Architecture is defined by the actions it witnesses

Bernard Tschumi, via Super Ordinary. Hannah and David both recommended to go see Surreal House at The Barbican. It hadn't registered, I suppose because the tag 'surreal' has been so overmisusediluted. But a timely expo. Freud's chair. Steamboat Bill Jr. rediscovered. Lots of rediscovered. Svankmajer too.

But the mezzanine section was particularly well curated, with pairings of films such as Godard's Le Mépris and Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice, with art and architectural thought. Most memorable were these Advertisements for Architecture (1976-77) by Tschumi.

Which recalled a spring read of J. G. Ballard's The Enormous Space.

(via) Helped greatly with present work.

Reminded of Thomas Schütte's early 1990s basements. These scale 1:50 ply models I saw at the Whitechapel, with sawdust wake of the make still in each. Went to an 'in conversation with' Adrian Searle and Schütte was really acute in his working thought.

Unrelated but current is the opening of Polytechnic at Raven Row. A favourite, with already strong backlog of exps. The space itself is worth it, designed by 6a. Think/hope that this beautiful poster would be by John Morgan Studio.

John Hejduk, via WAUA. Discovered for the first time also at Barbican. His House of... models not so findable on the web. This, one of relatively few realised buildings in Kreuzberg, Berlin, is the subject of a campaign to arrest its unsympathetic 'restoration' currently underway (Hejduk died in 2000). Just beginning to read about this man's wonderful ideas.

via Design Observer. 'If you want to follow architecture's first rule, break it'. Which lastly recalled my Brighton Gra. Des. booklist pre-course read:

Bob Gill, via HI + LOW.