Description
This innovative edited collection charts the rise, fall and possible futures of the word primitive.
The word primitive is fundamental to the discipline of architecture in the west, providing a convenient starting point for the many myths of architecture’s origins. Since the almost legendary 1970s conference on the Primitive, with the advent of post-modernism and, in particular, post-colonialism, the word has fallen from favour in many disciplines. Despite this, architects continue to use the word to mythologize and reify the practice of simplicity.
Primitive includes contributions from some of today’s leading architectural commentators including Dalibor Vesely, Adrian Forty, David Leatherbarrow, Richard Weston and Richard Coyne. Structured around five sections, Negotiating Origins; Urban Myths; Questioning Colonial Constructs; Making Marks; and Primitive Futures, the essays highlight the problematic nature of ideas of the primitive, engage with contemporary debate in the field of post colonialism and respond to a burgeoning interest in the non-expert architecture.
This now controversial subject remains, for better or worse, intrinsic to the very structure of Modernism and deeply embedded in architectural theory. Considering a broad range of approaches, this book provides a rounded past, present and future of the word primitive in the architectural sphere.
CONTENTS
Part I: Original Matters
- 1. Primitive: The Word and Concept Adrian Forty
- 2. The Primitive as Modern Problem: Invention and Crisis Dalibor Vesely
- 3. Origins Redefined: A Tale of Pigs and Primitive Huts Mari Hvattum
- 4. The Primitive Hut: Fantasies of Survival in an All White World Lorens Holm
- 5. Semper’s Primitive Hut: Dureation, Construction and Self-Creation Jonathan Hale
- 6. Mineral Matters: Formation and Transformation Richard Weston
- 7. Post-Colonizing the Primitive Felipe Hernandez and Lea Knudson Allen
- 8. Notes for an Alternative History of the Primitive Hut Stephen Cairns
- 9. Reinventing ‘Primitiveness’: Henri Lacoste and the Belgian Congo Pavilion at the 1931 Colonial Exposition in Paris Johan Lagae
- 10. The Radicalisation of the Primitive in Brazilian Modernism Styliane Phillipou
- 11. The Need to be Critical Robert Brown
- 12. Practically Primitive David Leatherbarrow
- 13. Giants and Columns Nick Temple
- 14. The Emblematic City: John Wood and the Refounding of Bath Jo Odgers
- 15. Alvar Aalto and the Primitive Suburb Harry Charrington
- 16. Metaphorical Manhattan: Paradise Lost Lorna McNeur
- 17. The Perception of Self-Navigation in the Space of Emptiness: The Primitive in Tadao Ando’s Architecture Jin Baek
- 18. The ‘Primitive’ Surface: Carving, Modelling, Marking and Transformation Stephen Kite
- 19. The Modern Day Primitive Hut? ‘Self Building’ with Jung, Aalto and Le Corbusier Flora Samuel and Sarah Menin
- 20. The Wisdom of the Sands Simon Unwin Part VI: Primitive Futures?
- 21. Digital Commerce and the Primitive Roots of Architectural Consumption Richard Coyne
- 22. The Primitive and the Everyday: Sergison Bates, Lefebvre and the Guilt of Architectural Expertise Adam Sharr
- 23. Heart of Darkness: Air of Comfort Helen Mallinson
- 24. Primitive: From which Construction Begins Peter Salter
- 25. United Cultures of Britain C.J. Lim
286 pages / 15,5 x 23,5 cm / English
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