Lebbeus Woods, Architect

Drawing Papers #114

by Joseph Becker, Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher (Text), Lebbeus Woods (Illustrations)

Lebbeus Woods, Architect brings together drawings from the past 40 years by one of the most influential designers working in architecture. Beyond architects, Woods (1940–2012) has been hailed by designers, filmmakers, writers and artists as a significant voice in recent history; his works resonate across many disciplines for their conceptual depth, imaginative breadth and ethical potency. Woods worked cyclically, returning often to themes of architecture’s ability to transform, resist and free the collective and the individual. As an architect whose work lies almost solely in the realm of the proposed and the unbuilt, his contributions to the field opened up new avenues for exploring and inscribing space. The publication centers on transformation as a recurring theme. The organization of the images of works is thematic rather than chronological.

Genres: Art, Architecture

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2014

Reviews

[Amin369 · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب مجموعه ای از طرح های لبیوس وودز، معمار و هنرمند هستش. ایشون اعتقاد داشت معماری ساخت خونه هایی امن و راحت نیست. وقتی جایی خراب میشه مثلا در جنگ، نباید اونجارو دوباره بازسازی کرد باید چیزی اونجا بنا کرد که همیشه یادآور اون لحظه باشه. یاد یه کتاب دیگش، جنگ و معماری افتادم. آثارش در این کتاب اکثرا فقط طرح هایی روی کاغذ بودن و ساخته نشدن. وقتی ببینید متوجه میشید چرا. طرح هاش حالتی عجیب، غیرقابل تشخیص و ناامن دارن. بیشتر تو فیلم های علمی تخیلی یا بازی ها دیدیم. خودمو یاد ماشیناریوم و هلف لایف و یه جاهایی طرح های سنگین و صنعتی طورش یاد کف بایوشاک انداخت. این معمار بخاطر نوع دیدش و خلاقیتش مورد احترام معمار هاست. من به عنوان مخاطب معمولی و نه معمار، از مدل خلافیتش زیاد خوشم نیومد با اینکه اون مدل فیلم ها و بازی هارو دوست دارم. اما پیشنهادش میدم.
مراقب هم باشیم کنار هم بمونیم.

[Fraser Kinnear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to Lebbeus Woods at the SF MOMA, which was held a retrospective on his drawings and mock ups last year. I connected immediately with his drawing 'High Houses' from War and Architecture, because it looks pulled straight out of Half Life 2, a computer game I was in love with in high school. Or, I should say, Half Life 2 looks like it drew an enormous amount of inspiration from Lebbeus Woods in order to create their aesthetic of grim, totalitarian Eastern bloc aesthetic with jarring/sinister/grandiose Sci-Fi structures called Striders.

The Zagreb Free Zone plate is more evidence of influence for Half Life 2. I have visited Zagreb on two occasions, both times in the dead of winter, and so especially enjoyed this surprise.

The plates for DMZ look not unlike the corrugated tin roofs of a shanty town, and many of the structures in other plates look close to realizable as amateur scaffoldings bolted on to pre-existing structures, like how I imagined the Kowloon Walled city to look (which I also own a gorgeous photo book about).

Something about these chaotic and jagged edges conveys enormous energy for me, it really wish I could see these things in person. If only they could exist! There are many more plates in this book that i am enjoying - definitely a book to return to.