radical architecture
Introduction
Anti-design (also called Radical Design or Counter-design) was a mainly architectural movement developed between the 1960s and 1970s in Europe, represented mainly by the English group Archigram and the Italians Archizoom and Superstudio.
Description
Opposed to rationalism and the primacy of design over the social and cultural function of architecture, anti-design emphasized the study of the needs of individuals above any other consideration.
The pioneer within this trend was the English group Archigram (1961-1974), formed by Peter Cook, Warren Chalk"), Ron Herron, Dennis Crompton"), Michael Webb and David Greene&action=edit&redlink=1 "David Greene (architect) (not yet written)"). The name is a contraction of the English terms Architecture and Telegram, and I wanted to express the idea that they were sending a new message to the stagnant architectural world. Inspired by the innovative vision of architects such as Bruno Taut, Antonio Sant'Elia and Richard Buckminster Fuller, as well as various theoretical works such as Theory and design in the first machine age, by Reyner Banham (1960), this group created a new perspective for the architecture of the future, marked by recycling and portability, as well as the predominance of technology. His projects were commercially unviable, so they remained sketches, plans and models, although they had a powerful influence on new generations of architects.
The Italian groups Archizoom and Superstudio emerged in Florence in 1966. Archizoom owed its name to an explicit homage to Archigram, and was composed of Andrea Branzi, Gilberto Corretti"), Paolo Deganello") and Massimo Morozzi"). Superstudio was formed by Adolfo Natalini, Piero Frasinelli") and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia"). Inspired by Art Nouveau, art deco, pop-art and kitsch art, they made a series of designs with an irreverent tone that questioned the functionality and good taste of the previous design (such as the Mies Chair, from 1969). They also conceived projects for utopian cities of the future, where technology would free humans from manual work.
The three groups dissolved in the mid-1970s, although they left a clear mark on the following architectural movements: high-tech regained its passion for technology, and postmodern architecture continued its aversion to the rationalist modern project. His dynamic idea of urban environments also influenced the work of Rem Koolhaas, and his conception of urban regeneration was taken up by the groups West 8 (emerged in 1987) and Muf") (born in 1993).
Another Italian group in the field of radical design is the one formed by Piero Gatti"), Cesare Paolini"), Franco Teodoro"), authors of the famous and innovative Sacco Chair (produced since 1968 and still in production), who began their activity in Turin in 1965.