Post on 02-Jun-2018
transcript
8/11/2019 Utopia's Revival
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/utopias-revival 1/5
Utopia's Revival
Author(s): Manuel Orazi and Alta L. PriceSource: Log, No. 13/14, Aftershocks: Generation(s) since 1968 (Fall 2008), pp. 37-40Published by: Anyone CorporationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41765227 .
Accessed: 24/09/2014 23:41
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
Anyone Corporation is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Log.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 203.131.222.1 on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:41:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8/11/2019 Utopia's Revival
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/utopias-revival 2/5
Manuel
Orazi
Translated
rom
he talian
by
Alta
. Price
Utopia's
Revival
Yona
riedman,onument,
006.
Installation
t
MART,
overeto,
Italy. hoto ourtesyhe
author.
The
bsence
f
Utopian
rive
s
perhaps
lmosts serious
s an
overdose
f
t.
-
Rem
Koolhaas
Therewere
already
hree xhibitions
his
year
dedicated
o
theworkof
Yona Friedman:
Tu ferais a
ville,
which
opened
n
February
t the
Arc n Rêve
Centre 'Architecture
inBordeaux(through une ); an exhibitiont thePortikus
gallery
n
Frankfurt
m Main
(through
May
4);
and
Megastructure
eloaded:
Visionary
rchitecturend
Urban
Design
of
theSixtiesReflected
by
Contemporary
rtists,
Septemberhrough
ovember
t MODEM
in
Berlin,
hanks
to the
support
f
European
Art
rojects.
t is
important
o
note hat
not
only
hese
astthree hows
but lso
Friedman's
most
ecent olo
showshave
multiplied
after
ecades f
absolute ilence
in
nstitutions
edicated o
contemporary
art: heCenter or
Contemporary
rt
n
Kytakyushu,
apan;
Fondazione
Bevilacqua
a Masa in
Venice;
entroAndaluz
de
Arte
Contemporáneo
n
Seville;
MART
Museo
di Arte
Moderna
Contemporanea)
n
Rovereto;
Musée d'Art
Contemporain
n
Lyon;
The
Drawing
Center
n New
York;
and
finally
he
Fondazione
Antonio atti
n
Como,
which
after
Joseph
osuth,
Marina
Abramovic,
immy
urham,
Joan
Jonas,
nd others
invited riedman
s a
visiting
ro-
fessor his
past
ummer
2008),
a
post
hat ncluded he
annual
directorship
f ts
prestigious
Advanced ourse
n
VisualArts.
But
why
does this
repechage
f Yona Friedman
ome
through
ontemporary
rt,
nd not
through
rchitecture?
In
truth,
many
rchitects
re rediscovered
years
fter
n initial
dismissal
by
ritics nd
historians.
Luigi
Moretti
s an
emblematic
example,
ut
others ometo
mind s
well,
uch
as
Superstudio1
with
shows
n
London
n 2004 and New
York
n
2005)
and
Archizoom,2
ho
are
being
eevaluated
because
they
ave
a
part
n
the
personal enealogies
f a few
well-known
contemporary
rchitects
not
only
f
older,
morefamousrchitects,ut lso ofyoungernes, uch s
PierVittorio ureli.*
riedman's
ase s a little ifferent.
With
he nd of
the
megastructure
eriod
brought
about
n
partby
the
publication,
n
1966,
f two
key
exts
or
V
1. eter
ang
ndWilliam
enking,
ds.,
Superstudio:ife
ithout
bjectsMilan:
Skira,
003).
2.Andrea
ranži,
o-Stop
ity:
rchizoom
Associati
Orleans:
ditions
YX,
006).
3.
ier ittorio
ureli,
he
rojectf
Autonomy:oliticsnd rchitectureithin
and
gainst
apitalism
New
ork:
Princeton
rchitectural
ress,
008).
Aurelis
partner
n
herchitectural
design
ffice
ogma.
This content downloaded from 203.131.222.1 on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:41:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8/11/2019 Utopia's Revival
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/utopias-revival 3/5
contemporary
rchitectural
ulture,
obert
enturis
Complexity
nd Contradiction
nArchitecture
nd Aldo
Rossi's
U architetturaella
ittà The
Architecture
f
he
City)
Friedman nd
hiswork
were
eclipsed
o the
point
f almost
disappearing,
ike o
many
thers,
fter
disciplinary
utono-
my
gained
he
upper
hand
ust
before
he
postmodern
period.
Today
here re those
who have
tried o
reread
Friedman
within he
ontext f
the
1960s
utopists
whom
Tafuri
dismissively
alled
l'Internazionale
dell'utopia,
r
utopian
nternational,
s
a
parody
f theCommunist
International
in a rather
cursory
ashion4 r
even
n a
more
deeply
nformed,
ontextualized
manner,5
utulti-
mately
riedman
ow
enjoys
early
niversal
ame
n the
artworld.
One
might
sk
why
t
s that
today's
rt
world s reeval-
uating
riedman
nd
notother
rchitects.
ndeed,
ontem-
porary
rt
eems o have
increasingly
ollowed
trajectory
that onsiders
iewers
ust
as
important
s artists
nd
the
objects
hey
roduce
paintings,
culptures,
tc.);
conse-
quently,
he
process
f
involving
he
viewing
ublic
becomes
the
rucial
point.
n
other
words,
he
viewerbecomes
n
actor
artist)
nd
viceversa.
Friedman's
participation
n
Documenta
1
2002)
in Kassel
nd
n the
2003
nd
2005
YeniceBiennalesforvisual rts)6
upon
nvitation
by
co-curators
ikeUte
Meta
Bauer,
Carlos
Basualdo,7
nd
Hans-Ulrich
brist8
must
be
viewed
from his
perspective.
That
Friedman's
euvre
has
never
een aken
nto onsider-
ation
n ts
totality
s another
eason
or ts
return
o
the
forefront,
lmost
s
if
he
were
an
elderly merging
rtist
with
slightly
aded
past
record
n architecture.
et,
Friedman
as never
onsidered
imself n
artist,
t east
not
n
the
raditionally
nderstood
ense,
ven
f t s true
thathisvision f artnowcoincideswith he forementioned
line
of
thought
e
might
all
relational
esthetics
Apropos
f
this,
s
early
s
1978
Friedman
wrote:
I like o
think
f
art
as
communication;
s
a
result,
see
the
recipient
the
viewer,
the
person
who
receives
he
vision)
as
more
important
han
the
producer
the
artist). 9
Ultimately,
uch
statement
oesn't
ontradict
n the
least
Friedman's
arlier
esearch
nto
and
lifelong
uest
for)
participation
n architecture.
articipation
s
now
an
outdated
subject,
ut
t has
not
entirely
isappeared.
ean-Louis
ohen
hasdemonstratedhat heopening ftheprojectotheusers
or
what
he
calls
populism
has been
constant
emptation
f
postwar
modernism,10
ith
supporters
ikeGiancarlo
e
Carlo,
Bernard
Rudofsky,
nd
Lucien
Kroll,
mong
thers.
38
4.Exit
topia:
rchitectural
rovocations
1956-1976,
ds.
artinan chaik
nd
Otakar
acei
Munich:restei,
005).
5.
arry
usbea,
opologies:
he
rban
Utopia
n
rance
1960-1970
Cambridge:
MIT ress,007).
6.Trans,ote:s
pposed
o
he enice
Architecture
iennale.
7.
emocracy
nrealized:
ocumenta
ll_Platforml,
ds.
kwui
nwezor,
t l.
(Osterfilden-Ruit:
atje
antz,
002).
This
ook,
etailing
he
esultsf
Platforml,
he
irstf everal
onfer-
enceseld
n
onjunction
ith
Documenta
1,
resents
exts
y
heorists
liketefano
oeri,
ichael
ardt,
nd
Antonio
egri,mong
thers.
8.Obrist
laced
riedman
n
he
Utopia
Station
ectione
urated
ithinhe
2003
iennale,
irected
y
rancesco
Bonami.eeognionflitti:adittatura
dello
pettatore
Venice:arsilio,
00?);
published
n
nglish
s
Dreamsnd
Conflicts:
he
iewer's
ictatorship.
9.
ona
riedman,
'architecture
e
survie:
u 'invente
ujourd'hui
emondee
demain
with
preface
y
Michel
agon
(Paris-Tournai:
asterman,
978).
L'architecture
e urvie:
ne
philosophie
e
la
auverté,
ev.
d.
Paris:
ditions
e
l'éclat,003),
93.
ranslation
ourtesy
Victoria
elwyn.
10.
ean-Louis
ohen,
Promesses
t
impasses
u
opulisme,
ahiers
e
a
rechercherchitecturale
t
rbaine
5July2004):67-84.
This content downloaded from 203.131.222.1 on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:41:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8/11/2019 Utopia's Revival
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/utopias-revival 4/5
But
this
onlypartially
xplains
he
scarcity
f studies
and
research hat
he rchitectural
ield as
dedicated o
Friedman
n
the
more han
-0
years
hathave
passed
ince
he was so
well known
orhis
1958
manifesto
rchitecture
mobile1
up
to
1966,
more r ess. f n thefirst ew
years
f
the
21st
century
riedman
s
experiencing
consistentome-
back,
f he
has
begun
o
publish
book
every ear
nd s now
translatednd
reprinted
n
many
ountries,12
t s not
because he
contemporary
rtworld s
reevaluating
im,
but
because t s
discovering
imfor hefirst ime.
o it s a case
of historical
isconnect,r,
f
you
will,
tiger's
eap
nto
the
past,
s Walter
enjamin
would
call t. Relational
es-
thetics
oes,
n
fact,
xplore
he nherent rtistic
possibilities
of nteraction ith hepublic, nd s often oundthrough
temporary
nstallations
nd
performances
n critical reasof
the
city
such s
Europe's
most
decayed
uburbs
almost s
if
t
unintentionally
imed o
remedy
he
shortcomings
f
the rchitects ho
designed
nd
built hem.1*
This s
yet
nother eason
why
relational esthetics
s
now almost
naturally
ediscovering
any typical
igures,
figures
ho are useful
precisely
ecause f their
atypical
nature
figures
ikeFriedman.
he
danger,
owever,
s that
Friedman's ationalworkwill be
impoverished
hrough
being
estheticized,
topping
t a
superficial
evelof
generic
public
nvolvement.he Friedmanian
proposals
f
self-
organization
lways
egarded
ociety
s a
whole,
s those
who haveread
Utopies
éalisables
14
is
mostbrilliant
ook,
first
published
n
1976
which
has not
aged
n
the
east,
ut
unfortunately
as
yet
o be
published
n
English),
well
know.
n
his
critiques
f the
myth
f
global
ommunication
and
democracies
governed
y
the media
mafia,
is con-
cepts
f
critical
group,
urban
villages,
city-continent,
etc., ummarize long eries f reflectionsaseduponper-
sonal
experience:
he
fight gainst
Nazism
n
Hungary
ur-
ing
World
War
I;
life
n
a kibbutz nd the
attempted
ut
failed
onstructionf an
entirely
ew,
classless
society
n
the
State f
srael;
he
U
architectureobile
nd Ville
spatiale
projects
which
soon sank
nto
oblivion);
eaching
n
American
niversities;
he vents f
1968;
hisworkfor he
United
Nations nd
UNESCO
in
poor
countries,
nd
so
forth.
The
originality
f
Utopies
éalisabless based
primarily
on
Friedman's
attempt
o
unite he earch or
manageable
anddemocratic orm fcommunity ith ndividual ree-
dom,
nd because f
this t has
long
been nubbed nsofar
s
it
ies outside
oth
onventional arxist nd
ibertarian
points
f
view
-
even
f,
ecently,
t
was not
entirely
ver-
39
11. rchitectureobileas irst
resented
at IAM0
Dubrovnik)
n
956.
12. riedman
ecently
ublished
wo
books
n
apan
hankso he
upport
f
the enteror
ontemporary
rt
n
Kytakyushu
Obrist
lso orksith
his
museum).
ee ona
riedman,
he
trompe
'œil
niverse
Kitakyushu:
Centeror
ontemporary
rt/
CA,
2002);
ities
Kitakyushu:
enter
or
Contemporary
rt,005).
ee lso
his
nthology
ro
omo
Barcelona:
Actar/Junta
e
Andalucía,
onsejería
e
Cultura,
006).
1?.or heresent-dayersionf ela-
tional
esthetics,
ee
icolas
ourriaud,
Relational
esthetics
Dijon:
es resseu
Réel,
998).
14.
ona
riedman,
topies
éalisables
rev.d.
Paris:'éclat,
000).
he ook
has eenranslatednto
erman,
Spanish,
ussian,
ndtalian.
This content downloaded from 203.131.222.1 on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:41:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
8/11/2019 Utopia's Revival
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/utopias-revival 5/5
looked
by
theneo-Marxist
philosopher
redric
Jameson.15
The failure f the
Utopian rojects
f the
1950s
nd
60s,
and
the vents f
1968,
asically
rought
bout
major
hanges
n
Friedman's
thought,ausing
him
gradually
o shift hefocus
of his studies rom
technology
o
society
s a
whole,
nd
especially
he
utopian
hinking
f Paul Goodman.16he
brother
f
architect
ercival
Goodman,17
professor
f
architecturet Columbia
University
nd one of thefirst o
invite
riedman
o
ecture
n
theUnited
tates,
aul
Goodmanwas
surely
n
influence n Friedman's
develop-
ment.
n
his
1961
ssay Utopian
hinking,
oodmanwrote
what eems o be the
starting
oint
f
Utopies
éalisables
ideas
are called
utopian
when
they
eemuseful
ut
pro-
posea differentstyle, differentprocedure, different
motive rom heusual
n that
particular
moment. hese
ideas can be of an
obvious ommon rder nd
easily
xecut-
ed,
but hen
they
would be
judged
impractical
nd/or
an
abuse
imposed
n the
peoplebyexperts
nd
ntellectuals,
reaction
exhibitingtrong
esistance
nd aversion.18
Becauseof
this,
orGoodman
utopists
musthave the
courage
o
fail,
dvancing
heir
project
n
solitude,
f need
be.19
t s
precisely
n
these
imes,
ithwhatRem
Koolhaas
calls
complete
absence f
Utopian
rive, 20
hat
riedman's
ideaswould eem o
gain
greater
alue. t s,then,
aradoxical
that he
prototype
f a cardboard
helter
or hehomeless
whichFriedman
uilt
with he
help
of a few tudents
t
MART
n 2006
-
is now
n thecollection
f a
contemporary
artmuseum.
Atthe ame
time,
his s
the
sign
f an
ump-
teenth
ailure:
hatwhat
houldbe
supremely
seful,
uotid-
ian,
offering
real
solution,
s
nsteadmummified
nd
dis-
played
n
a museum
ike chloroformed
butterfly.
swe
await
complete
tudy
rom
he
point
fview
of architec-
ture hat valuates riedman'slong
career
n ts
entirety
beginning
ith
his formative
experiences
n
Hungary
nd
Israel
we see
that
today
riedman's
message
s,
once
again,
dramatically
isunderstood,
ublimated
nto n
artistic rti-
fact,
nd exorcized
f
ts
political ignificance.
40
Manuel razi
eceived
is hD
inHistory
fArchitecture
nd
ofCitiest the chool f
Advanced
tudies
nVenice
ith
a thesis n
The rratic
Universe
fYona
riedman.
e
WRITES
OR
MC
ND BITARE.
15.
redric
ameson,
rchaeologies
f
he
Future:he esirealled
topia
nd ther
Scienceictions
London:
erso,
005),
228-29.
16. aul oodman
1911-1972)
ecame
one f he ostnfluentialocialritics
of he960sftere ublishedrowing
Up
bsurd:roblems
f
outh
n he
Organized
ystemNew
ork:andom
House,960),
hichookedt
he
rob-
lemsf
outh
n he
organized
ystem
ofmodernmerican
ociety
nd as
fundamentalorhe68 ebates.e
wroten
many
ubjects,
riticizing
he
failings
fWestern
echnological
ociety
and
making
racticalroposals
o reate
a modern
ociety
t humancale.
17. aulnd ercival
oodman,
Communitas:eans
f
ivelihoodnd
Ways
of ife
New
ork:
intage
ooks,
94-7);
reviseddition
960.18. aul oodman,Utopianhinking
(1961),
ater
ublished
n
Utopian
ssays
and ractical
roposals
New
ork:
Random
ouse,962),
-22.
19.
ee ier
ittorio
urelind anuel
Orazi,
The
olitudef he
roject,
og
7
Winter/Spring
006):
1-32.
20. Theresedo e
period
n
which
all f s new
xactly
hato o:
many
of
swould
rite anifestosand
some
f swereuccessful
n
ealizing
sectionsf hose
anifestos.
owever,
s
part
f hehift
n
ulture
n
heast
5
years,
nd ecausef ur wn
istakes,
thateliefnmanifestos,nd hatonfi-dencehate newhato o, ave
completely
ollapsed.owadays,
e
o
longer
rite
anifestos;
t
most,
e
write
ortraits
f
articular
ities,
n
he
hope,
ot f
eveloping
theory
fwhat
to owith
hem,
utf
nderstanding
howitiesxist
urrently.
n ther
words,
hisindf
onfidencesnow
completely
bsent,
ndtwillake
ong
timeor
nything
iket o eturn.
considerable
ercentage
f
eople
n
England
andknowbout
our
nti-
utopian
endencies,
incestudied
ere
in
968
would
aygood
iddance,'
ut
thebsencef topianrives erhapsalmosts eriouss n verdosef t.
Rem
oolhaas,
Dilemmas
n
he
Evolution
f he
ity,
ecture
t
ABE,
London,
006.
he
ommission
or
Architecture
nd he
uiltnvironment
is he ritish
overnment's
dvisor
n
architecture,
rban
esign,
nd
ublic
space.
This content downloaded from 203.131.222.1 on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:41:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions