By the powers that be, architects have been anointed with the gift of clairvoyance. Or so we think. LOBBY No. 2 opens up a forum for discussing the role of the architect as a clairvoyant idealist or a historical realist. ‘Clairvoyance’ is a platform to analyse the design process, experiment with alternatives, and engage in self-critique to create an ‘archive of predictions’ for the future of architecture.
“The Seminar Room translates the idea of the typical academic architectural discourse and re-presents it in print. It introduces excerpts from Elias Canetti’s Masse und Macht (Crowds and Power), and Peter Carl’s Civic Depth. Following these readings are a series of short essays on the subject of urbanism and crowds. For me, the most compelling content of the section can be found in a printed discussion between Patrick Lynch, Giovanni Bellotti, Shumi Bose, and Taylor-Foster which was held at the Bartlett in January of this year. Verbal conversations tend to distill complex ideas to their most comprehensible elements, while simultaneously bringing out related themes and observations. Their discussion encompasses a staggering range of historical references, forcing the reader to critically compare the spatial ideas behind sites as old as Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, to contemporary works such as Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.”
Evan Rawn, Projecting Forward, Looking Back
