l ast summer, when this issue was being planned, it seemed that one of the characteristics of the new century was going to be unpredictability. How does architecture respond to abrupt change when buildings come out of a tradition of stasis? In a brilliant book by Jane Loeffler about US embassies, she tracks their increasing defensiveness, built to withstand attack. In the 1950s they were transparent, inviting local populations to view the open buildings of an open society. The bunker against change may be compared to a long tradition of de-mountable, moveable structures — whole populations can pack their tents and steal away in the night. Instantaneous change where environments can be destroyed in seconds and the slow erosion of peaceful territories both have implications for architecture. Does it become resistant or supple, nimble or a strong front? One thing is certain — the picturesque, the scenographic and the ironic revision of architectural verities no longer seem very interesting. Life is being trimmed a bit closer to the bone. In a war and a recession what service is it that we provide? Buildings measure the shifting planes of economics, politics, culture and technology. During the Depression and the Second World War buildings were monolithic, monumental bulwarks posed against the turmoil of the 1930s and 1940s. Something is different now; Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim, built in a city engaged in a war of its own, dashes about its site, mobile and flamboyant. The articles in this issue of On|site take movement, it its widest sense, as the general theme. This ranges from movement within buildings to moving away from conventional practice; from moving building components to economic change. Boundaries between disciplines, between practices and between geographies are re-examined.
5 movement, change, unpredictability Spring 2001
publisher Field Notes Press
editor Stephanie White
contributors Deborah Ascher Barnstone Robert Barnston Peter Bogaczewicz
David Hernandez Ivan Hernandez Matthew Jalicec
Al Donnell Tom Emodi Deborah Gans Carmel Gatt Geoffrey Gibson Tod Grant Deirdre Harris
George McCutcheon Andrew Macpherson
Frances Mikuriya Asheshh Saheba Tom Strickland Adele Weder Stephanie White
design & production Black Dog Running Syntax Media Services
Stephanie White editor
printer Makeda Press, Calgary
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A most immovable building: pilgrims move past it. Santiago de Compostela.
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