Architecture Goes Indie!

In 1968, the renowned Austrian architect, Hans Hollein, published an article named ‘Everything is Architecture’ in the avant-garde Austrian magazine ‘Bau’. And as you have probably already guessed from the name, in it he claims that everything is architecture. Without going any further with Mr Hollein and his real intentions, we actually love the idea and would like to absorb architecture as a more inclusive whole.
Today, way more than in 1968, the lines between different fields of culture, art, technology and criticism have faded away, and we live in an age of multi-disciplinary thinking AND acting. On the other hand, technological and life-style developments have made it easier for people to have their say and to take up a do-it-yourself approach. That’s where we think there is an intersection between being indie and architecture – in its much broader sense.
In this issue you will read about all things indie, with an architectural twist.
You can download the print-it-yourself file HERE

[un]architecture: Rural Areas

As of 2014, according to World Bank, 47% of world’s population live in rural areas – which in fact includes 70% of the world’s poor – so there is no doubt that rural areas must be a tremendous concern; but are they really? Evidently, theses rural lands are home to people who need extra attention and support – and wait a minute, did I just say ‘home’? Yes! Architecture surely has a huge part to play. But sadly enough, it is mostly occupied with the charm and glamour of madly growing urban areas and metropolises; thus the built environments of the rural areas are commonly not supervised, designed or constructed by architects. This results in a condition, which we would like to call, ‘un-architecture’.
Though, just as there is no guarantee that architecture per se is good, there is no urge that ‘un-architecture’ is bad. All we are suggesting is that it surely deserves a closer look.
In this issue, NAAM explores [un]Architecture: Rural Areas – covering both architecture and un-architecture in those areas – and tries to shed a light on this forgotten part of architectural discourse. In this issue, NAAM takes you to villages in Iran, India, Pakistan, China, United States, Uganda, Tibet and Romania.

On the Edge of Architecture

Since we are in touch with architecture on a daily basis – or simply put – we breathe in it every day, we are likely to forget it just the same; or maybe we just accept it as a simple everyday fact. But, let’s give it a break; can we conceive an edge for architecture? Where we cannot proceed the same old path we are used to anymore – by which I mean the conventional approaches toward architecture and architectural writing.

At NAAM, we spotted a handful of edges for architecture; most of all we focused on the edge of ‘fantasy and story’, which is exclusively featured in a special section dedicated to this subject, as well as an interview with the Blank Space Project on their competition and book 'Fairy Tales'. We have other articles and images as well, which explore several different ‘edges’. Moreover, we have received interesting urban projects full of fantasy, which you can view in the ‘Projects’ section.

The pieces can’t be generalized by topic or style, only by approach – taking on any genre with architecture as the protagonist.

-Archinect

Contributing to its most recent issue and centered around the theme of ‘On the Edge of Architecture’, MovingCities wrote a piece dealing with the transformation of Shanghai 上海 called “A Fantasy on the Fringe of the Future“.

-MovingCities