Everything is Architecture and We Are All Architects #1 – Controlled Living Environments (Prologue)

The year is 1968, and the Cold War space race is at its peak. Modernism has been declared a failure. An article in the avant-garde magazine Bau stated, “Everything is architecture, and we are all architects,” sparking discussions about architecture’s role in postwar society. The magazine’s editors, including Hans Hollein and Walter Pichler, called for expanding the discipline beyond its traditional boundaries. As a result, a diverse range of elements – such as space vehicles, television helmets, medicines, makeup products, a pregnant woman’s figure as a building, and code writing – were all seen as avant-garde acts of designing controlled living environments. The ultimate goal was to expand the field of architectural practice to infinity and beyond.
Thirty years after the discipline was launched into infinite space and with the transition to the new millennium, a counter-reaction predictably emerged to the boundary collapse presented by Pichler and Hollein. This reaction sparked a desire to reformulate the field, its meaning, and the motivation behind architectural action. The question “What is architecture in the 21st century?” was addressed at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale through an inward convergence and a return to the fundamental elements that compose the built environment: windows, doors, ceilings, floors, stairs, elevators, escalators, balconies, walls, fireplaces, ramps, facades, roofs, corridors, and bathrooms.
In this meeting, we will discuss the introduction of “the contemporary” into architecture, which evolved between two significant historical periods. We will also explore projects showcased in the landmark exhibitions at two Venice Architecture Biennales: “La Strada Novissima” (1980) and “Fundamentals” (2014).
Host: Arch. Hila Shemer. Architecture Critic & Lecturer, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Liebling House content development: Moran Navon
This meeting is part of the lecture series “Everything is Architecture, and We Are All Architects,” which will be held at Liebling House’s Café Lev. During this series, we will examine contemporary architecture in our regions and worldwide through the lenses of politics, gender, economics, globalization, crisis, war, and peace. We will explore the ability of the architectural discipline to drive change – from urban environments and public buildings to the most intimate space – our private homes. Utilizing tools from both within and outside the field of architecture, we will envision a possible future.