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The Generic Sublime

The Generic Sublime

Organizational Models for Global Architecture Ciro Najle Skyscraper collectives, tower agglomerations, high-rise housing, mixed-use developments, luxury condominiums, airport hubs, suburban office enclaves, industrial and technology parks, hotel complexes and resorts, conference and financial centers, entertainment venues, gated communities, theme parks, branded cities, new central districts, and satellite cities: extra-large architectural typologies dominate the contemporary built environment worldwide. Despite the ubiquity of these building forms, their development has been largely restricted by a reliance on outmoded traditions of urbanism and the strict separation of disciplinary domains within current architectural practice. The Generic Sublime investigates how the modern concept of the generic––once assumed to achieve universality by means of organizational homogeneity, formal neutrality, programmatic blankness, lack of identity, and insipidness of character––holds the potential to become its very opposite: the singular, the irreducible, and the extraordinary. Directing the work of students of the departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Ciro Najle examines the organizational protocols of building collectives and develops architectural models for encompassing the unprecedented potential of the extra-extra-large. The book includes essays by Ciro Najle, Mohsen Mostafavi, Iñaki Abalos, Charles Waldheim, George L. Legendre, David Salomon, Paul Andersen, Lluís Ortega, Leire Asensio Villoria, David Mah, Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa, Alberto Delorenzini, Marcia Krygier, Julián Varas, Erika Naginski, Hiromi Hosoya, Farshid Moussavi, and Anna Font. EBOOK EDITION
The Empty Room + 100 Rooms

The Empty Room + 100 Rooms

Fragmented Thoughts on Space RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi) Part aphorism and part manifesto, this book by Canadian architect Reza Aliabadi (RZLBD) references his ideas and thoughts about space. He suggests 'the empty room' as the very essence of architecture, and 'the spatial experience' as its highest mandate. Reza revisits architecture —not as the walls that enclose the space— but rather the space in-between the walls. What he calls an "anti-architecture" of invisible voids. Today architecture has fallen short as a discipline and has instead converted into an industry, part of the commercial establishment. Accordingly it has given up its capacity to offer contributions and has been reduced to being a service. It has become all about a form-making exercise and dressing it up with a fashionable skin. What matters most, is the look of it, and the contest to keep that look relevant in the media— as long as possible. It submits itself to a sick competition for visibility. The more awes it creates, the more viral it becomes. What used to be an autonomous discipline and a source of inspiration, stimulation, and motivation now has become the subject of entertainment, speculation, and show business. Now, it is necessary or rather urgent to pause, take a moment, go inward, search for the essentials, and hope to rediscover a principle which is at once basic and timeless. Where to begin then! Well, as Kahn always said: "Architecture comes from the making of a room". This book starts with this, the very desire to dwell in a space in its most basic form— a room. Through short passages and aphorisms, this text revisits space as the only protagonist, the very foundation, and the sole essence of architecture. It affects your perception of space, it makes you to look at architecture differently —most likely to see the invisible. Today architecture has turned into a mere media device at the service of external forces. What used to be an autonomous discipline and a source of inspiration, stimulation, and motivation, now has become the subject of entertainment, speculation, and show business. It has given up its capacity to be a discipline and instead converted to be an industry, a part of commercial establishment. It is my hope that reading through these pages affects the way you perceive the space and hopefully invites you to look at architecture differently —most likely to see the invisible. _RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi) Many Untold Parables of The Empty Room RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi) The Empty Room, in the absence of any visual materials, was a written manifesto composed of RZLBD’s poems and collection of quotes intended to portray the room and the emptiness as the essence of architecture. Now, 100 Rooms complements our own blurry images of the empty room with a visual guide. Each spread consists of a plan and a physical model of a room, which is an excavation of the geometry and order inherent within the square. It holds no design intention — no scale or function — but simply one of infinite possibilities that emerge from a square. This framework suggests that the formal expression of a room comes from within. With these visual references, one can begin to imagine many approximations to the empty room. A line on paper is always less, as Kahn says, but through these measurable means, the immeasurable idea of the empty room will be formed in one’s mind.
Intimate Spaces

Intimate Spaces

Exploring Adaptive Living Spaces in a Pandemic Era Mladen Jadrić Jadrić examines the evolving concept of family in contemporary society, emphasizing that it extends beyond traditional nuclear units to encompass broader communities such as neighborhoods, co-living arrangements, and working groups. These diverse forms of "family" have increasingly adopted the characteristics of closely-knit, mutually supportive social groups, providing solace and resilience during challenging times. Through the lens of three distinct projects, Jadrić illustrates the diverse rhythms of life experienced by different families navigating the balance between privacy and public engagement. Each project represents a unique interpretation of adaptive living spaces, offering a spectrum of possibilities for self-determination and fulfillment. "Intimate Spaces" serves as a thought-provoking resource for architects, urban planners, policymakers, and anyone interested in reimagining the way we live in an ever-changing world. It offers insights into the profound impact of the built environment on our daily lives and emphasizes the potential of innovative design solutions to enhance our collective resilience and quality of life. Projects: GREEN HOUSE AUSTIN / TEXAS / USA 2013 HAUS GRILL-REICHENAUER/ PAYERBACH / AUT 2020 AT HOME IN THE ALPS  / RAMSAU / AUT / 2022 With Contributions of Alexander Peer  
100 Rooms

100 Rooms

Many Untold Parables of The Empty Room RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi) The Empty Room, in the absence of any visual materials, was a written manifesto composed of RZLBD’s poems and collection of quotes intended to portray the room and the emptiness as the essence of architecture. Now, 100 Rooms complements our own blurry images of the empty room with a visual guide. Each spread consists of a plan and a physical model of a room, which is an excavation of the geometry and order inherent within the square. It holds no design intention — no scale or function — but simply one of infinite possibilities that emerge from a square. This framework suggests that the formal expression of a room comes from within. With these visual references, one can begin to imagine many approximations to the empty room. A line on paper is always less, as Kahn says, but through these measurable means, the immeasurable idea of the empty room will be formed in one’s mind.
AA Files 79

AA Files 79

AA Files is the Architectural Association's (AA) journal of record. Launched in 1981 by the AA's then chairman Alvin Boyarsky, the journal appears twice a year and is sent out to members of the Architectural Association and individual subscribers, and is distributed to a global network of bookshops. Currently under the editorship of Maria Shéhérazade Giudici, AA Files looks to promote original and engaging writing on architecture. It does this by drawing both on the AA’s own academic research, public programme, exhibitions and events, as well as by a rich and eclectic mix of architectural scholarship from all over the world.  With Contributions of Pier Vittorio Aureli, Brendon Carlin, Jingru (Cyan) Cheng, Thomas Daniell, Adam Kaasa, Marson Korbi, Michelle Millar Fisher, Gabrielle Printz, Ines Weizman, Amber Winick
Histories Of Ecological Design

Histories of Ecological Design

An Unfinished Cyclopedia Lydia Kallipoliti The term ecological design was coined in a 1996 book by Sim van der Ryn and Stewart Cowan, in which the authors argued for a seamless integration of human activities with natural processes to minimize destructive environmental impact. However, ecological design harks as far back as Ernst Haeckel’s definition of the field of ecology and Henry David Thoreau’s manual for self-reliance. Since World War II, contrary to the position of ecological design as a call to fit harmoniously within the natural world, there has been a growing interest in a form of synthetic naturalism, where the laws of nature and metabolism are displaced from the domain of wilderness to the domain of cities, buildings, and objects. With the rising awareness of disturbances in the planetary reservoir, the field of ecological design has signified not only the integration of the designed object or space in the natural world, but also the reproduction of the natural world in design principles and tools through technological mediation. Unlike van der Ryn and Cowan’s argumentation, which focused on a deep appreciation for nature’s equilibrium, ecological design might commence with the synthetic replication of natural systems. There have been many accounts on the history of ecology and others on the migration of ecological thought to design and architecture practice. Yet, the work of a focused and expanded history of ecological design is much needed. This book will present conflicting definitions and concepts of architects and designers and the parallel histories of their intellectual positions toward environmental thought from the 19th century to today. It will showcase that ecological design starts with the reconceptualization of the world as a complex system of flows rather than a discrete compilation of objects, which visual artist and theorist György Kepes has described as one of the fundamental reorientations of the 20th century. To survey the formation of this field, the history of ecological design will be not be exclusively examined chronologically, but also in connected worldviews, each rendering evolving perceptions of nature, its relation to culture, and the occupation of the natural world by human and non-human subjects. 
Housing Laboratory / Laboratorio De Vivienda

Housing Laboratory / Laboratorio de Vivienda

Apan, Hidalgo, México Michael Meredith, Hilary Sample, MOS In 2017, Mexico’s Institute for the National Fund for Workers’ (INFONAVIT) Center for Research for Sustainable Development launched a program to solicit new approaches to affordable housing. To better understand the possibilities, and to better educate developers, workers, and students about the research, INFONAVIT engaged with MOS to develop a master plan for a campus of 32 built prototypes and design an education center to promote awareness and study of workers’ housing typologies. The selection process revealed various categories and themes for which the projects could be classified. Some projects rethink the fundamentals of low-income housing’s spatial organization (corridors, courtyards, roofs), some rework labor and construction, and some recast structure or material. The forms of these works are generally economical but, unlike early-modernist projects at the Weissenhof Estate, their attitude is not one of a radical break. If anything, these works relate to the vast, varied world of contemporary vernacular construction – the majority of the built world that Architecture glosses over. Each house responds to different climates, each house maintains their designed solar orientation, each house exhibits potential for growth by aggregation, repetition, or various strategies of extension, infill, and addition. All of the houses retain their individual identities within the larger campus. Presenting the 32 projects selected and built, including research, drawings, and descriptions by the architects, and an essay by Canadian Centre for Architecture Director Giovanna Borasi titled “A Large Urban Garden Where You Can Learn About Architecture,” Laboratorio de Vivienda considers the problem of low-income housing by bringing thoughtful attention and expertise of architects, considering how these proposals, assembled into a collective, would work together toward creating not an estate but a community for Apan. For, given the limited resources of such works, each decision gains greater significance and has greater impact on the design and on the life of its inhabitants. With Contributions of Carlos Zedillo Velasco, Giovanna Borasi, DVCH DeVillarChacon Arquitectos, Frida Escobedo, Dellekamp Arquitectos Derek Dellekamp & Jachen Schleich, Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura, Ambrosi | Etchegaray, Zooburbia, Zago Architecture, Taller | Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, Taller de Arquitectura X, Griffin Enright Architects, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, Francisco Pardo Arquitecto, Enrique Norten | TEN Arquitectos, Pita & Bloom, BGP Arquitectura, Zeller & Moye, Accidental Estudio de Arquitectura, Nuño – Mac Gregor – De Buen Arquitectos SC, SAYA+ Arquitectos, Cano|Vera Arquitectura, Fernanda Canales, RNThomsen ARCHITECTURE, PRODUCTORA, Agraz Arquitectos SC, Rojkind Arquitectos, Tactic-A, GAETA-SPRINGALL Arquitectos, TALLER ADG, Taller 4:00 A.M., CRO Studio, JC Arquitectura, DCPP
Revista LF No.12

Revista LF No.12

Portfolios

Red Rubber Road. Cover and interview Evelyn Bencicova. Morphology / Notes on Hysteria. Joanne Leah. Skin Encapsulated Ego. Sergey Melnitchenko. Young and free. Annegret Soltau. Körper Öffnungen (Body Openings). Anna Försterling. Body shapes. Renate Ariadne. The body and people. Viki Kollerová. Silver Island. Thomas Holm. Symmetry and dark shadows. Alicja Brodowicz. Visual exercises. Diptych series (2018). Alfonso Vidal-Quadras. Journey to the Shadow. Alisa Sibirskaya (1989, Siberia).

Sections

Photobook. Ein Fest in Wuppertal. Xènia Gasull Artigas. Other views. Fabiana de Barros. Bruna Battistini. Eternal debates. Photography and beauty. Koldo Badillo. RevelaT 2021 Award. Andrés Gallego. Collecting.The photographer who immortalized the essence of dance. Susana Oñoro. Report. Long Shadows. Redacción LF Reporting. Best photographers LF.Web 2021.by Marta Calvo. Column. Post pandemic, vacations and chocolate factory. Fernando Peracho. Collecting. Ellen Kooi. "Written in Wate". Juan Curto #Instagram. What goes from the tip of the hair to the toenail. Carles Gené.
Revista LF No.11

Revista LF No.11

Summary

José Colón. Censored deaths during the pandemic. Fabrizio Spucches. Cover . Working Class Virus. Ramón Siscart. Quarantine days. Eva Parey. Pandemic shelters. José Ignacio Hernández. Humanópolis. Rafael Fabrés. The boat. Rod Harbinson. Zen in times of Coronavirus. Rober Astorgano. Home. Mattia Balsamini. Italy: emergency industrial reconversion. Michele Borzoni. How To Social Distance.

Sections

Photobook. The BirthEin. Xènia Gasull Artigas. Other views. Seeds of resistance. Bruna Battistini. Eternal debates. Photography and time. Koldo Badillo. Report. KBr. Eternal debates. RevelaT. RevelaT 2020 Award. Luís Álvarez Marra. Collecting. History as a collector. Juan Curto Column. Surviving the pandemic. Fernando Peracho. Collecting. The roots of design. Fernando Caeiro. Spaces. Blanca Berlin Gallery. Koldo Badillo #Instagram. The year we lived cautiously. Carles Gené.
Revista LF No.10

Revista LF No.10

Portfolios

Aitor Garmendia. Behind the walls. Josh Edelson. Through the flames. Gabriele Cecconi. Les Misérables and the earth. Maite Carames. De profundis. Noah Ortega. Filming for liberation. Federico Borella. Dead zone. Antonio Aragon Renuncio. DesertifiKation. Jo-Anne McArthur. Captives. Daniel Beltra. The truth is in the flames. Aitor Ortiz. Gaudi, intimate impressions. Carlos Perez Siquier. AFAL, the flip-flop, the beach and the color. Richard Learoyd. Classic but groundbreaking.  

Sections

Photobook. Xènia Gasull Artigas. Report. Marta Rebon. Report. AnimaNaturalis. Eternal debates. Koldo Badillo. Collective. Susana Oñoro. Reportage. Koldo Badillo. Column. Fernando Peracho. Collecting. Susana Oñoro. Other views. Bruna Battistini. Report. International Contest Andrei Stenin. Winning photographs BIPA. Fernando Peracho. Spaces. Koldo Badillo. #Instagram. Ethos y aquellos. Carles Gené.
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