Differences: Topographies of Contemporary Architecture (Writing Architecture) Book

translated by Graham Thompson edited by Sarah Whiting "Following traces that are neither modern nor postmodern, Ignasi de Solà-Morales opens a deterritorialized territory harboring rich possibilities for architectural theory and practice. Philosophically astute and critically savvy, Differences resists the fashionable allure of nihilism by discerning creative resources circulating in the chaotic currents of contemporary culture." -- Mark C. Taylor, Preston S. Parish Professor of Humanities, Williams College "Ignasi de Solà-Morales' term starting points perfectly captures the light and acute temperament of these essays. With the nimble ease of Deleuzean vectors, these writings start from contemporary practice and move into fresh horizons of architectural thinking. At a time when most architectural writing seems to fall within either the limits of journalism or the rigorous territories of academic research, this collection of texts draws an unfrequented path of discourse, a topography that becomes an invitation to approach architectural ideas through pleasures of reading." -- Xavier Costa, Head, Department of Architecture, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain Differences brings together ten essays written over the past decade by the distinguished Spanish architect and theorist Ignasi de Solà-Morales. Many of the essays have never previously been translated, and the author has provided a new introduction especially for this English edition. Contemplating the panorama of contemporary art and architecture, de Solà-Morales posits that there is no one way to describe today's practice; instead he concentrates on elucidating the present dynamic of contrast, diversity, and tension. In an unorthodox pairing, de Solà-Morales derives his inspiration from both phenomenology and Deleuzean poststructuralism. Combining these philosophical inheritances allows him to reinvoke the human subject without referring to classical humanism or announcing the death of the object. His retrospective review of the disciplines of art and architecture, particularly as they have developed since World War II, provokes him to design, draft, and ultimately build a description of modernism's lineage of subjectivity. The result is a provocative construction of fluid "topographies" that articulate, rather than depict, the shaky ground on which our current artistic and architectural production rests. The essays: Sado-masochism: Criticism and Architectural Practice. Topographies of Contemporary Architecture. Mies van der Rohe and Minimalism. Architecture and Existentialism. Weak Architecture. From Autonomy to Untimeliness. Place: Permanence or Production. Difference and Limit: Individualism in Contemporary Architecture. High-Tech: Functionalism or Rhetoric. The Work of Architecture in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.Read More