Expanding Fields of Architectural Discourse and Practice
Curated Works from the P.E.A.R. Journal
Matthew Butcher (Editor), Megan O'Shea (Editor)
Expanding Fields of Architectural Discourse and Practice presents a selection of essays, architectural experiments and works that explore the diversity within the fields of contemporary architectural practice and discourse. Specific in this selection is the question of how and why architecture can and should manifest in a critical and reflective capacity, as well as to examine how the discipline currently resonates with contemporary art practice. It does so by reflecting on the first 10 years of the architectural journal, P.E.A.R. (2009 to 2019). The volume argues that the initial aims of the journal – to explore and celebrate the myriad forms through which architecture can exist – are now more relevant than ever to contemporary architectural discourse and practice.
Included in the volume are architectural practitioners, design researchers, artists, architectural theorists, historians, journalists, curators and a paleobiologist, all of whom contributed to the first seven issues of the journal. Here, they provide a unique presentation of architectural discourse and practice that seeks to test new ground while forming distinct relationships to recent, and more longstanding, historical legacies.
Praise for Expanding Fields of Architectural Discourse and Practice
‘The story told by the authors of this work can thus be considered as the central tool of an architectural transgression.’ Critique d’art
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Introduction Matthew Butcher
Dwelling
1. Place as a reflexive conversation with the situation
Ben Sweeting
2. ‘The Grand Pear’ (Home): Mass housing for a mass of people Edwin Burdis
3. Undead and/or dead living: The new social category Jonathan Griffin and Mateo Tannatt
4. Yesilyurt Karin Ruggaber in Conversation with Megan O’Shea
5. A life of its own Jane Rendell
6. The Whitechapel Gift Shop Torange Khonsari (public works) in conversation with Megan O’Shea
7. Dwelling in the twenty-first century: ‘The Professor’s Study’ Neil Spiller
Study, Sample and Synthesis
8. Horizon remix: A ‘crisis’ in the architectural image – representations of Lacaton & Vassal’s ‘double space’ Robin Wilson
9. A conversation with Le Corbusier The Klassnik Corporation
10. Architectures of slowness: Actioning historical loops and repetitions Matthew Butcher
11. A (drawn) practice(d) construction: Relational structuring, chased Perry Kulper
12. Open score architecture Yeoryia Manolopoulou
13. Saved from the wrecking ball on a daily basis: Participation in design conversation and everyday experience Tom Coward/AOC
Landscape and Ecology
14. Writtle Calling/2EmmaToc: A radio station for Essex Melissa Appleton
15. The fossilization of architecture in the Anthropocene Jan Zalasiewicz
16. Architecture in the dark Jonathan Hill
17. Seoul City Machine Liam Young
18. On the enclosures of time Jes Fernie and Marjolijn Dijkman
19. ‘The Topiary Garden of Houldsworth Terrace’ Flea Folly Architects
20. Mallory’s ascent: Engaging the space of death through architectural drawing Stasus – James Craig and Matthew Ozga-Lawn
Meaning in Material
21. Forget material Adrian Forty
22. ‘MeMeMeMe Totem’ Adam Nathaniel Furman
23. Digital doubles, colliding in mid-air Prototyping a postdramatic scenography Bob Sheil and Thomas Pearce
24. The discrete turn: A reconsideration of architecture’s ontology Mollie Claypool
25. Choreographing curatorial conversations Kate Goodwin
26. Shelf life Guan Lee
Index
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781787356368
Number of illustrations: 138
Publication date: 27 November 2020
PDF ISBN: 9781787356368
EPUB ISBN: 9781787356399
Hardback ISBN: 9781787359093
Paperback ISBN: 9781787356375
Matthew Butcher (Editor) 
Matthew Butcher is Associate Professor in Architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture. His work has been exhibited at the V&A Museum, London; Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York; The Architecture Foundation, London and the Prague Quadrennial, Prague. Recent projects include The Mansio, a retreat for writers and poets that travelled sites across Hadrian’s Wall in the summer of 2016 and which was nominated for the 2017 Architects Journal Small Projects Prize. He is also editor of the special issue of Architectural Design titled Re-imagining the Avant-Garde: Revisiting the Architecture of the 1960s and 1970s.
Megan O'Shea (Editor)
Megan O’Shea is as an art producer and consultant for Contemporary Art Society Consultancy. She started her career in the art world working for Frieze Magazine and the inaugural Frieze Art Fair, then spent six years as Assistant Director at greengrassi and a further two years as Artist Liaison at Timothy Taylor Gallery. More recently she has worked freelance for artists including Aleksandra Mir and Susan Hiller as well as galleries and organisations including Matt’s Gallery and Christie’s Education.
‘The story told by the authors of this work can thus be considered as the central tool of an architectural transgression.’ Critique d’art
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