Cabaret Series: Monsterpieces

January 21, 2011

 

Storefront for Art and Architecture invited the public to Cabaret Series: Monsterpieces, an event which launched Monsterpieces [ORO 2010] with a Cabaret of Dreams projected into the architectures of the 2000s.

The event introduced and invited individuals to perform a new mode of architectural practice: the dreaming of history through a series of imaginary retro-perspectives and alternative histories of the architecture of the last ten years. 

The event was open to the dreams and contributions of the public.

 

With special contributions from:

 

Emily Abruzzo
Gerald Bodziak
Aude-Line Duliere
Eva Franch
Alicia Imperiale
Michael Kubo
Jason Long
Spyros Papapetros
Clara Wong
Tamar Zinguer

 

About the book

Monsterpieces presents a collection of kids’ bestiaries as a critique of Monster Contemporary Architecture. It is a reinterpretation of contemporary iconic forms and the contemplation of the future states of these masterpieces, or more fittingly, Monsterpieces. In this book, two Harvard architecture graduates challenge their minds un-learning architecture history. They speculate on the future state of post-occupancy of contemporary architectural icons, creating a retrospective of future archeological studies. A response and critique of iconic perFORMance – the current architectural trend in competing for attention – this fiction tells the story of building forms that do follow function. In this fabular manifesto, each eccentric form finds its justification in a speculative function, with surreal and dystopian connotations.

These zoomorphic graphic explorations show not only what the future forms of the buildings will be, but also possible re-appropriation of program by their users. By projecting ecological reforms that reshape the anatomy of the buildings, these speculations glorify the absurdity of architectural forms in the 2000s.

 

Included in this book are essays by Antoine Picon, Monica Ponce de Leon, Timothy Hyde, Jonathan D Solomon, and Spyros Papapetros.

 

About the authors

Aude-Line Duliere and Clara Wong are rebellious daughters of the Koolhaasian 90s. They hold Master of Architecture degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Design, and together are a model of active global collaboration. 

Aude-Line Duliere is an architect and movie production designer assistant in the U.S. and across Europe, with a Bachelor of Architecture degree cum laude from the Institut Superieur d’Architecture La Cambre and a Master’s degree from Sint-Lucas Architectuur Brussels. Her academic work builds on the dual nature of her experience and explores the crossroads between architecture and cinema.

 

Clara Wong is a practicing architect, artist, and part-time assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong, with academic activities spanning the U.S. and Hong Kong. She received her Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Princeton University School of Architecture, and graduated with accolades from the Princeton University Program in Visual Arts, focusing on Drawing and Painting.

Monsterpieces

Publisher: ORO editions
Language: English
Year: 2010
Pages: 100
Illustrations: Essays and fully illustrated stories
Color/duotone/black and white: Duotone 8.5″ x 6″ Hardcover
19.95 USD

ISBN 978-0-9819857-3-2

 

Copies were available for purchase during the event.

 

This event was possible thanks to the generous support of ORO publishers.

 

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The Cabaret Series is part of Storefront’s programming for the development of modes of expression that engage with contemporary discourses, the audience and the social, political and physical space of the event in a playful, sexy and humorous manner. The events have the aim to produce new modes of communication between speakers, performers and spectators through humor, provocation, seduction and immediacy.