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he ive of Mina Pre ete achmovlys eal ‘hs sane provid or Bo ye each Mins of rhe pul of his ook wi ain «Bowe etn) ASE harks prents hen Rk Chase and oma Hook ina ue inch obs ingles: Avec et Se es Benen ann Nove Cop 200 by gh anton copyright 202 by Raber Boa ats by tne Unie of Mines [Objet nga gh (objec cf cic / en Hadad fae rsh 816 912-4 (alk pape) Paice Peoophy 2 Ashen LNA! en eS Te ‘Naas 34133002 Prien the Unie Sates of Ame on edie paper The Ui of Minne ita equ opporany tt a Contents Foreword Miele Achnouledgments | frst interview Raticay Sings incites, say, eat Desabies ea?-Lnco esl, Vetin-Lreatn and Forgets aus of econ Yor. ‘ple tchtec:Betmean Nel ad Anton) Seduton, Pvc, Seces-he Metamorphosis of Arhtectare- Thefsthetisof Moderne Her rte] At? rcetecae, nd Posten in sapien tect fapomimet-The eset of sappearane—nages Moderne ogy le ANen Hedonism? 1, Secon terriew “chine ant x eauboury-A Sheer fo Cute?-dr Moan: Mutation eabitat-Areta Feasore yo ora Veta rote, Res cite Compre Madtng anthers 2nd Meviness-Mha lactate Desire fe Onspstece-einand forope-Atects a te of anti -rarsarey-bah 5 ater-Diapearene-What sketch Be Wines Singaty-Resaly, ery réGblzaton-testiny a ecoming-Te eno reer a hisor-Arte ind ot ‘Ws-The Questo Seats Cony Freda a Sl Raion Foreword K. Michael Hays ‘he Singer Obes of Acitectre shoud nt crete the expec {avo that ier architect o pilsopy wil be teat in Uh loge in anything ike a raiional way (wich, were it the cas would seem not osc ld-shonal as ectionay Tenino to ofthe ow clara gues pacing today thet we could sl dare to al progressive) ded, tis beter toate she ere what is tikes one as exaorinay about thosconvraon stat architect and pilosphy ate eted ith any disineton al progressive hinkersin our preset nour own ine the deiferentiation of dailies and the endentous erasure of boundaries between speci etra Instr and pacts promise to homoge all tition, [Mfuenceand heres into a gobalied neutralized sine fess Moch af what cin to e progresive thought is Dapey To asathdkeze this Statin, t0 accelerate its eects ad 10 ttade in any remaining indvidslty or singulanity of thought fora ndomived, spead-out dels. The Matesing seems to ave been chosen Bese, ny disciplinary autonomy oF © ere tat might counter hs eeing eden is destined to Uecrubed any under the massive movement ofthe wold etm elt be emulsised slong wilh everthing es ito so many curl and economic fds. What is xtrsordinary ‘Souths convertion, he, its decaration, ais fl tht, fovcarch for angular abet (rater than globalized Mis 9 ‘righ be found in artectre and pilsophy. Swe not heading for iater, wee already inthe ist of tox dont? Nowve declare tone point Yet neler he no nuded ee lament the oro real oe Weald pat nor ddtheyacepe not even fore marent the emnially complacent preemption of the future The second surprise of The Singular ja of Aocetr tat what fed, bob as programe nd as prctie exemplif n this particule Asogoe, ‘val of wtopian thought, 2 revived attempt a envisioning Ponthie fare out of our diatrous present a way of think Fog that as been unde ban now for more than wo decades, tsa he hegeavony ofthe ansutopan, etme thiaking ‘tour contemporary technoeratc pstvism and experiential Slomisatsm ("Whats mine fs mie, and you ca fel”) the ‘agua object mast be antpatan inexhaustible and shared, $F rmust dst cltre (or what but Become oft) andres tehute the lefovers And vo, wale architecture and pilosophy retreated topeter sparta period problem —as Spins {in pectin wth specie hitris,transtions, a tansor Toston subjected to the derlory eles of history now our en peled they wil not resin unchallenged of onchange Ita dialog Ifthe singular bjt isto be both utopian and “Truitt and xgustelyepresentativ ofthe pros tl be pecllar bjet ined ts model wi be {her architecture nor philosophy festanding, a atonal, posted, bt « peductiveenfolding of oe ito the otber—an Trent moe than an objet «constrain operation in which ‘leh ccoue interprets the other but nevetekes produces 3 ‘evi gl that pul thing wecall 00 2th though toon nercangesbe sy Bailar tart be exchanged for tuth or for reat xchange is posubl. fs Because ofthis that theory even ext” Theory is the diagram ofthe singular objet of arcitectre. This at ast, thou come aso supe for werk of sah ge ambition ort Js evidenced here iso be found today almost nowhere ater tha theory rey icy travel Although it bet theory wil ty dogo ih hisinty ofits materia mediating between spec Cull practices andopeciic trical contests theoretic on- ferctions io pases an ucanny expacy to xo ov i, nl espand acoss diplines, however much authors, est ion, andcetodoxis ry to cnfie therm. Theory i atono- tous (exchange) bot it soured by ceaation—y tourowing ad trang, by seanscos inlunce or whole Cpovprtion. Though te accidents of discours, a body of theory canals be dislodged and presed into the service of {ge diferene one, reinvest with anpredicte content, and ‘functioned fr unexpected yrstions ‘Nor est among sh trasations shat between cites arvand philosophy. provided we understand thatcouplinginan “apunded sac to indde bani, serilogy, dealer he crtain strain of pot uci hough or itis tht tion Gvbat we now ll sip actectare theo) tha ice the midaggs has vo energize architectural soars 2a “emic and professionel cles, trnig us vay fom eater fncionalit, empiri foundaionalst way of thinking and foward pew segs of ignition, By the os architecture theory had iscowete afte wih other branches of theory ln devel concerns wits tertoal states, constrtons ‘tabjcity and gender, ome nd property. epic, aad Stee themet that were ales pat ofthe neal poststuc- tora repertate but whose spa mension was ao fore (grounded This enue that the emphasis cn the production At arcitecurl objets (wich aimed to prescribe normative andar for desgnand ayo! methods and motive for imple Ihentton) shoul gie way to an emphasis onthe production of architecture «roel of owed. Theory took onthe tao of reeling the unintended ideological presumptions tat itera procedures and teceiques aerate enabled oF tried to remove fom the post ftinkng which isto ay dha theory undestod acitactre as one of culture’ pany representational per. The concera with the specifi internal workings of ach secre end tobe mainly synchronic, synthetic, and Drsectve was nt abandoned so mock soled into various Tunes of eontex and exterior, eared according © thet wat sayable or thinkable in he Kole of Marx, de TRsction, pychoanlis atid other imported ters. But hemaptema rere not mer yoked together with architect Rather something of sbi of level as much a pepe, took plc, in which architecture’ speci forms, operations, md pret could how more eal besten ae prodecing once whose ultimate hori af ec ay outside eit {ere "proper! ina more eneal sociocultural ld. Thi ne cbt of theory demanded not new idea for bulings but thetneation of altogether new tig fo rethinking ees Ot reprsentation, foundation, sbjetiviy,srucure and ora ant meray media ond more, Wha used oe called phi Tesi, hen began to thik ts problems through oritecare ‘athe han te oter way around. And this nevibly tracted Sime of the most important thinker of our tne (induding Roland Barthes Miche! Focal, aces Derrida, and Peds Jameson o ponder acter problems There has rarely een # sustained conversation Dewees 8 pfilouper and an ace of he scope and fos that we Fv here. Then opi certain horiznay of thought, slong, sth dhe dx to interpret theta. seems demanded by oar “ten sittin. Fra he appaest wi mip of out resent pte of object, tee tao the constant magnetic aT of the single global macket and 2 corporate controlled re (Caan of al he ipeted ycationsand funtion of vocal Lint single spacetime of consumption and comminica- tion Our dfleseat day-to-day activites are no longer ted to tletrmnate needs orto specific exchanges between people and ‘Sj but ether to total universe of signe and sila Tegting in econom an earl informational fds Fre the ensue idesogies of tebelion and negative critque sem "© fest Ot enol so much co-opted by the sstem a rete ar of the ‘pei internal workings, At cartain moments in certain sn thar objec, architect elf produces the perception ofthis Cniidly ovedtermined situations architecture becomes a Kind of precipitate ofthe vapor tat we used to cal the social The twinnes of the Word Trade Cet for example~aboui- ing tht we epic file ead, the 9608 when the omers were bul, an anticipatory sign of the computer fred, pnetealy nctwork, cloning society that was emery fog Inthe next Jcade, the Cetze Pompidou, cren mre deely ied signal the catastrophic ishing of of mas clare fy the masses thence: new breed of cultural consumer WhoIs sa along with the pantnge and the eau, both the ‘hate and he pout ofthe new muscu. Ard then he chitetre of our own tie (the Gupgenhsis Museum illo, potpe ne of infinite posible clones or chimera spun oot Uf are phage) sce o become altogether virtual for “Sautienee tnt is everyone and exept so uch 2. ‘htecura eadymade (nthe sense of Duchamp) as a9 a= ‘Tiere aad made, a transparent cout that own template Th their convertion, Baird and Nouvel tur over and oer again posible ways of understanding this sitvation a agents, mapping i through the languages of ache tre, pllosphy, and Bot together (and iti fscnatig Yo tepnr the sipppes of prspestiv between the architec ad the pidnoghe, ao compare how the mind feels prforming trod onthe problem one way apd then the oes but lo 10 ete sce ofthe preference tht both ave fra dese thon ofthe tty over the separate abstract parts). But the Drovcation, esponeh a probes ae not mint préier {he ways in which architectre sisly replies the bse-and opestruare pparte of which #2 primary organ (he ove words for sch devo epredution cade “seen trehectre” and “lone acitcture” but ao the neta and ‘he ob. Bauder and Nowe search al for some auton tots fre o eect produced by the object not cute but longs i inthe penumbra of clare, afore that tiers the station, obscures the sens and guns up the hegemonic vwoekings fvsbiltyandtansparency This atibatea the ob Fetiraltrntly called suet ead” tetera fr indeed its singularity. But cea this is a apprehension 0 thesinguar objet quite the rerese of ay hat wo fate on scsthtic properties tthe cxhsion flags etrinsifacore. Rater, he gular object isthe way of acess chrough the ols of entation, to be ue but nevertheless opening ont the dermis conditions fia owncltral seround “ake Nouvel own work which as amo found it Ken try ia agi ofthe uric. On the ne had from the et est stone facades tothe steel and glass curtain wall architecture as abeays played game of oatradicson with maw and gv ty and their dematraizaton ino surface. On the he hand, ffam our present perspective, the loge of the surface ape cept logic we must now understand as avin bon ive to ‘by consuser-comtauniation culture ond its ick advert ing two-dimensional. "Seren architecture" “Clone ach tecture” Or singular bj Its the partclar handling ofthe surface that must make a dfereace. Ax Nowel has comment ‘ef on his Cater Foundation: If I ook a the fad since its bigger than the bing, can elif looking atthe reflo:’ tom a the yo atthe sky cong the ls. Tok aa tree through the tre plas panes, can never determine Joakiag atte te tough the ls in front of it behind to the reflection ofthe tse. And when plant totes in pale, fe accidentally tthe lt plane Lean teliftherésa cond tee ovis el tee Bor Bauder, ths frm of illusion isnot gration in bis esay“Trth o Raicaity in Architecture” be refred tit asa "drunaturgy of son and sedseson” Such derbies tions of perorption thwart the dictatorship ofthe smoothly vile and ital an akernatve perception, 8"seret image an snort boy reclcrance (Rarer pontum i mentioned 254 moda), which wil make ise el kind of reste, lg or refraction beneath the transparency An objet bath of et culture and the culture’ biggest hrs, then: pine bythe Joss aniciatng the gun representation of the momen and momentary ef The singular objet deeply cond, and the comer ‘on here aes ont sje form. We at go an; we mst go on. The architect stretching to imagine wha t would take fo sctually make singular object, the philsoper insisting that no intention, no amount of Individual eflor, can guarentee Singlrity'acval lets not think too mack"), Hoth aga premature diction: know i hee, ut lait ae isthe Ain things be said about a singular subject. Rarely is wach conti bean so prodvetve Acknowledgments ‘The authors woul ike otha the Maton des xvas ad the Univesity of Pris VI-La Vet Schoo of Architectare fr taking the initiative to sponsor a conference between acest and philosophers. The projectile Ura Paap invohed ‘eriesof ixenoantecr ete writers ad ait 957 and 09, which made hesline both inside and ouside the echo Te exended dialogue between en ate and Jean Nowe forms the has ofthe preset ta. The five eter psi of pr ‘eipants were Pal Chemetov and Didier Dsenicha, Henri ‘Gaudin and jean ler Verant, Plppe Slles and Chistian de Porvampare. Antoine Grumbach and Antoine Bally, and Henri Giant and Olivier Nalin. Hale Blsknedevloped the ‘ea for Urban Paes and orgenize the digues We ae tefl forthe opportunity to old discssions of such quality Ince i i arog speech thi we communis to ober he Singularity fen encounter Wen ieee tine to publ the book the authors reworked ther dialogue focsingonarcurent theme ofthe discon singular. This theme helped drive the @cutions toward thee esoltion of, wesboul sy toward heir radical td ae ‘say incomplton First Interview fadiaty dea adit: We cnt bop with nothing beaut, lop, nothingness the ealmintion of something. Wha T think of radcaiy think fit mone in term of wing and theory than of citer, Cam more intrested in te adalty of space... Bat its posible that tre raat i the eadity of mosingness. sere a radial space hat alo a oid? The ‘uetion interests me because now; at I [ hae an oppo yo gain alg ino how we can ila space, how we ea ‘orgnie it by focasing on somthing oer haa its ada ex ‘ernon—vetcllyor horizontally that within dimension shee anything spose Yet we ill eed to produce some thing eal ..The question {want oak Jean Nowe, since we have to start somewhere, very mpl: "s thee such things snchitcural rh sean eee What do you mean by "rath"? 18 Archinectarl truth st teh oa realty the sense that archicure might exhaust ful interferers, nates, its detnstin, its modes, is procures, Does architecture transcend al of th sl a rue nay, or someting that would enable sw go beyond its rue aly... Does acitectare exit yond his limi of the el? ftv exhausting ise in something Singular objects in ve never been intrested in architecture. have no pee lings abot i one way ofthe oer Im intra in space, yes, ond in anything in so-called “constructed” objects tht fables me experience the instbiy of space. Tin mat in terested in building ke Beaubourg, the World Tage Cente, Biosphere singular abject, but ebjecs tht re xsl tuchtectra wonders frat I'm concerned. Isnt the ar Sitecturl nent of thee balding that captivate me bt he ‘world they tant. If examine the tr of the win tome ‘fhe Word Trade Cente, for example seta, nthat oes: tion, architecture expres, ignites, warsats «kindof fl, constructed fom, the cottet os sci already experiene: ing hypetalism, Those wo towers resemble two perforated bands Today wel probably say they're clones ofeach other, that theyve aed ben cloned, Did they anticiate ou pre fei? Dow thal enn tht acim part of rely bat patof the feson of society. an anticipatory sion? Or does srhtctre simply tana what is already thee? Thats why tks" there ach thing architectural rath” inthe eee that there would bea supratensble destination for architecture snd for epee 2X, Before ansvering your question, I would jst ike to cam ‘ent that hs dalogue provides «unig oppotenity di ‘ons chitctre in ott than the customary term, You ow that 1 consider you to be the o ly dong is jb. You respond to the many disturbing ques- Son, the zal questions, wilh questions and anewers tht 20 nee fone wants to hen dont know if be abe to provoke any responses in 3d that you dim to be unfmia with, that oss realy interest you, but this evening going to ry. Re senily Thad lok tvome of your bork and I ws ess to find that you never speak about architecture except i inter vie thal wok place tele yere ago between sin tht in teviow that dacovered a number of your Kea about archite ture aide frm our writing on New York or Beaubourg [took oes on some of you thoughts abou ou architectural mon stories and ve of your more rad points af view hich ‘ould supply swith numberof questions 1 we attempt to talk about acchitctre aa fiit—and thats what ely interests me—we do so by als poston lngourscher om henge of knowledge and ignorance, That the tie adventure of archers, And tht advent i te tel in a eal word a world tha implies consens, You ad tomewhere, that a consensus must eit inorder for sedation ‘eeu Now he ld of architect ra ld that bythe very nature of things, reales around a wold a eduction. The a chic in in 2 unig siteation. Her not n iin the tad ‘onal ens Hes not vomeane who mediates infront of blak page. He does work ona canvas. often compare the architect the fim dcr, Because we have roughly the sane Ui sons Were ins situation where we ive to proce an objet Within agen period of time, witha gen budget fr a specie (oup of ndvidsls And we work asa eam, Were in sit tion where we can be censor diel indirect for espns salty or money. or eren beste of deliberate censorship 1 ‘eld where there ae profesional centr, We could een cl an arte! who designs buildings in France aFreach bul ing cemor” Is craly the same thing. We ae stated i an vironment hati oun, limited Within tha exvionment, whee car wefind an unesvictd spaceand the means to ove. ‘onve those atone In my cas, ve lok fort inthe arti ‘things especlly the formulation of certain way of thinking Sosboul Toe the word concep” orn? Ted it ery early tion of visio on, celiig thatthe word philosophically appropri. Then fe may want to Introduce the terme "percept and alt? in reference to Deletze, but thts not the rel problem. The pec is in our ability to atclate «projec round pre liminary concept odes ong very pectic ty that rn syerze—or sometime even justapase—perceptions hat vill fnterat with on another and deine» pce we are afar with We a sil dealing with ienton, dhe uknowe, rk Thit anfamiieplae if we csc in figuring nt whats going on, could be the loos of secret And eight, asrsing thas ‘he ee then convey cetsin thing, things we cannot conta, things tha ae fata voluntarily uncontrolled. We aed to find 2 compromise between what we contol and what ne Provo Alle buildings Ive red to bul ntl no are based om he ttclation of these thre things They also refer to «concep that Fnow iter you, the concep ls. ‘uso, Vruaity, Realty {Xt no iin, bt yt create space than epi, space hat wrke asthe mental extension of sight. This ea ve spac, tht ital pace of llason based on ery preci strategies, rates that areoften diversionary Feet we vt find around me incding your own work and tha f Few others aloo male use of cinta. Se when ay that play swith dep of et beaus I'm trying foreground ascries, of iter tat cold lead anywere—a kad of metnaeaive— ‘ut from that point on, the intlect goes nto action. Thi ie ‘ot eatiely my invention. Look atthe apanse garden. There ‘salays a yanihing point, the pont a which we on know wether the garden sope or continues. Pm tying to provoke hater of espns we ook the phenomenon of perspective thinking ofthe projet for superimposing» prion the horizon, which Thad prepared fr La Tete Duenie—1 was stempting to sep ute Aes loge In other words [wa tying to organi all the ements in such away that he cule ein sees nd if eed be, to py with see ang the serie rhythm, 0 ote (7 {he vewer would Become conscious ofthe space Whathappens ‘Leap thon it? What 1 uy ha the uiding is = ‘ween the horizon andthe observer bt prt of hat horizon? Assuming this what happens if it oes its materiality? erateriization something that wold nterest yous the “endless skyscraper” isone example [Nouresprojetiora Tour ans fiends caper wa dig for La Dene jut ‘ute central Pars. Although his design won apiterzational ovmpetiin, the bulding wis never ctr | Aga thie iso vmething Invented. think Dele in Prot and Signs spoke about i rom a diferent point of wine This diversion, hich rerotesour perception of phenomena fom the material tothe mater na conecp tat architect shold prop te for it, Usng these inds of conerpt, we can crest more "han what we sex. And hin” rore than what we "it manifest in and through physical context, With spect to wha archer ture as borrowed fom cinema,the comer of ecqoenc er7 important, a Paul Vino reminds us. nee words, concepts sch displacement, speed memory seen in tenn ofan im pos tractor. ora known trajectory enable wo compose an ‘herr space bse nt only on what worse baton wht we have memorized asa succession of sequences that ae perceived to follow one another. om this point on, there ate contre ‘between whats crested and what was eignaly present in our poesption of space. In the Verses These, you enter through a stone cortior, which ig aboltely esta, plan, devoid of devotion, and ‘which opens suddenly into someting sbecuey stung in terms fis drain, precios The period in which this theater was designed imagined, eld provides swith ey to the phenomenon I hae been devribing. We're no longer In the same place today, however We ned to put those ideas side and make wi of thers deaslike contrast cing and fenension—to sere as fundamental concepts of the architec ‘eral projet At che same ine, when I ply with the concep of «vera pace, in the magicians sense ifs because space and archtectare are things we become conscious oftheoogh ou eye Sowe cn ply with anything the ee cn integrate hough ‘ht and wees foo the eye. Clic etre a oflen made ‘se of this hind of deght of hand In a bug ike the Cartier Foundation, where intentionally blend the rel mage td he vintage signs tat within given plane, no longer “now i'm looking at hewn image othe el image. look the facade snes bigger than the bing, cn tll ‘Fon ooking the election ofthe sy othe sy though he as. IF Took ea tee though the thre spn, can ‘ever determine i'm looking atthe toe through the gles in front of behind i, othe efletion ofthe ree And when Plant wo ies in pal ven acento the gas pane, anit lif there a second wee or ii a el tre, Teve are Bemis things we can pt into our bag of rks, our ach tectural bug of tricks, and which ete never supposed to ak bout, bat which ram ime oie, mt be ale abot. These tne the meant by which architecture rests ital pace or 8 sil space f+. ay f tricking the sees. Bat its primarily yy of preserving destabilise, Aetabiied Wea? 14. When you alk to 3 deelopes the way director tis produces, he aks ton of question aout the price pe square ‘neler thot, anit bebo, wilt shock the lol Bourges sie whol sre of euetions of hit ype And hen hee ae ‘hose things that remain nea, Tere sae something un said hat pr ofthe game. And wht zene uns i th Cally something additonal, something that dest run coun ‘er to what is being sold or exchanged, dot iter with our notons of economies but spite something vital, That's were the game i ple. Because fan acetal objet e nl the rasan of some fanetonnliy fits only the ele ‘of a economic stuston, it can have mening. Whats more thee punagein neo our texson New York that ke very ch, wher yon sy that tec enbodie a foro echitee ture hat ilent, bt immedi, which the reform of architecture, that you have no ned fo ec archers or en a tec archtcture because that would impede energy. What 1m sying does’ nears contradic hat, But sins wee not aay in New Yor, we nes Yo et tide places, ae that Caabe deabiied, 18.1 agree, except perhaps about terms like “amsenss ‘When you sy that eduction is conse het 4, You mean only wih reference to archtetunet 1 Proce ea way of cononing i through the vile and ‘he avis don talk mich about architects but in all my books te question suet beneath the sure... fully agree id che iden of visit, What lite very mach in your Wodk Isthat we dont seit things remain vise, they know howto ‘make denele vise Whea you standin Goat oF the ul ings, you se them, but they vibe to the extent that hey effcctively counteract that hegemonic visi, the viii, that dominates ste vsbly ofthe sem, where everything ‘must be inti vse and immed nterpeable You conceive space inch a way tat architecture sila necualy treats bol place and nonplics rao a noplaein this see, and tus creates kind of apparition. Andis sedative space So take back what nd earlier Sedation contents ‘dal. Im conifontan objet with the oder o the el he ibe oar that suroands it 1 this dality does exist if ther no interactivity 0 context—seducton doe tke place, ‘A succes objet ithe sense tht exit oie tow r= sliysivan objet that creates sli elton, a resin that in emerge through divin, covradcion, destabilization, but which efleively bring the so-called rest of «wos and itr son face t- fc, nce, Iresolton, Vertigo 1M Lets talk bout radical, Let talk about the kind of a alexi of things that Sen discus, the xrangsment from 3 sense of entity that resin the crstion of frea rr re ‘of vertign through which ll sorts of thing am oc aft, concept, prospects, whatever, but days something intl, something wnresoled In this ene, os, architect objects ‘rat lat yours or oer tha are even more undomsteated, tr part ofa architect without a referent Thefts thir ‘quay of being “une” and tiately identifiable, ‘objec. Thisis one area where we can combine —and not mee ly by detberateanlogy—weting Econ, architecture sd umber of other tings aswel obviously, wheter this inves the analy of soca event 39 Urban contest ee that we can choose the eve we can only howe the concept ‘but we etn the ight to make thiscoice, The choice of con cepts something tha should conic with the cote, with all the signieaions (pose, factional cc) biling can a sume ora theory o anything Daler defined the concep something artagmins. ow ‘ver with respet tothe even ie given a it sen, tis

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