Sub-Urbanism and the Art of Memory
Sébastien MarotThis book is a re-edition of Sébastien Marot’s essay anthology originally published by the Architectural Association (AA) in 2003 featuring a new introduction by the author.
Sébastien Marot
This book is a sub-urbanist manifesto. Its author, Sébastien Marot, challenges the dominant role of the programme in regulating the design project, and argues that instead attention should be redirected towards the site – the site read in depth, with an active regard for memory. Exploring this analysis, he considers in turn Frances Yates' book The Art of Memory, Sigmund Freud's analogy between the past of a city and the workings of memory, Robert Smithson's account of a tour of his suburban birthplace and Georges Descombes' design for a small park in the Geneva suburb where he spent his childhood. Marot’s conclusion brings these different strands together and highlights, in memory, a precept that is essential to the renewal of current architecture. This AA Documents publication is a re-edition of Sébastien Marot’s Sub-Urbanism and the Art of Memory, originally edited by Pamela Johnston and published by AA Publications in