ABSTRACT

Beyond Archigram is the first study of the prehistory of digital representation to focus on the magazine Archigram, the magazine published in London irregularly between 1961 and 1970 and the name of the group that created it. Archigram is among the most significant phenomena to emerge in post-war architectural culture. The wired environments first advertised on its pages formulated an architectural vocabulary of metamorphosis and obsolescence that cross-pollinated industrial and digital technology at the same time as complex systems were becoming commercially available.

Through archival, theoretical and visual analysis, Hadas Steiner explores the process through which this model was envisaged and disseminated within an international network of practitioners and shows how the assimilation of Archigram imagery set the course for the visual output of what are now commonplace tools in architectural practice. This book will provide a foundation for further inquiry into the integration of digital technology at every level of design.

part 1|115 pages

The Archigram Network

chapter |37 pages

Introduction

The Image of Change

chapter |32 pages

Modern Architecture in England

chapter |46 pages

City Synthesis

part 2|129 pages

Bathrooms, Bubbles and Systems

chapter |31 pages

Bathrooms

The Gap Between Idea and Image

chapter |33 pages

Bubbles

The Triumph of Software

chapter |40 pages

Systems

The Network Takes Over

chapter |23 pages

The Technological Picturesque