| | Volume
No. 1,
a project by Archis + AMO
+ C-lab.
Founded by Ole Bourman, Rem Koolhaas,
and Mark Wigley of Archis,
AMO, and
C-lab,
respectively, Volume is "a new global idea
platform to voice architecture anyway, anywhere, anytime...an
instrument of cultural invention and re-invention....dedicated
to experimentation and the production of new forms of architectural
discourse." Cracking its pages, this ambitious goal
is sometimes overt (particularly in essays by the three
founders), sometimes vague and hidden, but always varied
and unique in the perspectives of contributors. While the
effectiveness of Volume in influencing architecture
will not be known for a while, as more issues and events
occur, the first issue (not cheap at over $25, a factor
in its long-term ability to influence) tries to extend the
boundaries of the profession, beyond the design of buildings
for clients. The "founding fathers" would rather
see architects create their own agenda, using their unique
training and talents to "escape the prison created
by the architectural office as currently constituted."
Most architects would not see their situation as a prison,
but given the relative youthfulness of the profession, a
reconsideration of its goals is not completely unfounded
or irrelevant. Hopefully over time, a clarity of intent
will evolve and translate into a clarity of presentation,
one of the problem's with the magazine and its companion*.
*Early copies of Volume's
first issue are accompanied by AMO's "History of Europe
and the European Union", an interesting yet graphically
difficult companion. |
