantly beproduced, we have to response and conform to these changes as soon as possible.Archigram always concentrated on a series of design which have ability to comply with thesechanges, and try to predict possible problems in the future. In their proposals, city andbuilding were not passive objects, they have self-development, mobile or updated ability. InRon Herron's project - Walking City, he proposed building massive mobile robotic structures,with their own intelligence, that could freely roam the world, moving to wherever theirresources or manufacturing abilities were needed. Various walking cities could interconnectwith each other to form larger 'walking metropolises' when needed, and then disperse whentheir concentrated power was no longer necessary. Individual buildings or structures couldalso be mobile, moving wherever their owner wanted or needs dictated.

Walking City, 1964

There is no doubt that Non-linear building is very popular nowadays, many buildings are usinga new and dynamic architecture vocabulary to decorate themselves, what is more, so manyarchitectural institutes using the latest software and construction technology to createNon-linear form for coping with many changing contradiction of architecture such as the

daylighting, ventilating, heating and so on. but these buildings will remain inactive when finish,their contribution is mainly subverting the traditional architectural form, becoming landmarks,satisfying investors' business requirements, etc. Archigram advocated use change to copewith change decades ago, they did not care about to overturn all the frames, send their voicesin a new political, cultural, management environment.

Arata isozaki mentioned that Japan's Metabolism Group, in contrast to Archigram, lacked theperspective on the necessity of discovering counter-cultural values. As a result. It made theeasy identification with the ideas of managerial planning in the rapidly expanding cityeconomy, and ultinately found it self being manipulated in the interests of the government'smeretricious policies. We still remember that The Nakagin Capsule Tower designed by KishoKurokawa never expected replacement and renewal since it built up, and in his old age, inorder to meet the existing system and various new demands, this building, which is hismasterwork, also faced to be demolished. Jean Nouvel had spent a lot of money in the Arabculture center's south facade, trying to use a series of aperture - like equipments for improvingthe architecture daylighting, it seems more like archigram's idea , but because of the technicallimitation, management and budget problems, It is no longer work well.

Institut du Monde Arabe by Jean Nouvel

Walking city walking in the human world indomitably, their free and nomadic feature make itbeyond traditional urban settlements, which also cross the inherent boundary of city, andbecome a free and democratic social unit. This huge fantasy apparently based on unlimitedenergy consumption assumption, but the energy crisis and environmental problems untilrecently expose that the unlimited energy consumption based technology civilization isunsustainable: 'automatic' makes labour, material, capital and information of society cancirculate efficiently by automotive, aviation, communication or web technology. however whenthe motor circulationon overstep the natural circulationon such as water, oxygen, and carbon,and the energy production and environmental self-purification capability, 'automatic' systemwill fail because of environmental degradation and underpower, and then release the hiddenhazard in technology totally. Walking city, just like the giant in Greek mythology who absorbenergy from our earth, must be based on the material and energy foundation which the earthcan provide. archigram have led architecture into a technology based time. nowadays, manydesign requirements of environmental and sustainable also need the support of the strongtechnology power, it is hard to say whether the situation produce some more problems.Maybe, on the other side of their technological supremacy, it was telling us that we should usea new round of thinking and eye to carefully examining and dreaming about our future, whenwe have to consider more about energy and environment, and other such problems,architectural development motive also should be changed accordingly.

Archigram use various drawing attract our eyes on kinetic potential. In their scheme, the hugeurban can deformation, walking, fly, or update and architecture has become the industrial orconsumer goods completely. They explored their thought in these ways because of thebackground which lead by western philosophy. conceited people get some benefit fromdevelopt technology and material thing,but they also lost some original skills and putthemselves on a wrong status in the nature, it is absolutely a spiritual deterioration.

Today, human society have entered a self-examination stage from a high-speed developmentstage,the eastern philosophy which emphasizing the natural point seems to receive moreattention. In traditional Chinese natural point, People affiliated with everything in an equalstatus of the nature, and the building should also be a modest attitude thing, which is attachedto human. This point of view seems to be more sustainable. Japan contemporary artistSusumu Shingu use a very simple art equipment to capture the wind, which stimulate us tofeel the subtle change of nature. In this view, the advantage of technology is no longer themain topic. Sometimes designers may try to arouse people's pristine thinking with a kind of'inconvenient' design. The roll toilet paper, designed by a Japanese architect - SHIGERUBAN,have a square column core, not a cylinder core, when we use it, we may feel that it isreally inconvenient, but the designer's 'environmental protection concept' has been conveyedvery well.

Toilet paper by SHIGERU BAN

Bibliography

Peter Cook, DrawingDrawingDrawingDrawing, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2008

Taipei Fine Arts Museum ARCHIGRAM ARCHIVES, AAAAGuideGuideGuideGuide totototo ArchigramArchigramArchigramArchigram, Taiwan: Gardencity Publishing Ltd, 2003

Simon Sadler, Archigram:Archigram:Archigram:Archigram: architecturearchitecturearchitecturearchitecture withoutwithoutwithoutwithout architecturearchitecturearchitecturearchitecture, USA: MIT Press, 2005

Peter Cook, ArchigramArchigramArchigramArchigram, USA: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999

Kenyahara, DesignDesignDesignDesign ofofofof designdesigndesigndesign, China: Shandong people Press, 2006

Susumu Shingu,WindWindWindWind TravelerTravelerTravelerTraveler, Japan: Fuso Publishing Inc, 2001

MAD, http://www.i-mad.comhttp://www.i-mad.comhttp://www.i-mad.comhttp://www.i-mad.com