The sequence becomes a jagged collage
of fragments of explosions, crashes, physical lunges, and violently accelerated
motions. There is no sense of spatiotemporal continuity; all that matters is
delivering a continual series of shocks to the audience.
Steven Shaviro
(Note to architects: You
thought that you could ignore Junkspace, visit it surreptitiously, treat it
with condescending contempt or enjoy it vicariously . . . because you could not
understand it, you’ve thrown away the keys . . . But now your own architecture
is infected, has become equally smooth, all-inclusive, continuous, warped,
busy, atrium-ridden . . . )
Rem Koolhaas
A form of spatial disjunction has occurred
within the built environment under the rubric of neo-liberalism, physical space
has become absorbed as part of a wider set of informational and economic networks
and relations that combine virtual, augmented and mixed realities.
This new spatial regime requires new forms of
measurement, calibration and notation, traditional forms of orthography need to
be questioned in terms of their ability to generate, develop and represent architectural
possibilities for these mutated spaces of late capitalism.
In film, space is no longer organised around
the relationships of classical mis-en-scene, through the use of unconventional
cinematography, c.g.i and non-linear editing techniques the type of coherent, contiguous
and consistent spatial narrative is eclipsed, this has been described as
post-continuity cinema.
In his
essay “Junkspace,” which reads like a frenzied stream-of-consciousness SF
story, Rem Koolhaas creates a vivid indictment of a culture trapped by its own
hubris, technological addiction, and vapidity. Junkspace
is both fragmented and homogeneous, it is lacks continuity and is at the same
time ubiquitous and in it we are completely surrounded and yet totally alone.
Junkspace describes a form of post-continuity architecture.
To combat the totalities of Junkspace, and to
immerse ourselves in it, Unit 15 will be engaging with a landscape of flows and
spaces of desire through the deployment of multiple vectors, exemplified by the
nefarious world of the Architectural Folly and the scurrilously irreverent Fun
Palace. These vectors will be organised and curated into an exhibition to be
part of next years London Festival of Architecture located in and around the
Old Royal Naval College and the Queens House.
Unit 15 will create 21st Century
Architectural Follies based on the literal interpretation of their own drawings.
Stage 2: 21st Century Fun Palace
Unit 15 has agreed to take part in PolyArk 4
run by the RIBA and linking over 30 International Schools of Architecture.
Stage 3: 21st Century Representations
Unit 15 will curate and exhibit their work in
the University of Greenwich Heritage Gallery next June as part of the London
Festival of Architecture
