Table Of ContentEvan Douglis Autogenic Structures
Evan Douglis Autogenic Structures
Taylor &. Francis
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Acknowledgements essays; all the selected students for their unwavering commit-
ment to the study of architecture; and everyone at Taylor and
Francis Books, including Katherine Morton and Georgina
Johnson for their invaluable support in enabling this book to
become a reality.
If we are to recall our first teachers, then my parents are
deserving of the highest regard. A loving couple for over
forty-five years, they dedicated a significant portion of their
creative energies to the education and cultural maturation of
Reconceptualizing the entire world of architecture is no small their children. Their collective curiosity and larger appreciation
task. In the 1960s a historical collaboration emerged between of the merits of literature and the arts and sciences had a
the architect Claude Parent and the philosopher Paul Virilio significant influence over my decision to pursue architecture as
which produced what many today still believe is one of the most a lifelong endeavor. My deepest gratitude goes to my mother,
radical architecture projects of the past century, The Oblique who initiated me to the wonderment of creation through her
Function. Claude Parent in particular gave shape to these own artistic achievements, for her gentle and rigorous support
inspiring new ideas in the form of a series of exquisite drawings throughout the trajectory of my life.
and models. It is therefore a tremendous honor for me that he
has graciously written the foreword to my first book. Given his I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to Dean Tom
visionary status as a leading architectural futurist, it is only Hanrahan, Provost Peter Barna and President Tom Schutte of
fitting that Claude Parent appear as we turn the first page of a Pratt Institute for their generous support since my appointment
book dedicated to the next generation of architecture. as the Chair of the Undergraduate department.
Given the monumental task of coordinating a project of this Teaching has always been a collaborative activity, bringing
scale and ambition over an extended period of time, my project together the instructor and the pupil within a precious arena of
director Kari Anderson deserves my sincere gratitude for her intellectual and creative exchange. Invited into this equation is
unwavering dedication to excellence throughout the process. the teaching assistant, who often plays an invaluable role,
Her attention to detail and compositional elegance is reflected enabling the experiment to achieve its most memorable articu-
in the overall conceptual clarity of the book; her work repre- lation. Deserving of serious recognition and my sincere thanks
sents an invaluable contribution to the success of the project. are all of the creative, inspired, and generous educators that
assisted me over the years: Kari Anderson, Lonn Combs,
In an era of increased media consumption, where we often Bradley Horn, Chris Perry, Rhett Russo, Richard Sarrach,
find that complexity in graphic design aimed at the visually Evan Tribus, Che Wei Wang, and Eric Wong.
dexterous is rewarded at the expense of a clear, concise, and
eloquent strategy of communication, our collaboration with the Celebrated for his extraordinary tenure as the Dean of the
internationally renowned graphic designer Willi Kunz was a GSAPP at Columbia University between 1988 and 2003, deep-
refreshing alternative. Committed from the start to a shared est gratitude goes to Bernard Tschumi for his unwavering
vision of didactic clarity, his vast expertise, generous support, support for me as an educator and gallery director within his
and remarkable dedication to a project of beauty was para- program during those legendary years. Responsible for creat-
mount to the realization of this book. ing a unique and vibrant culture of experimentation, inter-disci-
plinary collaboration, and critical discourse, Bernard should
With any project of translation the risks of compromise and also be credited for assembling a heterogeneous mix of diverse
loss of meaning represent a serious challenge for the editor at faculty that, as a group of leading theorists and practitioners,
hand. It requires a sensitive and inspired guide to navigate collectively radicalized American architectural education.
this tenuous precipice so that the text becomes instrumentally
sharp yet continues to resonate with the author’s original Every so often an individual rises above the rest as a seer
intent. Special thanks go out to our copy editor, Bradley Horn, endowed with a unique vision of our complex and often enig-
for his creative and intellectual commitment with the studio matic world. In the best of cases they recognize their responsi-
text material so that the mosaic of voices contained within bility and generously bestow upon the rest of us their insights
this book is projected into the world with the generous force in the form of gifts. The seminal educator Dean John Hejduk
4 it deserves. was one such person who opened up a deep metaphysical
space of inquiry that reverberated throughout our discipline
Many thanks to Cristine LeVessar for her expertise and curato- during his influence as an architect between 1950 and 2000.
rial control as the proofreader; Kim Keever for his artistic I am eternally grateful for his guidance as my first instructor in
contribution as the book photographer; Amanda Kirkpatrick for architecture at The Cooper Union and for the profound journey
her precise color correction work; Meredith TenHoor for her into a marvelous world of abstraction that he offered me and an
insightful translation; Michael Bell, David Benjamin, Bradley extended generation of future architects and educators. His
Horn, Ed Keller, Chris Perry, David Ruy, Michael Silver, and heartfelt friendship and unwavering support remains luminous
Peter Zellner for their generosity in contributing insightful in every aspect of my creative life today.
Foreword Columbia, 1997: This was an extremely important and
promising time for me, since it was my first foray to the United
States at the request of Dean Bernard Tschumi. It was then
that I met the young architect and educator Evan Douglis, who
surprised me with an enormous blue architectural installation
of The Oblique Function in the Buell Gallery. It was a bit
of a shock, too, to see the theory of The Oblique Function
interpreted and reinvented by someone else. But the installa-
tion had such a presence that I think it made an enormous
impression on all that saw it. It made the project’s larger
Architecture: a path for the future theoretical intentions much more comprehensible. I’m also
sure that this installation planted seeds in the minds of
Claude Parent many, triggering a variety of architectural readings that went
beyond what I might have articulated in words.
All the proof I need is the publication of this book, Autogenic
Structures.
So what was all of this about?
– Practicing the CONTINUITY of architecture
by refusing vertical and horizontal confinement.
– Looking for the INSTABILITY of support
in order to take advantage of the dynamics of
disequilibrium.
– Thinking about SURFACES strung together
until they INVERT.
– Practicing the religion of SUPPORT, of its
interlacing, of its permanent relationship to the
ground, which guides circulation and habitation
in a shared structure.
These earlier theoretical ideas are significantly advanced
in Evan Douglis’ book, as highlighted in the research he has
conducted over the years in his extensive studio teaching
at Columbia University, The Cooper Union, City College of
New York, Buffalo University, SCI-Arc, and Pratt Institute.
Combining a critical body of relevant material, Autogenic
Structures achieves stunning results. We obtain new means
of inventing dwelling, new visions of the future forms of human
settlements. We see a veritable explosion of urban complexes
that will undoubtedly become the architecture of the future,
at least if the American industry will invest in and offer
freedom to young architects.
Dozens of images from this book bounce through my mind.
I am so convinced and attracted by all of them that I don’t
know which to choose. But grant me the pleasure of meditating
on one of the propositions (pages 136–7) whose obliques
have enchanted me to the point of making me believe I’m
traversing their surfaces, and in whose creases and intersec-
tions I have made my eternal home. 5
(English translation by Meredith TenHoor)
4 Acknowledgments
5 Claude Parent Foreword
10 David Ruy Introduction
16 Evan Douglis Music of the Human Hive
26 Peter Zellner Streamlines of Desire, Performative Techniques, Endless Deviation, Beauty and Open Play in the Evan Douglis Studio
32 Red Tide on Columbus Circle: A Landscape of Disequilibrium and its Embedded Velocities Angela Co
36 Nocturnal Vertiflux: Mining the Urban Continuum Andrea Wiideman
38 Incidental Diffractions: Rethinking Public Space Luis Padron
42 Subliminal Economies: Redefining Columbus Circle Adam Marcus
44 Transgressive Reciprocity: Flux and Exchange within the Urban Network Soo-in Yang
48 Hyper-Aroused Architecture: Responding to Emotional Memory Naomi Fung
50 Perceptual Twist: Material and Symbolic Ambiguity Newt Kershner
52 Normative Redundancies: Deviant Sidewalks at Columbus Circle Helen Lee
54 Zeroing In: The Fuzzy Logic of Emergent Form Daniel Samton
56 Customizing Instability: Space and the Architectural Accessory Connie Lee
60 Deviant Choreography: An Architecture of Hybridized Events Janghwan Cheon
66 Cast-Mold Interactions: Exploring Liminalities of Desire, Need, and Space Kevin Teague
68 Shear Agitation: Hybrid Architecture of Leisure and Work Mayu Hara
70 Performance [Induced] Encounters: Encounter [Induced] Performances Melodie Leung
74 The Embedded Accident: Mining Tectonic Potential Michael Hansmeyer
80 Bradley Horn The Autopoietics of Education
90 Michael Bell Volume + Vector: Exceeding / On the Architectural Spaces of Evan Douglis
96 Multi-Singular Networks: Tectonic Play as Programmatic Engine Yung Eun Kim
102 Binary Tension: Labor as an Analog for Urban Transformation Lloyd Aragon
108 Spiraling Camouflage: Building the Urban Circus Eunice Kim
112 Para-epidemic Transmission: Membranes of Quarantine and Connection Jessica Young
118 Synaptic Projections: The Structure of Attraction and Repulsion Audrey Choi
126 Olympic Tics: The Architecture of Production and Consumption David Benjamin
130 Internecine Fecundity: The Space and Structure of Survival Amy Yang
138 Surface Memory: The Complexity of Fractal Intelligence James Wei Ke
142 Clinamen Affect: Games of Gradual Change Craig Intinarelli
148 Chris Perry Material Potency: Fabrics of Distributed Authorship
152 Michael Silver Matter/in-formation
156 Survival Orchestra: The Architecture of Defensive Maneuvers Chikara Inamura
162 Repercussive Turbulence: The Structure of Anomalous Programs Bradley Kaye
166 Biological Ready-Mades: The Morphology of a Renewable Surface Sihenne Ng
168 Generative Architecture: The Anagrammatic Space of Emergence Ching-Ying Lai
172 Tectonic Mimicry: The Ecology of Endless Transformation Kahong Wu
176 Enantiomeric Discourse: Building the Mockingbird Song Perry Randazzo
180 Finite Infinity: Locating the Space of Circumstance Daniela Franz
188 Incorporated Dynamism: The Architecture of Trans-locomotion James Vincent
192 Edward Keller Topological Ethics
198 David Benjamin The Surface of Design, The Design of Surface
204 Thanataphobic Flesh: Strains of Inner and Peripheral Dissolution James Brucz
208 Maximized Reality: Expansion and Contraction as Architectural Strategy Andrew Petrinec
210 Discursive Flesh: The Architecture of Computational Catastrophe Matthew Hume
212 Aural Cloaks: Architecture as Urban Echo Malia Goldberg
214 Responsive Computation: Space and the Structure of Feedback Scott Rhodehamel
216 Passive Resistance: Taking Advantage of Material Memory Jake Beckermus
Carrie Mcknelly
218 Vestigial Emulsification: The Warping of Time and Place D an Breitner
A ndres Correa
Bradley Rothenberg
226 Inside/Out: Exploring the Convex and the Concave C hristopher Egervary
M atthew Macher
Eddie Mulligan
Jun Pak
232 Horizon: Computing a Sustainable Surface David Mans
Matthew Standeven
238 Continuous Interrupts: Toward a New Kind of Spatial Organization N oriaki Hanao
Alexander Peña de Leon
242 Ritual Flux: Repetition and the Unpredictable Surface Adrian Lo
Peter VanHage
246 Infinite Turbulence: Between the Foreign and the Familiar Ivan Delgado
A lex Drabyk
Sebastian Misiurek
250 Contributors
254 Schools
Revivication: Renewal,
Restoration, and Reclamation
of Life. Image by Gabriel Bach
