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New Wombs: Electronic Bodies and Architectural Disorders
By Maria Luisa Palumbo.
BirkhÉuser, Basel, Switzerland, 2000.
96 pp., illus. 70 col., 40 b/w.
ISBN:3-7643-6294-4
Reviewed by Robert Pepperell, University College Wales, Newport, Caerleon Campus, Newport, NP18 3YH, U.K.
E-mail: pepperell@cwcom.net
New Wombs is issued as part of a series called 'The Information Technology
Revolution in Architecture' which, as the blurb explains, reflects "on the
effects the virtual dimension is having on architects and architecture in
general." In a critical reassessment of the practice of making buildings in
the context of new technology and the (so-called) "information age" Palumbo
starts with the Renaissance projection of the idealised human body in
mathematical space (Leonardo's Vitruvian figure) and concludes with a
scherzo through some radical contemporary architectural projects. In
reading the book it soon becomes apparent that the text is translated,
presumably from the Italian, since it has the air of a slightly faltering
interpreter. The sentences are often long, wordy and sometimes unreadable:
"The exploration of the limit between formed and formless matter is
translated into the articulation of enveloping or folded cavities, capable
of mediating organic and inorganic inspiration, natural and technological
fascination." (p. 56). This does not mean, however, that the book is unable
to impart ideas. The huge diversity of material gathered together in such a
small space gives some sense of the fluid information overload that Palumbo
sees as an alternative to rigorous classical form, even if the effect is
sometimes like listening to numerous chords being played simultaneously on
a piano. The dissolving of static physical space and boundaries in favour
of semi-structured flow and continuity is, Palumbo argues, the new "shape"
of architecture which, womb-like, extends beyond, and into, the human body.
The world-view she describes as 'postorganic' is a familiar brew of biotech
fusion, Deleuzeian social theory and virtuality which, like much theory
written in this vein, tends to be impressionistic rather than precise.
There are moments, however, of revelation and humour: the concept of
compact form dissolving into spatial vibration is a beautiful idea (p.53)
and her re-visitations of experimental sixties architects like Archigram
with their "walking cites" (1964) and Haus-Rucker-Co's "Mind Expander I"
(1967) are refreshing and amusing. The book makes a strong case for
regarding the human body as entirely continuous with its environment. She
discusses the driver's ability to "feel" the car as an extension to their
own body, thus allowing tight manoeuvres (the driver winces if the car is
bumped) and the nomadic sense of space in which the "nomad incorporates the
whole of space under his own skin, because his tent is a house that never
interrupts his progress, but on the contrary accompanies it: space is an
extension, a prosthesis or vehicle for his own movement." (p. 71). The book
certainly improves towards the end, the writing style becomes relatively
lucid and the text is concluded with a useful overview of relevant
literature and sources.
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