Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths in CCA

11/11/2018. [Montréal] Canada
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) presents Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths, on view through 7 April 2019. Curated by Sylvia Lavin, the exhibition suggests a reading of the postmodern movement in architecture based not on the images and buildings it produced but on the material evidence that was suppressed to maintain the myth of architecture as an irreducibly autonomous and artistic practice—the myth of “architecture itself.”

James Stirling and Michael Wilford. Section of History Faculty Building at the University of Cambridge, ca. 1963–1967. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

James Stirling and Michael Wilford. Section of History Faculty Building at the University of Cambridge, ca. 1963–1967. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

James Stirling and Michael Wilford. Cut-away axonometric of the History Faculty Building at the University of Cambridge, ca.1963–1967. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

John Hejduk. Chronology of projects by John Hejduk: 1954–1974, between 1974 and 1979. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

John Hejduk. Numbered sketches of projects by John Hejduk, between 1974 and 1979. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

Cedric Price. Activity compatibility chart, Generator, 1977. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

James Stirling. Letter to Pierre Apraxine regarding the selection of materials for Architecture I exhibition, 1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian. © 2018 James Stirling. Courtesy of CCA

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Guild House perspective study, 1961–1966. © The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Courtesy of CCA

Robert Venturi. Bibliographic research notes from the Guild House files, 1956–63. © The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Courtesy of CCA

Business card for Kenneth E. Fugitt/Marco Electronics Inc. from the Guild House files, ca. 1961. Courtesy of CCA

SITE. Leg prototypes for Isuzu Space Station Children’s Plaza, ca. 1989. © James Wines. Photograph by Elise Windsor. © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

Best Products Company. Best Products Catalog 1980-1981, 1980. The Virginia Museum of History & Culture © Best Products Company. Courtesy of CCA

Michael Reynolds. Beer-can building blocks, Earthship Biotecture, 1973. © Michael Reynolds. Photo: Elise Windsor © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

Vincent Scully. Photograph documenting pueblos. Sylvia Lavin © Estate of Vincent Scully. Courtesy of CCA

Postcard collected by Vincent Scully. Sylvia Lavin © Petley Studio Inc.. Courtesy of CCA

Vincent Scully. Photograph documenting pueblos. Sylvia Lavin © Estate of Vincent Scully. Courtesy of CCA

David Hiser. Exhibition print of first experimental house completed using empty steel beer and soft drink cans, 1972. © Environment Protection Agency. Courtesy of CCA

Madelon Vriesendorp. Freud Unlimited, used by Rem Koolhaas in his book Delirious New York, 1978. © Madelon Vriesendorp. Courtesy of CCA

David Graham. Photograph of Langhorne Best Products Showroom by Venturi and Rauch, 1981. © David Graham. Courtesy of CCA

Jesse Reiser. Copy of composition with the Modena Cemetery by Aldo Rossi, Drawing Matter Somerset, 1979 © © Eredi Aldo Rossi, courtesy Fondazione Aldo Rossi. Courtesy of CCA

Sussman/Prejza & Company. Wayfinding sonotubes for the Los Angeles Olympics, 1983–1984. Photograph by Elise Windsor © CCA. Courtesy of CCA

Throughout the CCA’s main galleries, the exhibition is organized around seven thematic groupings that each describe the shortcomings of an otherwise mythical aspect of postmodernism. Visitors will encounter rereadings of the neutrality of architecture institutions, the inherent communicative abilities of architecture, the specificity of architectural research techniques, the postmodern architect’s independence from commercial interests and positioning as a humanist, and the artistry that is thought to have produced postmodern images.

Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths continues a long line of investigation at the CCA of how architecture relates to its own past, resulting in new readings of key moments in the history of modern architecture. Authored by Sylvia Lavin, a forthcoming publication by the same title serves as an extension of the counter-historiography of postmodernism presented in the exhibition. Original texts by Lavin and contributions from sixteen other authors study the material evidence to dismantle the predominant narratives of postmodern architecture and architects. To be released in English and French editions in early 2019, Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernist Myths are designed by Anna Haas (Zürich) and co-published by the CCA and Spector Books.