ON SITE r e v i e w
Spring 2019
I n the realm of architectural publishing we see a lot of successes: the professional journals publish the best, the most technologically advanced, the most culturally significant of the new. Critique happens in the letters. Theoretical journals also reveal a kind of success, usually academic successes, the kinds of discussions that are presented at symposia, or, before that stage, as theses and dissertations: original thought, often, carefully crafted to advance an academic career that can change the education of architects and in consequence, the profession. In theory. On Site review has always carved a middle ground, taking professional success with a grain of salt — it is never the brainchild of just one architect but massive teams of designers, engineers, bankers, construction companies, politicians, shareholders, planning offfices. Even the building of a house involves an interdependent team. At the other extreme, the abstract and theoretical discussions that are advanced academically, often fly above daily experience of architecture. There is a connection, but life is short – sometimes, usually, that connection is difficult, abstruse, personal, complex – not many people have the facility or the theoretical underpinnings, or the academic incentives to figure it out. On Site review has taken a three-year hiatus from its 20 years of publication and with this issue, 35: the material culture of architecture , proposes a discussion of architecture that starts with the material of architecture. 35: the material culture of architecture
contents contributors
Stephanie White
The material culture of architecture: Grenfell Tower Brick: the material of Eladio Dieste Developing form within the materials of architecture The culture of wood construction Yucca indigo willow The culture of materials Leaves willow lichen Material gestures The materials of the model On concrete Forensics of nuclear landscape The hard and the brutal: a journey through Parisian Brutalism The uninscribed surface The power of the material object Epilogue: boundaries and the materiality of architecture Postscript: Olinger Architects, T-Wall housing, Iraq call for articles: On Site review 36: our material future who the contributors are
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Ted Cavanagh Nicole Dextras
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Stephanie White Richard Collins Stephanie White Andrey Chernykh Robin Wilson Yuxin Qui Jonathan Ventura Johathan Ventura and Sharon Danzig
I would like to acknowledge that this issue was created on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, the traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Selilwitulh First Nations.
On Site review 35 : the material culture of architecture
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