Third Spaces documents TERROIR's design strategy for spaces that resist a project's functional brief — pockets of urban openness carved out against the logics of capital and programmatic efficiency, argued through built work and critical theory.
About This Book
Large projects reshape the public domain whether or not they intend to. TERROIR's response to this reality is the Third Space: elements of a project that sit outside the brief, sometimes against its functional logic, designed in the interests of urban generosity and civic engagement. This second volume in a series on the Sydney, Hobart and Copenhagen-based practice structures its argument through a conceptual framework, then moves through TERROIR's own projects alongside key international works. The book draws on architectural theory, philosophy, and built precedent to make a case for architecture as a counter-measure to capital — a position that carries particular weight coming from a practice shaped by Tasmania's contested environmental politics.
Key Features
- 176 pages of project photography, drawings, and critical essays on public space and urban design
- Essays by John Hong (professor at Seoul National University and director of Project: Architecture) and philosopher and architectural writer Andrew Benjamin on the intersection of Walter Benjamin and architecture
- Reference projects by Bernard Tschumi, Steven Holl, James Stirling, and Carmody Groarke
- Published by Uro Publications, 2019
What You'll Discover
- How TERROIR defines and deploys the Third Space as a deliberate counter-strategy to the capital-driven logics that govern large architectural commissions
- The influence of Tasmanian landscape and environmental political tensions on TERROIR's approach to public space and urban openness
- Andrew Benjamin's philosophical reading of Walter Benjamin in relation to architectural practice and the conditions of the contemporary city
- How international precedents by Tschumi, Holl, Stirling, and Carmody Groarke illuminate and contextualise TERROIR's own spatial strategies
About the Author
Andrew Benjamin is a philosopher and architectural writer whose essay in this volume examines the intersection of Walter Benjamin's thought and architectural practice. The book also features an essay by John Hong, professor at Seoul National University and director of Seoul-based practice Project: Architecture, alongside contributions from TERROIR co-founder Gerard Reinmuth. TERROIR was founded in 1999 by Gerard Reinmuth, Scott Balmforth, and Richard Blythe, and now operates from offices in Sydney, Hobart, and Copenhagen.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 176
- Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780648435532
- Publisher: Uro Publications
- Publication Date: 2019
Perfect For: Architects and urban designers engaged with public space theory, students of architectural practice and critical theory, and anyone interested in how built work can resist rather than reinforce the logics of capital.