SCOTT BUDZYNSKI

Continuous Spaces:
Object and Imagination in Superarchitettura
In a series of collages from 1969 made by the Florentine architectural group
Superstudio, a white, elongated structure is imposed onto various settings,
such as the Austrian city Gra, the Ariona desert or a super!highway"
#he so!called monument appears at odds with the environments into which it
is placed" $ot only is it over!dimensional in comparison to its surroundings, but
it represents the %u&taposition between the real and imagined" #hat is, the
gigantic, white bloc' slabs loo' li'e a foreign drawn ob%ect inserted into
photographic scenes" #he imagined oversied form is Superstudio(s defining
pro%ect Il Monumento Continuo )The Continuous Monument*" #he white
+monument, resembles a modernist a-ueduct" .ectangular pylons support
the cubic body, which continues infinitely" #he surface of the white monument
is incised with a grid pattern"
A similarly fantastic vision of an endless architectural structure was produced
by Archioom, another Florentine architectural collective, in their
contemporaneous series No-Stop City" A 19/1 cross!section )fig. * of this
pro%ect shows a massive serial construction" Slender vertical supports contrast
with the seemingly continuous horiontal movement" Atop are set half!
spheres and there appear to be trees on the roof as well"
0oth pro%ects reflect some basic principles of modernist architecture including
the use of pylons and a flat roof" All non!essentials have been reduced and the
constructions reflect a stringent right!angled design" #hese imagined
constructions, however, were never to be realied" Il Monumento Continuo
and No-Stop City e&ist as montages, models, installations, films and, above all,
as magaine contributions" Superstudio and Archioom present living space as
a representation" #he forms used in modernist architecture are ta'en and
given as a fantastic vision" .epresentation is understood here as an image
loaded with associations, or meanings" As Annette Geiger writes in +Imagin1re
Archite'turen 2 .1ume, 3edien und Fi'tionen" 4ur 5inf6hrung, )+Imaginary
Architectures 2 Spaces, 3edia and Fictions7 An Introduction,*7 +Spaces and
architecture, s-uares and cities don(t only come about in concrete building
materials that are needed for their construction" #hey also e&ist as images,
-uotes, and as narratives and films in the viewer(s imagination,"
1
8b%ect and
representation for Geiger are dynamic in the sense that the built material
e&ists within a field of images" Its construction is informed by various media
and it in turn becomes a holder for the pro%ection of visual and te&tual
meanings"
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
#he constructed environment may be seen as both material and imagined" In
the case of the wor's of Superstudio and Archioom, space is a movement of
thought via te&ts and imagined constructions as if the viewer has entered into
a fantasy of urbanism" I suggest thin'ing of their underta'ings in ob%ect
relational terms" A central idea in ob%ect relations theory, a direction in
psychoanalysis, is the concept of potential space, or the movement between
the real and imagined in which material ob%ects are e&perienced in a state of
play"
9
#hat is, relationships between the physical and the imaginary are
particularly dynamic" :hristopher 0ollas applies ob%ect relations and potential
space to architecture and urbanism7 +Indeed we might say that %ust as
perspective in fine art was achieved through the architectural effects of
.enaissance architecture ;the e&traordinary influence of 0runelleschi<, our
dream life is influenced by the perspectives accomplished in the architectural
imagination,"
=
0uildings as well as cities are considered in this direction of
ob%ect relations as receptacles for ideas and fantasies as well as constructions
that give structure to fantasy or a type of free thin'ing" 5vocative buildings
can set off a series of associations in the recipient in an act similar to dreaming
and allow for a creative rethin'ing of the given environment and its
architectural ob%ects"
>

In the development of modernist architecture, te&t and image played an
important role in introducing new forms to the public" ?e :orbusier@s 199= Vers
une architecture )Towards a New Architecture* presents images of modern
architecture together with stylied photographs of grain elevators, cruise
ships, airplanes as well as the Aantheon"
B
$ew architecture, which in itself may
have been difficult to be comprehend by the contemporary public, could thus
be placed in an arrangement of associations" #he ordering of image and te&t in
wor's li'e Vers une architecture or Sigfried Giedion@s 1999 Befreites Wohnen
)Freed i!in"*, however, supported buildings and environments that were
meant to realied materially" Chile appearing ;ironically< modernist,
Superstudio and Archioom(s pro%ects open up the possibilities of architecture
past its material limits, re!imagining rationalist!functionalist constructions and
heightening and freeing up the play of associations set off by modernist
structures" It is this radical element of the wor's of Superstudio and
Archioom that I will analye in this paper in relation to concepts of space,
image and the e&panded notion of architecture in the 196Ds"
0egun at the end of the 196Ds, Superstudio@s Il Monumento Continuo and
Archioom@s No-Stop-City realie the critical possibilities of the comple& and
intermedial space of architecture" #he potentiality of imagined ob%ects moves
past the built form and challenges the recipient to rethin' hisEher position in
regards to the constructed environment" Art Fistorian #homas :row reads this
interventionist nature as characteristic of the art of the 196Ds7 +#he means
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palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
employed in those arguments were the antithesis of dry verbal debate7 artists
condensed concepts into dense visual icons, non!linear arrays of ob%ects in
space, unrepeatable events, and activist interventions within the museums
and galleries now seen as outposts of established power,"
6
:row is referring
here to the tendency of artists of the 196Ds to reflect upon the framewor' in
which art had become established" A criti-ue of the institutional situations in
the case of Superstudio and Archioom entails representations of e&treme
mega!structures" 5mphasiing repeatable homogeneous forms and
continuous built worlds, both groups dialectically give space to unplanned
activities"
#he two architectural groups Archioom and Superstudio formed in 1966
through the interaction of architectural students in various classes in the
Gepartment of Architecture at the Hniversity of Florence, Italy" Archioom
originally consisted of Andrea 0rani, Gilberto :orretti, Aaolo Geganello and
3assimo 3oroi" Gario and ?ucia 0artolini entered in 196I" Superstudio was
founded by Adolfo $atalini and :ristiano #oraldo di Francia, with Gian Aiero
Frassinelli, Alessandro and .oberto 3agris and Alessandro Aoli later %oining"
/
Group identity entails a certain anonymity amongst the individual members,
yet Adolfo $atalini and Andrea 0rani are the two figures most associated
with Superstudio and Archioom respectively and both were proficient writers
who continued to develop and articulate the ideas began in the collectives
after the brea'up of the groups at the end of the 19/Ds" In operating as
collectives, Superstudio and Archioom demonstrated the socially!orientated
spirit of the 196Ds and the move away from the autonomous individual" #hey
benefited from and were encouraged by the particular e&perimental approach
to architectural presentations and the understanding of architecture and
semiotics at the Hniversity of Florence"
I

Aresentation and te&t were central to the largely imaginary architectural
production of Superstudio and Archioom" #hey initially wor'ed closely
together in formulating Superarchitettura which was introduced in the form
of a te&t" In the same year as their founding in 1966, the two groups organied
an e&hibition of their wor' together under the title Superarchitettura at the
Jolly 9 gallery in Aistoia" Superarchitettura II followed in 196/ at the Galleria
:omunale in 3odena"
9
A short statement attributed to both groups was
printed on a poster for the first e&hibition and was developed into a manifesto
written by Superstudio and Archioom for the second e&hibition" It begins
with the statement +the Superarchitettura is the architecture of
superproduction, of superconsume, of the superinundation to consume, of
superman and super benine,, and it concludes with7 +the
SHA5.A.:FI#5##H.A accepts the logic of production and of consumption
and e&erts a demystifying activity upon it" It is an architecture of images
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palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
loaded with a strong evocativeness and is therefore able to induce the same in
the consumer" It is an architecture with the evasive drive of advertising, but
more efficient, because it inserts images loaded with intentionality in a grand
design and in the reality of the city with its permanence and history,"
1D
#he closing declaration reveals the central role of the image in Superstudio
and Archioom@s architectural concepts" .ather than affirming the
transformation of society through technology and industry, they revel in the
omnipresence of the advertising image and the charge of associations it
possesses"
I interpret the super presented here as referring to the strong evocative
nature present not only in advertising images, but in popular culture as a
whole and its dense aggregation of visual %u&tapositions" #he te&t both rings
of irony in a strategy of subversion through appropriation, but also realies
the radical value of media representations in their ability to destabilie the
fi&edness of total design and the material urban space" #he e&hibitions
presented eccentric ob%ects appearing as hybrids between furniture and
architectural elements" 0rightly and multiply colored forms, such as a series of
steps with handles attached seem to have no function, but elicit multiple
associations and playfully appeal to the recipient"
0eginning their respective architectural programs with a %oint manifesto, the
groups ma'e clear the theoretical nature of their underta'ing as well as the
relationship between te&t, space and the constructed" #he manifesto begins
with the word +SHA5.A.:FI#5##H.A, in bloc' letters" From the bottom
center SHA5.A.:FI#5##H.A descends a type of column or path, which bends
midway and closes in a pool shape" It is in this form that the manifest is
contained" In consideration of the groups( later pro%ects, the shape calls up
associations of an endless flow upwards" In the manifesto, consumption is
greeted along with the ob%ects, images and spaces associated with it" #he te&t
doesn(t only sound ironic, but is reminiscent of Aop Art and the turn to the
ob%ects and images of popular culture, especially those present in the urban
sphere" It calls for both a subversion of advertising and an embrace of the
images used by it, which form the visual e&perience of urban space"
In another te&t from 19/9, Archioom further develops these ideas writing7
+#he factory and the supermar'et are becoming in fact the true standard
models of the future city7 optimal urban structures, potentially infinite, where
the functions spontaneously have a free plan at their disposal, rendered
homogenous by a system of micro!climatiation and optimum information,"
11
Chereas the 196/ manifesto addressed the super -uality of images,
Archioom here gives a te&tual clarification of the super -uality of the
constructed space" ?i'e the images spo'en of in 196/, the buildings addressed
here belong to the world of manufacturing and consumption" .ather than
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palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
being super by nature of a strong emotive visual character, these structure
rather are so due to their immenseness in which homogeneity ironically
produces a freedom of movement"
#he cross!section of Archioom@s No-Stop City )fig. * corresponds to such a
homogeneity called for here" ?i'e supermar'ets and factories, the cross!
section portrays a seemingly self!contained environment" 5nergy is supplied
from below the ground surface through technical chambers" 3otor vehicles
are seen on the open ground level and nature in the form of plants is present
above on the roof top" ?i'e industrial and commercial buildings, the No-Stop
City could continue on infinitely either vertically or horiontally" #here is no
hierarchy of parts, but rather a repeatable grid form" .ather than creating a
uni-ue environment, Archioom culls from the functionalist structures found
in industrial construction"
No-Stop City(s cross section was included in the introduction of the pro%ect in
the Italian architectural magaine #omus in 19/1" #he full title reads +$o!Stop
:ity ! .esidential Aar'ings7 :limatic Hniversal Sistem,
19
and the title page )fig.
!* depicts right!angled modules superimposed into various landscapes" Chile
the realiation of such mega!constructions could turn menacing, the
artificiality of these montages entail a playful aspect" #heir sheer improbability
stimulate the imagination and pose the idea of wandering the globe in
continuous modules" .epresentations of No-Stop City(s interior are given in
the magaine contribution as well" Images of three!dimensional models show
endless spaces filled with ob%ects" All three models depict spaces with low!
hanging white ceiling modules held up by shiny metal columns" #he spaces are
open and seem to go on endlessly, but the openness and geometric purity of
the interiors is countered by the array of constructed ob%ects placed
throughout" 8ne model )fig. "* contains tents and roc' formations" #here
sporadically occur slab formations" In the foreground lie oversied bo&es of
grocery items, such as .it crac'ers" In another model, toy!li'e nude male and
female figures are surrounded by fa'e animals, and placed in a landscape of
cartoon!li'e shrubs and man!made ventilation systems" $atural, human and
industrial ob%ects are all clearly artistic constructions, which stresses their
artificiality" $ature appears rather as a department store decoration than as a
believable natural setting"
.e!creating consumer ob%ects and environments call up productions in Aop
Art, including Andy Carhol(s 196> Brillo Bo$es and :laes 8ldenburg(s The Store
from 1961" Archioom@s environments are similarly concerned with the
fascination of the commercial" #he inspiration for No-Stop City is the world of
artificiality in which nature is present only as representation, yet still remains a
source of inspiration" As ?ucy ?ippard writes7 +Already separated from life by
the cellophane barrier of commercialism, Aop Art can function with
105
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
detachment and still retain a hold on the emotional or sensorial reactions of
the viewer,"
1=
?ippard defines here the critical nature of the consumer world
alluded to by Superstudio and Archioom in their 196/ manifesto" :onsumer
ob%ects are characteried by ?ippard as being both detached and emotive,
-ualities Aop artists ta'e up in their wor'" In thematiing the fabricated, the
unreal character of popular images can be emphasied" Fantasies of the
artificial and their emotive impact may further offer creative material for
rethin'ing the medial environments in which we live" #a'en to an e&treme by
Archioom, commercial spaces would seem to offer freedom of movement
and thought both through the concept of the infinite, and through the
abundance of evocative ob%ects with which endless space may be filled"
In the wor' of Superstudio we can see a fascination with artificial
environments as well" For instance, Il Monumento Continuo )fig. #* is a clearly
fantastic construction towering over various settings, such as 3anhattan, the
dessert, a housing settlement, etc" 8n one hand it reflects Archioom@s
interest in homogeneous and seemingly infinite commercial!industrial spaces"
#he monument consists of an endlessly repeatable rectangular form which
also recalls totaliing fantasies of megastructural living spaces li'e ?e
:orbusier@s 19== %&us A 'ro(ect for Al"iers) 0ut Il Monumento Continuo is in fact
termed a monument and so connotes ideas of religion and spirituality as well
as memory and history" Superstudio at times %u&tapose collages of their
monument in magaine spreads across from photographs of a-ueducts,
pyramids and the Kaaba directly underlining these associated ideas"
In the June 1969 issue of #omus titled +Gesign d(invenione e design
d(evasione, )+Gesign of invention and design of evasion,*, Superstudio write
of their ideas regarding the convergence of the spiritual and the banal7 +0ut
remember that it is poetry which ma'es us live and that life does not occur in
hermetic bo&es for little parallel lives, but also in the city and in the car, in
supermar'ets, in movie theaters and on the high!way )L* and an ob%ect can
be a spatial adventure, an ob%ect of cult and veneration, and can become a
luminous nodal point of relations,"
1>
?i'e the modules of Archioom@s No-Stop City, Superstudio(s pro%ected ob%ects
offer little visual information" In contrast, however, Il Monumento Continuo,
activates the situation into which it is placed, while No-Stop City offers endless
constructed space for the accumulation of goods and the unfolding of
activities" Superstudio present a monument and Archioom a city" #he city is
enclosed and draws attention to what can ta'e place inside, while the
monument is a nodal point relating bac' to situations around it and acting as
instigator for other situations by virtue of its cryptic presence"
In this way, Il Monumento Continuo is reminiscent of the monolith in Stanley
Kubric'@s 196I film *++,- A Space %dyssey" It is a strange, massive and
106
palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
autonomous form inserted into the world that activates the fields around it"
For their participation to Tri"on ./ ;1969< in Gra, Superstudio intervened in
their e&hibition room with an ob%ect )fig. $* turning it into the Stan0a di 1ra0"
1B

#he white monolith resembles a section of Il Monumento Continuo, but in the
e&hibition conte&t it ta'es on a 'ind of mythic nature, as if invested with
transcendental power" #he ob%ect achieves a special status through its singular
presentation and recalls the wor's of 3inimal Art and the discussions
surrounding them in the 196Ds" It was the art critic 3ichael Fried who in his
dismissal of the e&perimental art of the 196Ds 2 above all of 3inimal Art or
Arimary Structures 2 in fact succinctly e&pressed the strength of
contemporary artistic e&periments7 the activation of the viewer!ob%ect space,
or what he refers to as theatricality in his 196/ essay +Art and 8b%ecthood,"
Fried writes7 +Art de"enerates as it approaches the conditions of theater"
#heater is the common denominator that binds together a large and
seemingly disparate variety of activities, and that distinguishes those activities
from the radically different enterprises of the modernist arts,"
16

In a manner similar to a theater production, that which Fried calls +literal art,
directly involves the viewer as a type of participant, rather than refer to the
-ualities essential to its medium" Instead of confronting issues of opticality,
ob%ects of 3inimal Art ma'e the participant conscious of hisEher own relation
to them through their presence as real ob%ects" :entral to this effect is the
feeling of endlessness in the ob%ects of 3inimal Art that place the sub%ect in a
reflective position regarding hisEher e&perience of them" Superstudio spea's
of ob%ects li'e the Stan0a di 1ra0 as luminous points of relations, adopting all
that Fried despised about 3inimal Art as a positive attribute" It isn(t the ob%ect
itself that is of significance, but the spatial relationships it ma'es possible" Met,
Superstudio@s relationships are often mental!visual ones" #heir monument is a
proposal for possible associations" #he spatial aspect of their wor' calls for a
rethin'ing of given situations"
In 19/9, Superstudio introduced a film pro%ect as a storyboard, a
Vita2Supersuperficie )ife2Supersurface* in the Italian architecture magaine
Casa&ella" Superstudio spea' here of movements of individuals and groups
reacting to each other and so creating continuous flows" A migratory
movement is described as a attraction!reaction in which the movement of a
part acts upon the movement as a whole"
1/
#he magaine presentation
includes te&t in which the pro%ect is introduced in a manifesto fashion" Issues
of image, architecture, life and space are discussed" 0elow the te&t are
montage images, which all include grid surfaces flowing orthogonally into
space" 8ccasionally, the grids( flow is disrupted by natural elements such as
mountainous cliffs, or water" Fuman figures are placed on the grids, often
with various ob%ects" 8ne scene )fig. %* pictures a group of bohemian youths
107
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
sitting and lying on the surface of the grid as if in a natural setting" #hey are
drin'ing wine and have a bas'et of fruit with them" A female and shirtless
male figure lie stretched out and in an embrace in the foreground" A body of
water appears along the left side of the grid and in the bac'ground there
appear cliffs" #he scene recalls something of the artificiality of nature present
in 3anet(s 1I6= e #3(euner sur l4her&e" Just as there is something of an
aw'wardness and staged -uality in 3anet(s Arcadian scene, the picnic of the
mannered Superstudio figures seems at odds with the minimalism of their
setting" Ambiguous is the grid surface itself" It strongly resembles the surface
of Il Monumento Continuo and could be the roof of the monument, or simply a
flat surface flowing out into space"
#he scene which ta'es place on Superstudio@s plane is a fantasied one" Space
is potentialied as a mental action" 5vocative forms 2 continuous grids and
monuments 2 invite the recipient to playfully thin' about engaging with them"
Such worlds without limits are unrealiable propositions to re!order material
environments" In one of the five films Superstudio made, Ceremony from 19/=,
the film(s protagonists emerge from below a surface through well!li'e
formations embedded on a planar concrete ground" It(s insinuated that the
surface has an interior, from which the inhabitants also carry out ob%ects"
8nce on the surface, they carry out symbolic acts to monotonic music which
lends the atmosphere a surreal tone" A female voice!over in the film gives
statements on architecture, such as +the inhabitants of the invisible house say
that what we are doing is architecture, because it occupies space and time and
relationships between us and others,"
1I
#he idea of an invisible house is in
'eeping with the negative character of Superstudio(s structures" Architecture
is negated as a hermetic construction and is posited instead as proposed
arrangements of ob%ects and inhabitants and as movements of thought"
#he tendencies towards purity and openness in modernist design are ta'en to
such an e&treme by Superstudio and Archioom that inherent fantasies come
to the forefront" 3odernist visions include a sense of endless movement, the
dissolution between inner and outer and the construction of ideal societies" In
Vers une architecture, ?e :orbusier writes, +A.:FI#5:#H.5 is the art above all
others which achieves a state of platonic grandeur, mathematical order,
speculation, the perception of harmony which lies in emotional relationships"
#his is the AI3 of architecture,"
19
?e :orbusier@s visions, li'e his and Aierre
Jeanneret@s 19=D Ville 5adieuse remained a conceptual ideal for the most part"
#hey pro%ect utopian environments onto society in order to change it" #he idea
of creating a perfect urban sphere based on theoretical discourses and
harmonious principles draws upon the .enaissance phenomenon of the citt6
ideale7 or ideal city" Aiena, for e&ample, was transformed under Aope Aius II
through the architect 0ernardo .ossellino from 1>B9!1>6> to reflect the
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palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
principles of ?eon 0attista Alberti, laid out in his 1>B9 #e 5e Aedificatoria)
*+
Ideal cities materialie utopian ideas of society through harmonious
compositions of buildings, streets, urban s-uares and gardens" 0ut li'e Aiena,
most failed to operate successfully after the passing of their initiators and
many, such as Filarete@s fantastic Sfor0inda ;1>6D!6><, remained fictional"
#he notion of creating as a representation of an idea or utopian program is
simultaneously fascinating and threatening" Superstudio reflect the double
nature of the city as the realiation of ideal worlds in their own Twel!e Ideal
Cities" Aublished as a spread in the Gecember 19/1 issue of A# with drawings
and descriptions of the cities, the series reveals Superstudio@s attitude
towards the theme in the article@s title7 +#welve :autionary #ales for
:hristmas7 Aremonitions of the 3ystical .ebirth of Hrbanism,"
91
Shown in A#
as blac' and white drawings, the resulting color collages of the cities initially
appear to convey idyllic settings" In The City of 8emispheres7 a green, hilly
landscape with graing sheep is pictured with what appears to be a s-uare
body of water and with small globes both floating in the air and resting on the
ground" Superstudio e&plains in their te&t, however, that the apparent body of
water is a mass 2 1D,D>>,9DD to be e&act 2 of crystalline sarcophagi with live
humans contained within" #he small globes act as the outer sense organs of
the entombed individuals"
99
5ach city is revealed in the article to be a strange
science!fictional, post!apocalyptic construction" Aresented as a magaine
spread, Superstudio@s ideal cities play with the tradition of architectural
treatises and their ability to give a narrative to an imagined space" #hrough the
narratives, architectural proposals can ta'e on unrealistic dimensions and that
which may seem as an ideal of a perfect society may in fact be a dystopia"
#he development of rationalist architecture and urban planning have not only
produced practical solutions to urban challenges, but have evo'ed incredible
narratives and fantastic visions" Superstudio and Archioom playfully engage
with the visual and narrative possibilities of the simplified and repeatable
architectural forms in modernist design" #heir incredible propositions realie
the loaded nature of a monumental trend in post!Corld Car II modernism" In
19>= Sigfried Giedion formulated te&ts on monumentality perceiving a need
for civic centres, which were not only to be functional, but were to represent
the community as well"
9=
0y 196> the term megastructural form was in use to
refer to a large structure housing all urban functions"
9>
#he visionary and
implausible aspect of megastructural architecture were addressed in the
196Ds and early 19/Ds by the 0ritish architectural collaborative Archigram
;1961!19/B<" #heir 196> Wal9in" City imagines a mobile city composed out of
units that resemble giant beetles with bodies composed of grid forms" 8ther
wor's, such as 'lu"-in City ;1969!196>< 2 made up of metal units plugged into a
framewor' 2 don@t seem far removed from realiable environments" In
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palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
contrast to the wor's of Superstudio and Archioom, Archigram@s images
concentrate less on the activities to occur in the spaces and give more
emphasis to intricate mechanical drawings of their proposals"
Chile Archigram were inspired by the e&treme -uality of megastructures, the
subversive urbanists of the Situationist International ;19B/!19/9<
e&perimented with alternative ways of e&periencing the city" ?ed by Guy
Gebord, the Situationists engaged in psycho"3o"raphie as a non!determinist
e&ploration of the city@s ambiences and their relation to social arrangements"
9B
Hrban geography is perceived here as a non!cartesian space of points of
attraction beyond those of commercial culture" A method for discovering
these points is the d3ri!e, or drift, a non!intentional wandering through the
city"
96
:ollages resulted in which the metropolis was rearranged through the
placing of cut!out map bits onto paper with multiple arrows pointing in
various directions" #hese collages e&press the labyrinthine -uality of the city
as e&perienced through wal'ing and the feeling of the possibilities of
disorientation in the metropolis" Situationist participant :onstant ;Anton
$ieuwenhuys< wor'ed on a fictional labyrinthine city, New Ba&ylon, from 19B6!
1969, which consisted of models, collages and writings"
9/
In a watercolor on
collage from 19B9 ;Gemeentemuseum, #he Fague< the city is seen from an
aerial view and appears as a %umble of container elements attached to each
other and moving about in an intricate web" ?i'e Superstudio@s Il Monumento
Continuo, New Ba&ylon is comprised of units suspended over the ground on
pilotis" #he s'eletal framewor', however, bears more in common with
Archioom@s No-Stop City" In contrast to both, its form is characteried by
seemingly random angular turns which give it a chaotic feeling" :onstant
sought a sense of creative freedom and energy in New Ba&ylon"
9I
All three
pro%ects share an interest in the continuous and infinite in constructed living
spaces" Along with the inventions of Archigram, they all play with the
possibilities inherent in modernist architecture and urbanism, specifically
thematiing freedom of movement through open plans as well as the e&treme
sie enabled through industrial building materials and engineering methods
and the important role of image and te&t in the creation of architectural
meaning" #he Italian groups in particular stress the importance of images in
their idea of Superarchitettura" In contrast to other architectural inventions
dealing with megastructures, the models of Superarchitettura are more
evasive in that the actual built ob%ects draw attention to the visual and social
possibilities lying beyond the autonomous structure" I assert that they
abrogate the finitely built form in favor of an open e&panses of a free play of
thought, fueled by the overload of stimuli of the metropolis and the
possibilities offered by a subversion of consumer culture" Although
architecture and urban planning are means for controlling or mar'ing out a
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palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
territory, they are absurdly reversed in Superarchitettura to encompass an
e&panded comprehension of the constructed" Archioom(s and Superstudio(s
monumental proposals present a world without borders" 0oth groups loo' to
the dream!li'e side of consumer ob%ects for inspiration"
In contrast to the earlier modernists who had formulated space as a sense of
movement and e&pression through built forms, architects of the 196Ds began
to investigate the implications of the mundane, commercial and of the over!
saturation of visual information in establishing movement" 8ne of the most
notable investigations and analyses of found urban architecture and
commercial spaces carried out at the end of the 196Ds is .obert Nenturi,
Genise Scott 0rown and Steven Ienour(s earnin" From as Ve"as"
99
In an
answer to ?e :orbusier@s Vers un architecture and the emphasis on a pure
e&pression of form, they sought after contradiction and the manifold in the
city@s commercial field" #he research was carried out in 196I with a preliminary
article, +A Significance for AOA Aar'ing ?ots, or ?earning from ?as Negas,,
published in Architectural Forum in 196I"
=D
#he boo' itself was first published
in 19/9" Aar'ing lots play an important role in the investigations, as does the
?as Negas Strip and +boring, architecture" An initially blasphemous sounding
comparison, super mar'et par'ing lots are here contrasted with Nersailles" In
an automobile!orientated age, it is the vast spaces of par'ing lots and
e&pressways that give shape to our surroundings"
=1

earnin" from as Ve"as calls for an opening up of the understanding of
architecture to include the structures characteristic of a society shaped by
mass consumption and fast transportation" Nenturi, 0rown and Ienour
emphasie the ordinary, vulgar and symbolic in their treatise on architecture
rather than e&pressively built forms" It is the advertising signs in ?as Negas
that interest them more than the actual architecture and they celebrate an
open space given te&ture through images" Superarchitettura goes further in
entering into a critical architectural dialogue with the superlative ob%ects of
mass culture" #he individual interior models of No-Stop City discussed earlier
are referred to as 'aesa""io interno, meaning interior landscape" Supporting
columns and ceiling grids give direction, while the ob%ects within arrange the
mega!te&ture that in this case is always variable" Infinite, free space is,
however, given measure by means of the ob%ects that fill the rooms" ?iving
space is treated as found commercial megastructural architecture in which
popular items act as points of orientation and fantasy" Superstudio too show
figures in their 19/9 a Vita2Supersuperficie placed upon the grid surface on a
carpet, surrounded by household products" 0oth Superarchitettura groups
present a type of communal living without individual borders" #he open
dimensions of consumer architecture are transformed into new ways not of
consuming, but of living together"
111
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
Cell after the dissolution of Archioom in 19/>, founding member Andrea
0rani wrote a small boo' in 19II whose 5nglish title sounds li'e an Italian
response to Nenturi et al"7 earnin" From Milan- #esi"n and the Second
Modernity"
=9
Chile ?as Negas is defined through the spectacle in its role as
tourist centre, 3ilan was a centre of immigration from the South in the period
of the Miracolo economico italiano and so a place of e&pansion and growth, as
well as an imagined space of possibilities" It represented la nuo!a dimensione7
the new dimension, a term referring to the change of scale and
interdisciplinary character of the Italian cities in the 196Ds" 3ilan@s dimensions
were in fact drastically changing in the postwar years though the
implementation of the General 0uilding Alan of 19B=" .oadways were being
widened or created at the e&pense of points of aggregation and e&isting
neighborhoods, whose inhabitants were pushed out into the periphery"
==
In an
act of reinstating the social, a group of beat youths occupied an area at the
southern edge of the 3ilan on via .ipamonti creating a tent city at the end of
April 196/" #heir city came to be called 0arbonia :ity in the press, meaning
tramp city and was defined by critics as an immoral place of free love"
=>
8n
June 19 196/ it was torn down by the police" Another occupation in 3ilan soon
followed" After three hundred students were denied housing, a group of them
s-uatted an the abandoned Fotel :ommercio in Aiaa Fontana on $ovember
9I, 196I"
=B
#hese events reflect the city as an open space to be occupied for
communal living" 3ilan in the 196Ds was the stage for the implementation of
modernist planning, the unfolding of subversive political activities as well as
centre of design" Italy(s two leading design magaines Casa&ella and #omus in
which Archioom and Superstudio introduced their pro%ects, are based in the
city as is the #riennale di 3ilano, 3ilan(s design triennial held in the historic
Aalao dell(Arte, constructed by Giovanni 3uio in 19=9!==" 0oth Superstudio
and Archioom were included in the triennials and 0rani was later to wor'
and teach in 3ilan"
=6
0rani doesn@t address the student protests in his boo', but he reflects the
city as an open space of choice and imagination" earnin" from Milan reflects
on design and the logic of consumption" 0rani finds a move away from
industrial egalitarianism towards a consumption specialiation in the 196Ds7
+Gesign had to shift its attention from mass products to those intended for
limited semantic groups" From ob%ects that set out to please everyone, to
ob%ects that pic'ed their own consumers" From the languages of reason to
those of emotion" From the certainties of science to the perversities of
fashion" From the ob%ect to the effect,"
=/
In a chapter titled +#erritories of the
Imagination,, 0rani e&presses his belief that design has overta'en
architecture"
=I
Fe means that the production of design products has so
-uantitatively e&ceeded that of architecture that spaces are more readily
112
palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
defined by ob%ects of design charged with emotion than by the built structures
as complete and unified environments" In calling this chapter +#erritories of
the Imagination,, 0rani draws upon the wor' of Archioom"
#he Interior andscapes of No-Stop City are dominated by manufactured
ob%ects, including artificial human figures, animals and vegetation" #hey play
with the evocativeness of consumption and recall the atmosphere of
department store displays" #hese are a different 'ind than those spo'en of by
Calter 0en%amin in the Arcades 'ro(ect" #he Arcades 2 of which 3ilan
possesses a uni-ue e&ample with Galleria Nittorio 5manuele II : stand out by
means of their architecture" No-Stop City(s architecture does not stand out
e&cept by means of it sheer sie and impossibility" 5motive amalgamations
arise through the idea of such an endlessness and through the abundance of
ob%ects contained within" An abundance of designed ob%ects is what gives rise
to the territories of the imagination of which 0rani spea's" Gesigned ob%ects,
in contrast to architectural spaces, can be easily re!arranged and allow for
individual choice" 0rani and Archioom(s attitude towards design is
dialectical" At times they seem to negate it" In an article from 19/1, Archioom
writes of the destruction of ob%ects ;+?a distruione degli oggetti,<" In ironic
tones, the group spea's of the dissolution of the ob%ect through the designer"
Gesign -uestions the role of industry and challenges it to be self!refle&ive to
the point of the homogeniation of consumption"
=9
#he designer negates an
active position in order to allow for hyper!realiation of the logic of commerce
to the point of the dissolution of difference and the fulfillment of a utopia"
>D
Italian architect and theorist Aier Nittorio Aureli points out the autonomous
and critical position of Archioom through their dissolution of ob%ects"
Fowever, what is meant here is the suspension of the city as a collection of
individual architectural ob%ects7 +Foreshadowing later theories of media and
immaterial production, 0rani emphasied that if the city was integrated into
the cycle of production, then producing it was only a matter of programming,
not of designing, its built structures,"
>1
Aureli positions No-Stop City in line with
the wor' of to the modernist architect and city planner ?udwig Filberseimer
;1IIB!196/<" Filberseimer@s pro%ects reflected his socialist leanings and were
largely theoretical and li'e those Archioom and Superstudio were not often
realied" The New City from 19>> anticipates the dissolution of traditional
urban space and the radical visions of Archioom" Italian groups recall the
tradition of socially!oriented modernism in the use of the term +?(e&isten!
minimum, in their appeal for the destruction of ob%ects" #his is a reference to
the 1999 meeting of :IA3 ;:ongrPs Internationau& d(Architecture 3oderne<
in Fran'furt am 3ain hosted by the German architect and Fran'furt city
planner 5rnst 3ay" 3ay is best!'nown for his Fran'furt housing pro%ects, or
Siedlun"en, and the concept of #ie Wohnun" f;r das <$isten0minimum, which
113
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
literally means the apartment for the minimum of e&istence" Although the
term has a dystopian sound to it, the idea was based on an egalitarian vision to
be realied through the standardiation of living units"
>9
+?a distruione degli
oggetti, again gives e&amples of the interior of No-Stop City" 8ne image
depicts a long room filled with beds arranged in rows and set on the floor" #o
the side is set a bust of a figure that clearly resembles Karl 3ar&" Another
drawing shows a unit of the same dimensions in the center of which a s'eletal
structure constructed out of twigs precariously supports a hammoc'"
I suggest that these interior spaces, deal with the fantasy of the functionalist!
rationalist city, as does the wor' of Superstudio" #he interdisciplinary nature
of their wor' 2 the use of image and te&t to approach architecture 2 allows for
the pro%ective involvement of the recipient" An Archioom montage from 19/1
)fig. #* sets a spoon!shaped +s'yscraper, across from the :hrysler 0uilding in
3anhattan" Another sets a slee' high!rise li'e structure in the dessert" 8b%ects
appear in No-Stop City as well as in Il Monumento continuo, but it is the city as a
given set of individual material ob%ects that are destroyed" 0rani, Archioom
and Superstudio ta'e the logic of functionalist!rationalist architecture to its
e&treme imagining endless grid structures to such an e&tent that the sub%ect is
invited to reflect on living without limits, while also called to freely thin' about
the urban spaces heEshe engages with" #hey deal with what art historian and
theorist .osalind Krauss describes as +the infrastructure of vision,"
>=
Chile the
perspective system is a means of mapping reality onto a surface, the grid is
self!referential" It does not map reality, but addresses the materiality of the
plane"
>>
#he three!dimensional grid is a +theoretical model of architectural
space in general,"
>B
Krauss approaches the grid from a structural perspective,
so that although it does not directly represent reality, it is a structure for its
analysis"
>6
#he nomadic 'ind of e&istence propagated by Superstudio and
Archioom in their imagined structures transforms modernist structures into
spaces of the analysis of universal acts" Superstudio(s films, such as Ceremony,
concentrate on minimal and somewhat esoteric!li'e activities" Archioom(s
reference to +l(e&isten!minimum, brings to consciousness the structures of
living" 0oth groups also emanate a sense of universal freedom of movement in
their wor'" #he non!hierarchical grid opens up movement in all directions"
.ather than solidifying an image of place, it abstracts the constructive
elements of space"
It is this concept of space that the Momumento Continuo and No-Stop City
propose through their targeted uses of the grid" Archioom and Superstudio
contrast images of e&isting places with ob%ects of their imagination in order to
heighten the viewer(s sense of the constructedness of the grid" In an iconic
image of Il Monumento Continuo from 196/, the monument moves across the
Hpper $ew Mor' 0ay from 0roo'lyn and over lower 3anhattan" It appears as
114
palinsesti 1(2011) Continuous Spaces
three separate horiontal slabs held up by supports" #hey %oin together
through a bisecting rectangular volume and continue on as two outer planes
which wrap round ?ower 3anhattan and frame it through a another opposing
volume and resume their tripartite division only to unify into a single surface,
which flows over $ew Jersey and seems to go on endlessly across America"
8n the surface of the monument the blue s'y and white clouds are subtly
reflected" $ew Mor' :ity is an archetypical American grid patterned city" Met it
is a city mar'ed by overlays of history and eclectic stone facades"
Superstudio(s construction loc's in the metropolis(s endlessness"
>/
?i'e
Archioom(s spoon high!rise set in 3anhattan, Superstudio(s monument is out
of place and surreal" #he grid of $ew Mor' :ity becomes striated through the
smoothness of the imaginative monument"
Superstudio and Archioom(s space is at odds with the material urban place"
#heir montages show their various architectural images in dis%unction with the
bound spaces into which they are placed" 5&isting largely as magaine
presentations with abundant te&t concerning theoretical issues, Il Monumento
Continuo and No-Stop City are free of the danger of becoming solidified in
concrete and steel" 3odern forms, materials and related social processes are
pictured, re!arranged and reflected upon" #he contribution of Superstudio and
their Il Monumento Continuo and Archioom and their No-Stop City to the
discipline of architecture is to situate the architectural ob%ect between
ob%ecthood and imagination" Chile the particular wor's of Superstudio and
Archioom discussed here rarely deal with realied ob%ects, they play with the
city as ob%ect and in doing so destroy its materiality" Supersiing modernist
forms, they create urban representations of endless possibilities which are
both a criti-ue of the consumerist city and a method for playfully engaging
with it" #he visions they give are somewhere between the e&istent, that which
is ta'en as inspiration, and fantasy and call for imaginary interventions in the
lived environment" Superarchitettura utilies that intermedial nature of
architecture as a discipline within a matri& of the built, of the planned, of
images and te&ts" It e&pands the field as a theoretical model for creatively
rethin'ing space as representation"
115
palinsesti 1(2011) SCOTT BUDZYNSKI
&'(T)S
1 Archizoom No-Stop City 1971! Cro""#"$c%io&! 'rom Domus ()rch 1971!
2 Archizoom No-Stop City. Residential Parkings Climatic Universal
Sistem 1971! Ti%*$+),$ -rom Domus ()rch 1971!
3 Archizoom No-Stop City. Paesaggio interno-interior landscape 1972!
.oo/ m$%)* +)+$r 0o)r/ ,*)"" )&/ mirror ,*)"" 1i%h %$m+$r) )&/
)cr2*ic $)ch 183 3 70 3 43 cm! 4ic%5r$/ -or Domus, ()rch 1971!
4 S5+$r"%5/io Stanza di Graz +$r rigon !" 1969! 4ho%o,r)+h o- %h$
/i"+*)2 K5&"%h)**$ 6o)&&$5m 7r)z! 'rom Domus D$c$m0$r 1969!
5 S5+$r"%5/io #a vita$Supersuper%icie& #a %rutta e il vino 1971!
4ho%o#mo&%),$ )&/ co**),$! 'rom %h$ "%or20o)r/ +50*i"h$/ i&8 Casa'ella
65*2 1972!
6 S5+$r"%5/io (l )onumento Continuo, Ne* Ne* +ork 1969! 4ri&%
S$ri,r)+h2 703 3 100 cm! 'rom Domus D$c$m0$r 1969!
116
1
Annette Geiger, +Imagin1re Archite'turen !
.1ume, 3edien und Fi'tionen" 4ur
5inf6hrung,, in Ima"in=re Archite9turen)
5aum und Stadt als Vorstellun"7 edited by
Annette Geiger, Stefanie Fennec'e and
:hristin Kemp ;0erlin7 .eimer Nerlag, 9DD6<,
1D" #ranslation by the author"
9
Gonald Cinnicott, +#he :oncept of a
Fealthy Individual,, in 8ome is Where We
Start From- <ssays &y a 'sychoanalyst, edited
by :lare Cinnicott, .ay Shepard and
3adeline Gavis ;$ew Mor'7 $orton, 19I6<,
91!=I" 8riginally given as a tal' to the
.oyal 3edico!Asychological Association,
Asychotherapy and Social Asychiatry
Section, 3arch I, 196/"
=
:hristopher 0ollas, The <!ocati!e %&(ect
World ;?ondon7 .outledge, 9DD9<, 6>"
>
Ibid", 6="
B
?e :orbusier, Towards a New Architecture,
;$ew Mor'7 Gover, 19I6<" 8riginally
published as Vers une architecture ;Aaris,
:rPs, 199=<"
6
#homas :row, The 5ise of the Si$ties-
American and <uropean Art in the <ra of
#issent ;1996Q repr", $ew Faven, :#7 Male
Hniversity Aress, 9DD><, 11!19"
/
Me"astructure 5eloaded- Visionary
Architecture and >r&an #esi"n of the Si$ties
5eflected &y Contemporary Artists, edited by
Sabrina van der ?ey and 3ar'us .ichter
;8stfildern7 Fat%e :ant Nerlag, 9DDI<, 9/I!
9/9"
I
3arie #herese Stauffer, +:riti-ue of Aure
Structure7 #he Htopias of Archioom and
Superstudio,, in ibid", 911!916"
9
3arie #heres Stauffer, Fi"urationen des
>topischen- Theoretische 'ro(e9te !on
Archi0oom und Superstudio ;3unich7
Geutscher Kunstverlag, 9DDI<, 1I"
1D
#he 3anifesto was published for the second
e&hibition of Superarchitettura ;3odena7
Galleria :omunale, 196/<" .eprinted in
Stauffer, Fi"urationen des >topischen, 96D7
+?a superarchitettura R l(architettura della
superproduione, del superconsumo, della
superinduione al consumo, del
supermar'et, del superman e della benina
super," +?a SHA5.A.:FI#5##H.A accetta
la logica della produione e del consumo e vi
esercita un(aione demistificante" S
un(architettura di immagini con una forte
carica di figurabilitT, capace cioP di indurre il
suo stesso consumo" S un(architettura con
la carica eversiva della pubblicitT, ma ancor
piU efficace poichR inserisce immagini
cariche di intenionalitT in un @grande
disegno@ e nella realtT della cittT con tutte le
sue permanene e la suo storia," #ranslation
by the author"
11
Archioom, +Archioom Associati,, IN, 3ay !
June 19/9, 1B!9=" +?a Fabbrica e il
Supermar'et diventano di fatto i veri
modelli campione della cittT futura7
strutture urbane ottimali, potenialmente
infinite, dove le funioni si dispongono
spontaneamente su di un piano libero, reso
omogeneo da un sistema di
microclimatiaione e informaione
ottimale, ;ibid", 9=<" #ranslation by the
author"
19
Spelling of system as given by Archioom"
1=
?ucy ?ippard, 'op Art ;1966Q repr", ?ondon7
#hames and Fudson, 9DD><, 9D"
1>
Superstudio, +Gesign d(invenione e design
d(evasione,, #omus, June 1969, B67 +Si
ricordi perV che ? la poesia che fa a&itare7 e
che la vita si svolge non solo in scatole
ermetiche per piccole vite parallele, ma
anche nella cittT e nelle auto, nei
supermar'ets, nei cinematografi, sulle
autostradeL 5 un oggetto puV essere
un(avventura dello spaio, o un oggetto di
culto e veneraione, e diventare un nodo
luminoso di relaioniL," #ranslation by the
author"
1B
Stauffer, Fi"urationen des >topischen, B>!BB"
16
3ichael Fried, +Art and 8b%ecthood,, in Art
and %&(ecthood ;:hicago7 #he Hniversity of
:hicago Aress, 199I<, 16>" 8riginally
published in Artforum, June 196/, 19!9="
1/
Superstudio, +?a NitaESupersuperficie,,
Casa&ella, July 19/9, 9D"
1I
Superstudio, Ceremony ;19/=<, film"
19
?e :orbusier, Towards a New Architecture,
11D!111"
9D
Fanno!Calter Kruft, St=dte in >topia- #ie
Idealstadt !om ,@) &is 0um ,A) Bahrhundert
;3unich7 0ec', 19I9<"
91
Superstudio, +#welve :autionary #ales for
:hristmas7 Aremonitions of the 3ystical
.ebirth of Hrbansim,, A#, no"19 ;19/1<, /=/!
/>9"
99
Ibid", /=9"
9=
Alan :ol-uhoun, Modern Architecture
;8&ford7 8&ford Hniversity Aress, 9DD9<, 91="
9>
Ibid"
9B
Simon Sadler, The Situationist City
;:ambridge, 3A7 3I# Aress, 199I<, 99!9="
96
Ibid"
9/
Nan der ?ey and .ichter, Me"astructure
5eloaded7 9//"
9I
Gavid Ainder, Visions of the City- >topianism7
'ower and 'olitics in Twentieth-Century
>&anism ;$ew Mor'7 .outledge, 9DDB<, 19/!
19I7 +:onstant argued that $ew 0abylon
was the @e$perimental thou"ht and play
model for the establishment of principles
for a new and different culture@" Fe
described it as @the ob%ect of a mass
creativity@ that was based on @the activation
of the enormous creative potential which,
now unused, is present in the masses@,"
99
3artino Stierli, +Gas verdr1ngte Ged1chtnis
der Aostmoderne,, Neue C;richer Ceitun",
Gecember 1=, 9DD="
=D
.obert Nenturi and Genise Scott 0rown,
+Areface to #he First 5dition,, in .obert
Nenturi, Genise Scott 0rown and Steven
Ienour, earnin" from as Ve"as- The
For"otten Sym&olism of Architectural Form
;19/9Q repr", :ambridge, 3A7 #he 3I# Aress,
19//<, &i!&iv"
=1
Nenturi, Scott 0rown and Ienour, earnin"
from as Ve"as,1=7 +#he AOA par'ing lot is a
current phase in the evolution of vast space
since Nersailles" #he space that divides high!
speed highway and low, sparse buildings
produces no enclosure and little direction"
#o move through a piaa is to move
between high enclosing forms" #o move
through this landscape is to move over vast
e&pansive te&ture7 the mega te&ture of the
commercial landscape" #he par'ing lot is the
parterre of the asphalt landscape" #he
patterns of par'ing lines give direction
much as the paving patterns, curbs,
borders, and tapis !ert give direction in
NersaillesQ grids of lamp posts substitute for
obelis's, rows of urns and statues as points
of identity and continuity in the vast space"
0ut it is the highway signs, through their
sculptural forms or pictorial silhouettes,
their particular positions in space, their
inflected shapes and their graphic
meanings, that identify and unify the mega
te&ture" #hey ma'e verbal and symbolic
connections through space, communicating
a comple&ity of meanings through hundreds
of associations in few seconds from far
away" Symbol dominates space"
Architecture is not enough" 0ecause the
spatial relationships are made by symbols
more than by forms, architecture in this
landscape becomes symbol in space rather
than form in space" Architecture defines
very little7 #he big sign and the little building
is the rule of .oute 66,"
=9
Andrea 0rani, earnin" from Milan- #esi"n
and the Second Modernity, trans" Fuw 5vans
;:ambridge, 3A7 #he 3I# Aress, 19II<, 11"
8riginally published as 'omeri""i alla media
industria- #esi"n e Seconda Modernit6
;3ilan7 Idea 0oo's 5diioni, 19II<"
==
John $" 3artin and Arimo 3oroni, a una
Sotto Casa- Milano tra ri!olta esisten0iale e
mo!imenti politici ;3ilan7 ShaKe, 9DD/<, 11!
1>"
=>
Ibid", 199!19="
=B
Ibid", 19>"
=6
3ary ?ouise ?obsinger, +Architectural
Htopias and a Nuo!a #imensione" #urin in
the 196Ds,, in Italian Cityscapes- Culture and
>r&an Chan"e in Contemporary Italy, edited
by .obert ?umley and John Foot ;5&eter7
Hniversity of 5&eter Aress, 9DD><, //!I9"
+#he terms @city@ and @architecture@ were no
longer sufficient to describe the comple&
conse-uences of recent urbanisation, that
is, the tension between the centripetal
forces of the traditional city and the
centrifu"al dispersement of mobile
populations" A new reality was unfolding in
metropolitan areas that seemed to be
overturning all established modles in its
@unbridled course@" Italian architects saw this
dynamic environment as offering an
opportunity to rethin' their role, ;ibid", /9!
ID<"
=/
0rani, earnin" from Milan"
=I
Ibid", 1>"
=9
Archioom, +?a distruione degli oggetti,,
IN7 3ach !June 19/1, >!1="
>D
Ibid"
>1
Aier Nittorio Aureli, The 'ro(ect of
Autonomy- 'olitics within and a"ainst
Capitalism ;$ew Mor'7 Arinceton
Architectural Aress, 9DDI<, //"
>9
5rnst 3ay, +Gie Cohnung f6r das
5&istenminimum,, in Neues Bauen - Neues
1estalten) #as Neue Fran9furt2#ie neue
Stadt) <ine Ceitschrift 0wischen ,/*. und
,/DD, edited by Fein Firdina ;Gresden7
Nerlag der Kunst, 19I><, 999!99B" 8riginally
published in #as Neue Fran9furt, no" 11
;1999<"
>=
.osalind Krauss, The %ri"inality of the
A!ant-1arde and %ther Modernist Myths
;:ambridge, 3A7 #he 3I# Aress, 19I6<, 1B"
>>
Ibid"
>B
Ibid", 91"
>6
Ibid", 1="
>/
Such a stance is reminiscent of ?e
:orbusier(s perceptions of the city during
his 19=B visit" #he architect was impressed
with the sight of the high!rises and the
American love of technology, but in
contrast to his 199B 'lan Voisin, $ew Mor'
remained too disorderly" .ichard Sennett,
The Conscience of the <ye- The #esi"n and
Social ife of Cities ;199DQ repr" $ew Mor'7
$orton, 1999<, 1/D7 +?e :orbusier set himself
against the ways in which time is usually felt
in urban space" #he facades of old buildings
and worn paving stones offer evidence that
our own lives are no more and no less than
an addition to the past" ?e :orbusier
re%ected this evidenceQ he wanted modern
architecture, which see's for freedom of
movement in a perfectly coordinated form,
to e&punge historical time from the city,"