Publisher: Circa, ISBN: 9781911422495, Authors: Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, Ron Herron, David Greene and Michael Webb, with essays by Reyner Banham, Martin Pawley, Michael Sorkin and others, Format: Hardcover, 23 × 29.5cm, 300pp plus 4pp of inserts and 4 fold-outs
Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Archigram envisioned the future of architecture in ways that enthralled a generation. In an era defined by the space race, they developed a high-tech, lightweight, infrastructural approach that stretched far beyond known technologies or contemporary realities. They devised autonomous dwellings and focused on survival technology; they experimented with megastructures and modular construction systems; they explored mobility through the environment and the use of portable living capsules: all through the medium of an incredible series of drawings and models.
This book, now in a revised edition, catalogues Archigram’s entire oeuvre over fourteen years, including Archigram magazine. Along with commentaries by the architects, there are contributions from critics Reyner Banham, Martin Pawley, Michael Sorkin and others, writing then and now. Designed and edited by Archigram member Dennis Crompton, Archigram: The Book is a landmark in architectural publishing.
Warren Chalk (1927−88), Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, Ron Herron (1930−94), David Greene and Michael Webb are the founder members of Archigram. Their theoretical work began in the 1960s as a cry against ‘the crap then going up in London’. Although they never built a building together, their influence over a generation of architects continues to be felt today. The group was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2002.