Since its first publication in 1961, Archigram has been an inspiration and platform for exploration for several generations of architects. Archigram Ten analyses the current state of architecture and invites reflection on where it might be heading in the future.
The group changed architecture irrevocably in the 1960s and 1970s, using their publications to question conventional architectural thinking, inviting their readers to radically rethink the confines of traditional practice and imagine a better future.
Neo-futuristic, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, the group drew on the spirit of 1960s pop art and was inspired by technologies not conventionally applied to architecture to develop hypothetical objects/buildings that moved, grew, flew and walked.
"When ARCHIGRAM 1 was launched in 1961 (the same year as Private Eye), David Greene, Mike Webb and I were attacking the monotony of the architecture being built around us, not just with words but by offering explosive new architecture. Nine ARCHIGRAMS later, the three of us plus Ron Herron, Warren Chalk and Dennis Crompton had won competitions and influenced key architects in Tokyo, Milan, Los Angeles and Vienna. After fifty years, the same protest (and the same idea) seems necessary. New protagonists, ranging from my generation to people in their twenties, are in ARCHIGRAM 10. With (as always) lots of drawings...
Drawings are exciting
Drawings can be very, very precise
Drawings can be whimsical
Drawings can be prophetic."
Peter Cook, founding member of Archigram.
The new publication explores contemporary changes, takes a wry look at the past and imagines a bold leap forward with the help of a wide variety of practitioners and teachers. Several generations from around the world who take radically different approaches to architecture, but share a willingness to explore the boundaries of architecture.
“Archigram’s reach and impact went far beyond architecture. Its do-it-yourself approach and risk-taking character were, from the beginning, a great source of inspiration in my career. Working on the design of Archigram 10 under the guidance and tireless energy of Peter Cook, we set out to channel the spirit, dynamism and, above all, the audacity of the first nine and a half issues to position A10 at the forefront of contemporary magazines and publications, just as it was decades before.”
Pedro Pina, PG Howlin Studio.
Published with the generous support of ABB, Archigram Ten reflects a culture of technological awareness and experimentation. Established names such as Hitoshi Abe, Odile Decq and Thom Mayne sit alongside younger researchers and artists who were not even born when the last issue came out, in 1974.
