Beyond Building: Superstudio's Approach to Architecture as Critique
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Designing, drawing, building – Those are the steps to follow as an architect. An obvious routine questioned by Superstudio (Figure 1); an Italian architecture firm intrigued by the idea of involving architecture into displaying their design against the norms. Proud avant- gardists, and with the help of current trending art movements (such as Pop Art) they were highly involved into highlighting their disagreement against the political context of their country. They used their skills as architects to approach society issues by exploring at various scales these problems.
As Juhani Pallasmaa (2019, p. 72) states in The Eyes Of The Skin, “In memorable experiences of architecture, space, matter and time fuse into one singular dimension, into the basic substance of being, that penetrates our consciousness. We identify ourselves with this space, this place, this moment, and these dimensions become ingredients of our very existence.” Superstudio’s design took only into consideration time and context, rather than space and matter. So, what if we strip away the physical aspect of architecture ? To what extent can you call yourself an architect ? Is architecture only about building, or can it be also about using the initial concept to question its own essence ?
Although their ideas faded quickly as the political context of Italy started to change, Superstudio’s legacy left out a new perception of architecture as a critique tool. As an enhanced knowledge of the urban setting is required to understand how to design a “triangle” to fit in a square hole, this new approach along with Archigram and Archizoom broke the classical scheme of the architect’s duty to simply build for building, and extended the influence architecture can have on society under the avant-gardists’ principles. This essay will be exploring in-depth Superstudio’s projects, and how their process carefully conveyed and put the spotlight on what modernism was doing wrong, to open the path to new ways of seeing and practicing architecture, and how breaking the classical scheme of the profession can open new fields and new opportunities.
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Introduction
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Figure 1 : Superstudio's members.
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Chapter 1 -
Superstudio’s signature : Conception above construction
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Figure 2 : Italia Nostra, by Superstudio.
1.1 - The practice's manifesto
As designers, they used their skills and knowledge to practice what can be called “Anti-Architecture;” a radical approach to create the opposite of what people need. With this antithesis as a weapon and irony as ammunitions, their main idea was to forget about the idea of “building,” as “For us, architecture is always opposed to building” (Lang and Menking, 2003, p. 166), where the strength of their concepts lies within those never being raised out of their drawings. From designing sets of furniture that challenge the interiors of Italian modernists’ generic flats, to producing various collages of concepts at the opposite of “rescuing cities,” (Figure 2, 3, 4) these photomontages were catchy enough to raise the awareness of their analysis, with a clear message hidden behind those works.
As Juhani Pallasmaa (2019, p. 70) suggests in The Eyes Of The Skin, “Buildings and towns enable us to structure, understand and remember the shapeless flow of reality and, ultimately, to recognise and remember who we are.”, building is constrained to the “harsh” conditions of reality, such as gravity and matter, drawing and sketching enables the architect to forget about these constrains and eventually forget any existing conditions, or at least, “who we are”. Drifting away from time and space opens new gates to possibilities, and thus, interesting concepts can emerge and broaden various opportunities. If it will never be raised from the ground, why would a project be restricted to the rules of the real world ?
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Figure 3 : Superstudio, Atti fondamentali, Vita: Supersuperficie, 1972.
Figure 4 : Superstudio, Atti fondamentali, Morte, 1972.
1.2 - Anti-context
This project, called “Macchina per le vacanze,” or holiday machine in Italian, was the proposed design of a tourism leisure centre in the Calabrian coast. (Figure 5, 6) The top of the boot of Italy, known for its mountains, sea, and Mediterranean climate, was undergoing major industrialization projects such as new ports, roads, railways with the set intention of improving the Calabrian infrastructure, funded by the state.
As Deamer P. (2014, p. 144) suggests in Manfredo Tafuri, Archizoom, Superstudio, and the critique of architectural ideology,” in Architecture and capitalism: 1845 to the present., “ Their work was not simply a critique of modern architecture but a more general critique of architecture’s (and the architect’s) political mandate in a capitalist society.” Superstudio “proposed” this leisure centre to take “advantage” of this opportunity to attract more people to this peaceful haven. In this drawing, we can see the building being placed right at the edge of a cliff, acting as a dam to regulate the flow of the stream and to potentially generate energy to supply the infrastructure. The structure itself shows the opposite of what you would expect to see by the Mediterranean sea : A complex scaffolding-like construction which inspires everything but leisure, peace, or anything related to the chosen landscape. By taking a close look at the drawing (Figure 7), the finesse, texture and variations of roughness of the graphite are completely lost upon glancing at the structure, showing a real contrast between the richness of the land, and the boldness of the man-made intervention. Ironically, as this building was placed where the stream “Arbona” eroded, the main idea of this strategic placement of the building was to prevent any further attenuation of the basin. But can we really talk about a rescue if the identity of the site is taken away?
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Figure 5 : Perspective front view of the Macchina. Figure 6.
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Figure 7 : Site section showing the relationship between the structure and the topography.
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Figure 8 : The entire building in context.
Figure 9 : The dam in context.
Figure 10.
The second drawing (Figure 8) of the proposed leisure centre shows much more of the context, representing a clear definition of a contrast. The building stretches into the sea with pylons of reinforced concrete, where it eventually sinks as a base for a potential landing / parking site for helicopters / cars. Beyond the irony of having an aerial machine, resting on the land, which is sunk into the sea, this extension is a clear allegory of architecture as a machine , where technology would benefit for nature (with the dam function (Figure 9, 10) from the main steel building) and humans (by providing electricity for optimal comfort). With this idea, on top of stealing the landscape’s identity, it overwrites it by integrating technology at its heart, and designing a structure to host as many tourists as possible, il a land slowly becoming overwhelmed by mass-tourism.
From a human experience point of view, this environment is not much different from the urban setting a worker is used to seeing every day. And the peace, the nature retreats this person was looking forward to would be no different than the one they are experiencing every day. The power within those drawings lies in the contrast between the way the context is represented, and the features exclusive to the industrial revolution are captured to the point that it feels inserted with no consideration to the setting. And only a careful knowledge of the land allows such a brilliant statement to be made, as a worker exploited for work purposes is no different from a machine made for leisure and tourism, and this “proposal” shows how this transition is ironic.
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1.3 - The counter-proposal
The next semi-built project, called “Hidden architecture,” (Figure 11) was the design of a new building by Superstudio. As stated by them in Design Quarterly, No. 78/79, Conceptual Architecture (1970),: “We propose a hidden architecture as conceptual architecture: architecture which is only an image of itself and of our instrumentalizable muteness.”, (Superstudio, 1970, p. 54) this goes along their philosophy to push the boundaries of the design to a statement of intention, by crafting a metal box which in itself can be considered as a work of art. As generic as it sounds, the plans of the proposal were hidden inside of this metallic case. Along showing this box, the Italian practice displayed the drawings of the box itself, and a sequence of photos of the process.
Upon looking at the paper (Figure 12), we cannot help but notice how careful this metallic box was crafted. Superstudio’s attention to detail draws the viewer into their world, changing the perception of this box. On top of showing an accurate axonometric view of the final design, the internal layers of the case are drawn at a detailed level. Formed of a sheet of foam, asbestos, and encased in an external chrome plated brass, this reminds the standard construction of a sheer wall of a building (at that time, 1970). As basic as the drawing looks like, the detailing of this sketch and the construction of the box raises the design to an architectural level, built for hiding architecture. This new perception unveils the studio’s statement of modernist’s principles of a building being a machine for living in, to a machine for hiding in.
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Figure 11 : Superstudio and the Hidden Architecture.
Figure 12 : Detailed drawing of the box.
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Figure 13 : Sequence of the process of the box.
While the drawing talks about the details of the box, the sequence of photos (Figure 13) put the spotlight on the process of the design; it relates how the architects folded, placed the drawings into a dark envelope, and put those into the box, which was eventually sealed. Superstudio burnt the original drawings, and only them knew about the initial design of the proposed building enriching their intention to not designing, but to make a statement of their intention to attract the focus on this project to the process, rather than the final content.
This contrast between the previous project, which was not intended to be built, and this one which came out of the paper, still manages to keep Superstudio’s statement of architecture as a critique. Their intention to incorporate art into architecture in a critical way plays its part into changing the perception to its integration in an architectural design. Using art as a tool, their approach to practicing is all about raising questions about the society, as seen with this box challenging the modernist principles, seen by the Italian architects as a machine encasing, trapping and devouring architecture.
With these two projects, a clear statement is made. Without art in their design, the critique is weak. Where the Holiday retreat’s strength lies in the contrast of the graphite black and white drawing, and the small, rough box presented instead of plans of a building, Superstudio’s stance on not fulfilling the client’s request is comfortable enough to put the spotlight on a society question in a subtle way, that could be conveyed by art and / or an architectural drawing only. The roughness of the materiality of the box, its small size is an allegory to the deception from the client expecting a building and seeing a little chrome case.
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Chapter 2 -
A new perspective : Experimenting as a statement
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2 - The counter-proposal
Misura Furniture (Figure 14) consists of “the famous table, the perfect bench, and the best coffee table.” Those are the names of the only projects that got to be built. The set of furniture designed by Superstudio can be seen as generic as possible and makes no exception to borrowing modernist principles : Square, flat, black and white, covered in grided laminated plastic.
As Super studio stated in Domus, No. 517 (December 1972),‘At that time it was obvious that to continue designing furniture, objects and similar household decorations was no solution to the problems of living, nor to those of life; even less was it serving to save the soul.’ (Superstudio, 1972) Their intention behind these designs (called “Le tombe degli architetti,” or “the architect’s tomb” in Italian) were to address the constant pressure and unending demand from the market for new consumer products by providing these pieces of furniture as a countermeasure.
The irony can be spotted straight away upon reading the names of the studio creations. Beyond the fact that the aesthetic looks of these pieces challenge the interior of modernist Italian flats in 1970 by taking away any aesthetic elements (Figure 15), the simple idea of being able to visualize the actual work standing in space differs from this “inserted” feeling immediately felt upon looking at their collages. From the architect’s perception, this is a radical change ; switching the focus from the exterior to the interior, from the mass to a single person, is a starting point to a potential deconstruction of the classical scheme. Could it be the early stages of the importance of a careful interior design ?
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Figure 14 : Misura furniture.
Figure 15 : Modernist italian interior design.
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Figure 16.
Figure 17.
Talking about this change of interest and focusing on the subject, their photography skills helped to highlight this fresh perspective ; The following photographs (Figure 16, 17) displays the pieces of furniture being put in nature. As generic as they are, they are still a subtle reminder of their collages where random rectangular elements are inserted into a calm and serene landscape. However, seeing them in action, with actual people experiencing, feeling and using this furniture directs the viewers focus onto the people, as Juhani Pallasmaa (2019, p. 11) states in The Eyes Of The Skin, “The sense of self, strengthened by art and architecture, allows us to engage fully in the mental dimensions of dream, imagination and desire.” Superstudio’s design intention goes along with their idea of creating an environment for the self, rather than the mass, provided by these architectural devices.
The main purpose of architecture, which is to be experienced and lived, helped Superstudio to frame their intention behind these designs. To demonstrate how architecture can have an influence on the self by beautifully framing the potential of a tailored experience, and managing to put the focus onto random, generic people in a calm and inviting scenery. While raising the alarm regarding the early mass-consumerism disaster, their intention to build to criticize an over-production is a careful thought.
But are there limits to building or designing just for the purpose of raising a critique ?
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Critiquing Modernist Architecture without Solutions
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3 - The continuous monotony
The Continuous Monument – An Architectural Model for Total Urbanization, is Superstudio’s most famous project. (Figure 18) This design was realized in 1969, with the intention to propose a uniform, transparent structure that extends over the landscape, wrapping up the city landmarks, and encasing it in this generic, white continuous façade.
By revisiting their design principles of not being constrained by any matter / space regulations, the Continuous Monument can be seen as another direct critique towards modernist architecture : With the building itself being an allegory of every trait of modernism, with its bright taint painted all over, its contrast with the landscape is obvious. Though it does not differ so much with the landmarks of the city it encases, its odd shape makes it stand out.
While this disdain for the new society goals is clear, this shows how redundant their projects have become; Although this project is Superstudio’s signature and displays behind the architect’s eye where society is headed to if it keeps sticking to this idea of building “machines for living, with technology draining all the qualities of the landscape”, the architect’s duty is to propose a solution to respond to this issue. As stated by Juhani Pallasmaa (2019, p. 11) in The Eyes Of The Skin, “The essential mental task of architecture is accommodation and integration. Architecture articulates the experiences of being-in-the-world and strengthens our sense of reality and self; it does not make us inhabit worlds of mere fabrication and fantasy.” where the Misura furniture collection was strong conceptually speaking as its physical representation could show its purpose by being experienced by their users, the Continuous Monument only depicts an unachievable and utopian project, which goes at the opposite of the dramatization that Superstudio wanted to convey. If it looks unbuildable, this dreadful idea is not to be feared.
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As their experience as architects could raise all these issues, this perception is not accessible to everyone, unless it is lived and perceived in space and time by the population these society problems affect. The architect’s eye is fierce enough to spot flaws at different scales and various corners, but its depiction cannot be raised only by visual means, a response needs to be provided. As they are designers, in the example of Superstudio, their creativity could have been explored deeper to create a solution to address these conditions from a different perspective. As stated by Nigel Coates (2012, p. 55-56) in Superstudio, From Life–Supersurface: The Encampment : “The London-based avant-garde group Archigram, founded in the 1960s, avoided building anything, some say successfully, with the implication that to build would rob their work of its visionary power.” if the Italian architects’ signature were to follow Archigram’s scheme, the precedent observations in this essay could unveil that not building any of these projects reflects their lack of means to respond to those issues raised in their projects.
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Figure 18 : The Continuous Monument, in New York City.
Conclusion
How to fight architecture with architecture ? Superstudio answered in a clever way to this question with their design philosophy. The versatility of their principles of “not designing but to some extent” raised all their points by borrowing elements of the society’s current movements (such as pop art and modernism) to change the perception of architecture : how to make a bold statement by carefully integrating art, how to “not tease” a proposal by having it never built, and how to switch the focus of the architect from the exterior to the interior.
They did not design these projects for the purpose of painting a white stain on a black background, or for the sake of responding to a thesis by an antithesis; their anti-architecture raised various flaws not only in modernism at that time, but also in the way society worked at that time. They designed as a statement, and in some scenarios, for a pure human experience. Their works of art were catching the right elements to highlight the issues Italy was facing. As Architecture shapes society, so did Superstudio’s legacy. And as society changes, so does the extent of their critiques.
Their perception of the profession still carries on today, as they have proven that a statement can be strong even conceptually, that architecture’s strength does not lie only considering time, matter and space, but that the profession’s perception has broadened thanks to the avant-gardists’ principles. Their vision of architecture is still explored nowadays, where it is seen to question how to solve the contemporary’s crisis, social issues, and to which fields the architect can have an influence. This extends the responsibility of architecture into shaping society and enlarging its scale impact.
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Superstudio's collage. Rescuing Florence, in Italy. Under today's interpretations, a different message appears, far away from the designers' first intention.
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- Braham, W.W. (2007) Rethinking technology: A reader in architectural theory.
- Bru, S. (2012) “Given the popular,” in Regarding the popular: Modernism, the avant-garde, and high and low culture. Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 8.
- Catina, A. (2021) Aleks Catina on Superstudio 'migrazioni'superstudio 'migrazioni' Civa, Brussels, Belgium 15 January to 16 May 2021: ARQ: Architectural Research Quarterly, Cambridge Core. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/ core/journals/arq-architectural-research-quarterly/article/aleks-catina-on-superstudio-migrazioni-superstudio-migrazioni-civa-brussels-belgium-15-january-to-16-may-2021/C06E957682FDE348C65EE3FDEBCFB7EA (Accessed: April 20, 2023).
- Chirumbolo, P. and Moroni, M. (2014) “Superstudio Double-Take: Rescue Operations in the Realms of Architecture ,” in 'Neoavanguardia' Italian experimental literature and arts in the 1960s. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Coates, N. (2012) “Superstudio, From Life– Supersurface: The Encampment , 1969.,” in Narrative architecture. London: Wiley-Academy, pp. 55–56.
- Deamer, P. (2014) “Manfredo Tafuri, Archizoom, Superstudio, and the critique of architectural ideology,” in Architecture and capitalism: 1845 to the present. London: Routledge, p. 139.
- Fabbrini, S. (2015) “Hidden Architecture: Superstudio's Magic Box,” Pidgin Magazine Princeton School of Architecture, March, pp. 8–21.
- Lang, P. and Menking, W. (2003) “Superprojects: Objects, Monuments, Cities,” in Superstudio: Life without objects. Milano: Skira, p. 166.
- Pallasmaa, J. (2019) The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley., pp.11-70-72.
- Superstudio (1970) “[hidden architecture],” Design Quarterly, (78/79), p. 54. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/4047407.
- Superstudio (2017) Superstudio: Misura Series, DOMUS. Domusweb. Available at: https://www.domusweb.it/en/from-the-archive/2011/07/21/-superstudio-misura-series.html (Accessed: April 23, 2023).
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Image references
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Chapter 1: Superstudio (no date) Visual Melt. Available at: https:// visualmelt.com/superstudio (Accessed: April 15, 2023).
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