gabriele mastrigli

7/25/2019 Gabriele Mastrigli

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Now that the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale finally came to an end, we think it is the right time to publish this interesting short essay by Italian

professor of architectural theory and writer Gabriele astrigli on the origins of !em "oolhaas# reading of the $ity, %which is in any way

indissociable from his architectural production&' (he dense paper presents a pretty uncommon image of the architect and theorist, identifying the

genesis of his thinking in his roamings across 1)*+ arisian streets when they resonated utopian slogans such as -.ous les pa/0s la plage2'

3ater on, astrigli follows "oolhaas through his years at the Architectural Association school in 3ondon and then through his intense acti/ity as a

collector of illustrated postcards in 1)5#s N6$, while writing -7elirious New 6ork2' 8hat is argued is that "oolhaas, pointing out that the $ity is a

pree9isting -condition before being a place2, : the locusfor endogenous forces to unfold ;, perpetuates the -rhetoric of the bourgeoisie myth2, the idea

that -the norms of the bourgeoisie are experienced as undeniable or obvious laws of a natural order2 as Barthes stated'

(he article was originally published on .an !occo maga


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First page of the manuscript of "em #oolhaas-s 6he >urface 81()(9 + 8?lick to enlarge9

6his is the case of #oolhaas-s approach to the city that incubated his first pro=ects of the late 1()*s and was eventually emblemati:ed in his

psychoanalytical$ retrospective tale about @ew Aork% Bong before it offers a solution to the ;problems< of the city$ #oolhaas-s discourse focuses on

8literally9 overturning its clichCs$ its ordinary ;commonplaces%< 7is story of @ew Aork$ then$ is the expression of a fact$ of what the city might be when

one begins by considering what it already is% #oolhaas-s ;secret< is this% 6he intrinsically tautological nature of his discourse belongs to what 5arthes

called the ;rhetoric of the bourgeois myth


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!n the summer of 1()( while studying at the 0rchitectural 0ssociation in Bondon$ "em #oolhaas wrote a story4manifesto titled ;6he >urface


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invested with a ;social usage


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7owever$ it is the very founding myth of @ew Aork that bears the signs of a pro=ection into the future as improbable as it is prophetic% For example$ in

1) when$ only a few decades after the arrival of the first Dutch settlers$ the French engraver ollain published a highly detailed though entirely false

bird-s4eye view of @ew 0msterdam% For #oolhaas$ ;@one of the information it communicates is based on reality% Aet it is a depiction + perhaps

accidental + of the pro=ect Manhattan. an urban science fiction%


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to 5arthes$ results in the urban condition being perceived as nature% !t is once again 5arthes who claims that$ from a social point of view$ the premise of

the myth is$ in fact$ the total ;bourgeoisi:ation< of society + in other words$ the point when middle4class society subsumes everything. ;ur press$ our

films$ our theatre$ our pulp literature$ our rituals$ our =ustice$ our diplomacy$ our conversations$ our remarks about the weather$ a murder trial$ a

touching wedding$ the cooking we dream of$ the garments we wear$ everything$ in everyday life$ is dependent on the representation which the

bourgeoisie has and makes us ha/eof the relations between man and the world%


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;K?ity of the ?aptive Globe- key. 19 "eligion in ruins 9 0 subconscious portrait of %M% ngers- architecture &9 6wo towers of Be ?orbusier-s lan

Loisin in the grass ,9 6he ?abinet of Dr% ?aligari /9 6he 'aldorf40storia 7otel )9 7omage to Mies 9 DalN-s 0rchitectural 0ngelus$ 1(&& 29 !van

Beonidov-s Ministry of 7eavy !ndustry (9 El Bissitsky-s Benin-s stand 1*9 utdoor indoor 119 Malevic-s 0rchitekton 19 "?0 5uilding$ "ockefeller

?enter$ 1(&& 1&9 7omage to >uperstudio 1,9 6rylon and erisfera by 'allace 7arrisonurrealism was in fact a movement that ;revealed the latent dreams of modernity$ their shamefulness$ violence$ anxiety and hopes$ but + and this is a

profound dilemma and irony + itself remained caught in the dream of the same modernity%


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despite its irreducibly ob=ective character% r better yet$ precisely this ob=ectivity is the key to understanding the potential of architecture$ and more in

general of art%/16he ob=ectual value of architecture is not limited to concrete or material data + the originaldata$ as in the line of thinking that can be

traced as far back as Baugier-s primitive hut rather$ it truly takes form when architecture becomes a speculative ob=ect$ the support for an intellectual

pro=ection that consents the attribution of a mythical value% >hared$ and thus social$ this value is$ in the end$ historical% !t is in this moment that

architecture reveals itself in all of itsproducti/edimension as a ;machine< for the creation of new sub=ectivities%

5esides$ Foucault points out$ a true elaboration of oneself as an autonomous sub=ect cannot be immune to a permanent criticism of our being historical%6he modern ethosimplies an analysis of the sub=ect as historically determined$ and thus it cannot rest atop any original certainty% n the contrary$ it

consists of ;a criti3ue of what we are saying$ thinking and doing through a historical ontology of ourselvesingapore$ 0tlanta$ the earl "iver Delta9 to their more generali:able and a4topical aspects 8;5igness


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)

!n his famous poem of 1()2 ;!l ?! ai giovaniT< 86he ?! to Aoung eopleT9$ ier aolo asolini commented on the clashes between students and the

police at Lalle Giulia in "ome$ mocking the bourgeois students- ;revolutionary< aspirations$ referring to them as ;figli di papQee ier aolo asolini$ ;6he ?! to Aoung eopleTan Francisco. ?ity Bights 5ooks$ *1*9$ 2,%

"oland 5arthes$ythologiesH1(/I$ abridged and trans% 0nnette Bavers 8@ew Aork. 6he @oonday ress$ 1(9$ 1/1%

2

>ee Michel Foucault$ ;'hat !s EnlightenmentJurfacetates% 6hey originally settled in !thaca$ where #oolhaas spent time with %M%

ngers at ?ornell niversity% !n 1(& they moved to @ew Aork$ where they began their research for the book% 6he discovery of the illustrated postcards

of the city from the 1(*s and -&*s spurred the couple to =oin the Metropolitan ostcards ?ollectors ?lub% ;!t was meeting once every month in a huge


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building downtown% ne floor was turned into the Metropolitan ostcards ?ollectors ?lub once a month% !t was in a way like a city$ everyone has a table

and you would circulate between the Kdestinations- of those tables on which the postcards were arranged in shoeboxes% n each table all finds of

possible fetishisms were arranged and indexed% % % % !t was an invaluable resource$ because one third of Delirious @ew Aork is based$ both in its

iconography and even in its information$ on postcards ! discovered there%< #oolhaas interviewed by 5eatri: ?olomina$ ;6he 0rchitecture of

ublications. "em #oolhaas in conversation with 5eatri: ?olominaet atop a train and bus station$ it contained hotels$ restaurants$ theatres$ a hippodrome$ a circus$ the

largest ballroom in the world$ a palm grove and an observatory$ among other things% 6he pro=ect was abandoned in 1(*2 after the completion of its

foundations% >ee #oolhaas$7elirious New 6ork$ /2+)%

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5arthes$ythologies$ 1&(%

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0n interesting example on the theme of bourgeois ideology as the new nature of the city can be found in the term employed today to describe those who

intend to ac3uire citi:enship in a foreign country. naturali


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6he five pro=ects are. ;6he ?ity of the ?aptive Globe< 8"em #oolhaas with Zoe Zenghelis 1(9$ ;7otel >phinx< 8Elia and Zoe Zenghelis 1(/+)9$

;@ew 'elfare !sland< 8"em #oolhaas with German Martine: and "ichard erlmutter$ with paintings by Zoe Zenghelis 1(/+)9$ ;'elfare alace

7otel< 8"em #oolhaas with Derrick >nare$ "ichard erlmutter$ with paintings by Madelon Lriesendorp 1()9 and ;6he >tory of the ool< 8"em#oolhaas$ with paintings by Madelon Lriesendorp 1(9% >ee ibid%$ /+2(% 6he credits can be found in ;M0urprisingly$ the pro=ect was developed in 1($ before #oolhaas arrived in the nited >tates to gather material

for7elirious New 6ork% 7e began writing only in 1(/$ after returning to Bondon% >ee #oolhaas interviewed by 5eatri: ?olomina$ ;6he 0rchitecture of

ublicationstand4outs among the

architectural references include. a hypothetical building by %M% ngers two towers from Be ?orbusier-slan Voisin the 'aldorf 0storia 7otel two

Miesian towers Beonidov-s Ministry of 7eavy !ndustry El Bissitsky-s 6ribune one of Malevic-s 0rchitektons the "ockefeller ?enter a histogram by

>uperstudio and the 6rylon and erisfera of 'allace 7arrison% >ee ;6he ?ity of the ?aptive Globeuperstudio$ ;@ew Aork of 5rainsee$ for example$ the construction of "adio ?ity Music 7all ibid%$ 1)%

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>ee ;?hangement de dimensions. "em #oolhaas s-entretient avec ean4FranUois ?hevrier


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Dalibor Leseley$ ;>urrealism$ Myth V Modernity


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Foucault$ ;'hat !s EnlightenmentJ

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