The Other Architect

What kinds of approaches do architects invent and appropriate to reflect on their ideas outside of traditional design practices? Considering case studies from the 1960s to today, this annotated collection of primary documents presents evidence of experimental venues, methods, and tools that architects have used to research and shape the urgent issues of their time.

From a set of varied approaches, the other architect emerges: searching for different operating models, aiming for collaborative strategies, introducing strange concepts, and experimenting with new kinds of tools. The result is an ample array of possibilities: Urban Innovations Group, ILAUD (International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design), AMO, IAUS (Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies), CUP (Center for Urban Pedagogy), ARAU (Atelier de recherche et d’action urbaines), Architects’ Revolutionary Council, Corridart, Architectural Detective Agency, Take Part Workshop, Kommunen in der Neuen Welt, AD/AA/Polyark, Design-A-Thon, Architecture Machine Group, Forensic Architecture, Multiplicity, Art Net, Global Tools, CIRCO, Pidgeon Audio Visual, Delos Symposion, and Anyone Corporation.

Edited by Giovanna Borasi and designed by Jonathan Hares, the 414-page, 24 x 31 cm book includes over 250 facsimiles of letters, drawings, transcripts, memos, financial plans, and manifestos; evidence of the processes architects use to shape ideas, these are reproduced at full size and with minimal annotation to encourage absorption in the material.

With texts by Florencia Alvarez, Pep Avilés, Greg Barton, Samuel Dodd, Isabelle Doucet, Ole W. Fischer, Anna Foppiano, Kim Förster, Owen Hatherley, Larissa Harris, Alison B. Hirsch, Douglas Moffat, Whitney Moon, Pierluigi Nicolin, Kayoko Ota, Panayiota Pyla, Angela Rui, Deane Simpson, Johanne Sloan, Molly Wright Steenson, Rebecca Taylor, and Mirko Zardini.

The publication accompanies The Other Architect exhibition, on view in Montreal until April 10, and a series of public talks presented by contemporary groups working on alternative practices: John Palmesino of Territorial Agency, Rachel Himmelfarb and Todd Rouhe of common room, Bradley Samuels of SITU Studio, Jane Hall and Lewis Jones of Assemble, Jordan Carver and Mabel Wilson of Who Builds Your Architecture, Maarten Gielen of Rotor, Miguel Robles Duran of Cohabitation Strategies, and Brian Boigon of Culture Lab, as well as film screenings including À Propos de l'Affaire Corridart and The Making of an Avant Garde. For video recordings of events please consider CCA’s YouTube channel.

The Other Architect is available at the CCA bookstore.