"The labyrinth as a dynamic conception of space, as opposed to static perspective. But also, an above all, the labyrinth as a structure for mental organization and creative method, wanderings and errors, passes and impasses, luminous breakaways and tragic seclusion, in the generalized mobility of the times (more apparent than real), the grand dialectic of open and closed, of solitude and communion".
I am surprised how much the same images are being dwelled on when one writes about Constant's New Babylon. However, it exists a lot of drawings and models (next post) that are rarely shown and I thought it would be interesting to bring them on.
This issue is actually symptomatic of the fact that most amazing projects are being seen in a very narrow vision forgetting their very essence.
New Babylon is a labyrinthine city that host the nomadic behavior of what Constant calls "the homo ludens" (latin name for the playful human). It is the architectural materialization of Gilles Ivain's Formulary for a new Urbanism, Henri Lefebvre's theory of moments and situations' construction and the Situationist' Unitary Urbanism Bureau that was promoting the "derive continue" (continuous drift) as an experience of the city.
The following drawings are extracted from two (great) books:
- Libero Andreotti & Xavier Costa. Situationists. Art, politics, urbanism. Actar 1996
- Mark Wigley & Catherine deZegher. The activist drawings. The MIT Press 2001
Jean-Clarence Lambert. Situationists. Art, politics, urbanism. Actar 1996
I am surprised how much the same images are being dwelled on when one writes about Constant's New Babylon. However, it exists a lot of drawings and models (next post) that are rarely shown and I thought it would be interesting to bring them on.
This issue is actually symptomatic of the fact that most amazing projects are being seen in a very narrow vision forgetting their very essence.
New Babylon is a labyrinthine city that host the nomadic behavior of what Constant calls "the homo ludens" (latin name for the playful human). It is the architectural materialization of Gilles Ivain's Formulary for a new Urbanism, Henri Lefebvre's theory of moments and situations' construction and the Situationist' Unitary Urbanism Bureau that was promoting the "derive continue" (continuous drift) as an experience of the city.
The following drawings are extracted from two (great) books:
- Libero Andreotti & Xavier Costa. Situationists. Art, politics, urbanism. Actar 1996
- Mark Wigley & Catherine deZegher. The activist drawings. The MIT Press 2001
Terrific drawings! Thanks for sharing, I have seen some of them at the MACBA Collection, here:
RépondreSupprimerhttp://www.macba.es/controller.php?p_action=show_page&pagina_id=29&inst_id=25718
But there are some of them that I had never seen!! Thanks Léopold.
You're welcome Ethel ! Your post on soviet-Bulgarian buildings was very interesting as well.
RépondreSupprimerupcoming the models of New Babylon !
Thanks so much for posting (and referencing) these drawings!
RépondreSupprimerNow I can comfortably use them in my essay/presentation about Constant and New Babylon! =)
If you can find this book, get a copy. The drawings and the text explaining the visionary scope of this project are amazing.
RépondreSupprimer"The Activist Drawing: Retracing Situationist Architectures from
Constant's New Babylon to Beyond"
http://is.gd/cVHK6m