BERNARD TSCHUMI ott, 8 EVENT-CITIES 4 Massachusots Institute of Technology Ins reserved. No pat of this book may be reproduced in any form by any (PRAXIS) nic or mechanical moans (incuding photocopying, recording or information 3e and revival) without permission in wring trom the publisher. 200k has been prepared on the occasion of Bernard Tschum's exhibition at luseum of Modarn Artin New York from April 21 te July 5, 1994. It is an ‘ded version of Praxis: Viles-Evénements, produced in French in November (Le Fresnoy and Massimo Riposati Editour, Paris.) Design and Production: Bernard Tschumi, Yannis Aesopos, Henning Ehrhardt \fassimo Piposati with the assistance for the American edition of Stephen la, Lois Nesbit and Keena Suh, # 0-262-70052.2 ¥ of Congress Catalog Card Number 94-75565 {NT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts/London, England Segrete, Rome, italy vd and bound in aly ‘The MIT Pross Cambridge, Massachusettsments ‘i would le to thank all whose assistance and collaboration have speciialy, Jean-Frangois Ethel forthe Parc de la Vilete and Le ca Morin, associated architect for the Tokyo Opera and the >Oiy projects Robert Young, Tom Kowalski, Mark Haukos, Frangois Gillet, hartéres, Ko Yasuda, Yannis Aesopos and Mate-Line Le Squer ‘equally important role inthe elaboration of varous projec. Peter Dutton have also contributed tothe overall concepts of several + thelr structural engineering suggestions, kod are the publc representatives whose support, patience and ited some ofthese projects (and others not presented here) to be ‘arly Frangois Barré and Serge Goldberg for the Pare dea Vilete, ‘or Le Fresnoy and Marc Line, new president of the Etablicse- arc dela Viet. | a context for many contemporary debates. The late Alvin » Architectural Association in London; Jonathan Cole, Michael 2x90 upp at Golumbia University in New York deserve acknow!- Lita support and encouragement. Pierre Kaller,Tery Filey and (last but not leas) Kate Linker have 1 of ther valuable advie. {e possible in pat by the generous support ofthe Orfce Fédéral to Helvetia Fondation Suisse pour la Culture, Fondation Nests ‘ashi Corporation, YKK and the Ministére de la Culture de la Contents Introduction ‘A. Planning Strategies Pare dela Vilete, Freworks, 1992: Cites of Pleasure Chartres, Business Park, 1991~: Edge City Rotterdam, Ralway Tunnel St, 1988: Continvous/Dscontinuous Lines B. Architectural Urbaniem Kansai, Intemational Aiport, 1988: Linear Cites Lausanne, Bridge-City, 1988: Typologica Displacements—Crossprogramming kyoto, Center and Raliway Station, 1991: Dsprogramming . Urban Architecture “Tokyo, Opera, 1986: A Mode of Notation Programmatic Dissociatons ‘Strasbourg, County Hal, 1986: Old and New—The Loge of Fragments Paris, Libary o France, 1989: Transprogramming arlrune, Center for Ant and Mecia (2KM), 1989: Unstable mages Tourcoing, Le Fresney, 1991~: Strategy ofthe In-Bemween ‘The Hague, Vila, 1982: Domest.Ciy D. Transient Events Groningen, Glass Video Gallery, 1990: immaterial Representation Pars, Pompidou Contr, Art ot Publ” Exhibiton Design, 1990: Mediation 1 “Tourcoing, Le Fresnoy, "BTA" Exhibion, 1009: Mediation 1 Project Teams Project List Biblography Biographical Notes "Introduction ‘The works presented in Event-Cites are a selection of recent project, Th Event-Ctess three fol: Its about ‘praxis" insofar as it documents the elaboration of a conceptual process that is inseparable trom the actual making of architecture, + tis about “ties” insofar as it argues that all architecture Is inexteably linked to cur turban condition and that each ofthe projects featured here is fist and foremost a con- situent element of our global system of cites. “Ite about “event” incofar ao it constanty afm that there la no architecture without action or without program, and that architecture's importance resides in its abilty to ‘2ocelerate society's transformation through a careful agencing of spaces and events. rgument of Praxis Event-Ctes aims to be a “ferent kind of book about architecture. While in the past few years theoretical texts on architecture have reosived proper in-depth treatment, accumulating into body of serious contrbutions to textual cscourse, the projects and the spacés of architecture have generally been the abject of glassy picture books, in hich projects receive only a cursory treatment ‘With Event-cities we have tied to show that a “project” discourse potential can be as accurate and extensive as important theoretical texts of rent years. The result Isa pre- ‘ise documentation of a number of recent projects, some of which are built or under Constructon, some of which are compton eties or feasibly studs Using diferent modes of notation trom rough models to sophisticated computer images, and using diferent means of inscribing the unfolding of events in architectural space, we have attempted to show the complexities of the architectural process. The relentless ‘accumulation of plan (for example, inthe section including the Le Fresnoy construction documents) may irate those for whom architecture shoul be fest a “media bt,” to be consumed instantly and uncricaly. These pages attempt to indicate the patient elaboca- tion of any architectural project often several hundred plans, eectione, elevations and details are necessary to inform the making of buildings, Because these document rep- resent an inevitable stage in the final materialization of architectural concept, they also ‘need tobe scrupulously exact. Ther relation to the immediate realty of users and con- tractors makes them diferent from the theoretical projects developed in The Manhattan Transcpts or trom the positions argued in Architecture and Disiunction? in whic the logic of concepts was my primary concern. In Event-Gites, realism is what counts, but ‘only the sense of something that is realizable: every praxis is an action towards a result. I theory is nly responsible to theory, a praxis can only projet ise towards the con: sructed, social, economic and poltical ealty. A praxis is constant responsible to oth- fer, precisely because It has to render an account: to those who, by thei use of the spaces, wil create the event; to those who wil finance and support the work, whether as an dentable political and economic body or socety as a whole “The dryness of the system of notation used in Event-ities — going rom ideograms to ‘construction drawings of projects — is voluntary. The notions of form and style play a negligible ole. These pages are nothing but accounts: they render an account of, and ‘they account for. Indeed, the goal ofthese projects s nether abstract theory nor design (atever reading one would lke to make, these projects are, in general, nclerent to ‘the notion of style) but, on the contrary, a series of conceptual strategies aimed at estab- liehina conditions for naw urban events, This hook slants inthe mid of this stralenicprocess, lke text that would start in the middle ofa phrase. Is in vanstion sworkin-progress,” What in most architectural books is the object of abbreviation is documented here in ‘minuteness. We have also included some detail drawings. In opposion tothe absolute cof a theoretical project, the construction deta wit Is Joints, screws and bots, appears ‘early obscene. The construction detall calls things by their names; describes what fone orinaiy makes. Sometimes prosaic and diy, but also lively and luminous, this etal Is part ofthe conditions ofthe cy-event. I architecture isthe materiaization of concepts, then the most absolute part of such concepts may occasionally correspond to the most advanced constuction technology. Cities Each ofthe projects developed inthis book i a history ofa cy. The cy, as their object, 's presented here as synonymous with architecture. From the organizational strategies ofthe tertory developed for the city of Chartres to those established for the project of Le Fresnoy, the subject is aways the urban effect: there is no architecture without the cy, no city without architecture, We can distinguish four types of projects in Event-Cies. The first type (exempiied by La Vilete, Chartres and Rotterdam) involves projects of urban planring, in which the ‘organization ofthe tertory precedes the detntion of any specific program. It we have ‘shown in hese pages the fireworks realized at La Viet in the summer ot 1892 instead of the Park ise, it is in order to emphasize the “event” dimension, the dimension of ‘action, in what makes up a ct. (The Park would also require a book in itself) In the second type (the architectural urbanism of Kansai, Kyoto and Lausanne), we have tried to demonstrate the hypothesis of urban generators, of architectural systems that ‘are actual catalysts for every kind of activity oF function, independent ofthe form they may take. In such ey-generators, functions and programs combine and intersect in an ‘endless “cisprogramming” or “erossprogramming” The linear alrportity of Kansai, the inhabited bridges of Lausanne, the “skytrame" or programmatic extractor of Kyoto — each organizes the aly in space and time. Urban operations in large scale, these pro- Jeots cannot be conceived other than as constructions that extend in time, in which the notion of multiple and heterogeneous programs inevitably substtutes for @ homoge- ‘neous and unitary one. Ifthe linear Kanai Aipor is Iteraly @ cy created exo, the architectural urbanism of Kyoto or Lausanne is contronted with th historic ety. On one level, the scale and unprecedented densty ofthe new cento-sation of Kyoto is enough to create an “event” However, tis in the montage of attractions, or programmatic co sion, tha the importance ofthe project resides. What concems Lausanne in particular is ‘the dtoumement or displacement ofa typology (the bridge) that provides the conditions foranew urban act In the third type (the Tokyo Opera, the Strasbourg County Hall, the Karsrune Center for ‘At and Media, the Paris Lbrary of France as well as Le Fresnoy), we are conttonted wath specie programs, defined in space and tie. Through their cutural and poltica ambition, these urban architectures suggest a new typeof cy, in which the notion ofthe ‘event that happens in them is as important as that of a street or a square. The frag- ‘ments of the Strasbourg project, the autonomous strips ofthe Tokyo Opera, the inear core ofthe Karlsruhe Media Center, the circus of the Library of France and the lac tronic root of Le Fresnoy propose, to diferent denrees, a new relation between space land event, in which the “in-between” or programmatic Inertice plays an essential role. “The rojec for an urban vila at The Hague brings the notion ofthe in-between tram the public realm tothe smaller scale ofthe private, Inthe fourth and final type — the transient architectures of the city — one parteular reading of events is diacussed. At the Glass Video Gallery, spatial defirition changes constantly folowing the unstable images of video csplays. At the exhibitions designed for the Centre Pompidou or for Le Fresnoy, space i activated by electronic, as much as by architectonic, arttacts: cut apart equally by media images anc by suspension cables, the dense interiorty of a cy space expands tothe dimension ofan urban event. Events Each ofthe projects described in Event-Ciles begins with some frm of @ program, trom ‘orgarizing large metropoltan teitores o providing a functional enclosure forthe most ‘What distinguishes these projects, however, isthe manner in which their programmatic ‘dimension becomes as much a part of ther architecture as of their use. “Architecture ‘as much about the evens that take place in spaces as about the spaces themselves: wil eaborate tis litle, as | have done so at length elsewhere. Hare It suices to say that he static notions of frm and function long favored by architectural discourse need to be replaced by attention to the acons that occur inside and around buildings — to ‘the movement of bodies, to activites, to aspirations; in shor, to the property social and politcal dimension of architecture. Moreover, the cause-and-effect relationship sanctified by modeism, by which form follows function (or vice versa) needs 1 be abandoned in favor of promiscuous colisions of programs and spaces, in which the terms intermingle, combine and implicate one another inthe production of a new architectural realty. ‘This point should be placed in the context of considerable changss taking place in archi tecture today. Rather than questioning the technology of construction, architects will be involved increasingly in the construction of technology, Including the new computerized processes already altering building and design. But tis also trough a new atitude to programs that architecture wil find its role. “Crossprogramming,” “ransprogramming,” "isprogramming” are some of the concepts Eveni-Cites seeks to explore. In ou contemporary word in which ralway stations become museums and churches are tumed into righ-clube, the ol, stable coordinates cease to apy. And, inthis world in Which sports incorporate amusement arcades, cinemas, churches, business centers land £0 on, the “ty,” a8 a complex and interactive web of events, Becomes the relevant point of relerence, These imbications of elements lead, potentaly, to new socal rela- ‘ions, altering the once stable contours of institutions and accelerating the process of ‘change on the way. They disrupt and disfigue but, simultaneously, reconfigure, provid ing arich texture of experiences that redetine urban actualy: ciy-events, event cites, Bomard Tachum! 25 January 1994 ‘The Manhattan Transcripts. London and New York: Acadeny Ediions/St. Martin's ress,1981 2 arentecture and Disjunction. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1994‘workinrprogress,” deumented here in fon tothe absolute and bots, appears It doserbes whet fand luminous, this + materiazation of rally correspond to aly, as their objec, Teatonal strategies forthe project of tecture without the pe (oxemplited by ning, in which the ‘ogram. it we have ver of 1282 instead the dimension of ist susanns), we have ural systems that 11 of tha form they fang lnersect nan sity of Kansai the ractor 2 Kyoto — 2 scale. these pro- Istore ety. On one ‘of Kyo is enough >rogranmatic coll ‘noe in particular is dos the conatons larsrune Conter for wwe are confronted tural and poitica 2h the tion ofthe ‘quae. The frag- 2 Oper, the tinear n09 and the elec land event, in which the “in-between’ or pro ‘The project fr an urban vila at The Hague public tealm to the emalor scale ofthe pve Inthe fourth and final type — the transier reading of evens is discussed. At the Gla constantly following the unstable images of ‘or the Centre Pompidou or for Le Fresnoy, by architectonic, artacts: cut apart equally ‘the dense interioty of acy space expands Evonts Each d the projects deserbed in Eventi ‘organizing large metropottan teitories tof What distinguishes these projects, however dimension becomes as much a part of tei 8 much about the events that take place it wil elaborate this lite, as | have done so that the static notions of form and function to be replaced by attention to the actions 1 ‘the movement of bodies, 10 activities, to as poltical dimension of architecture. Moreove by modemism, by which form folows func favor ct promiscuous colisions of programs ‘combine and implicate one ancther inthe pr “This point should be placed inthe context © tecture today. Rather than questioning the involved increasingly n the construction of processes already altering buiking and de Programs that architecture wil fd its role "ispregramming” are some of the concepts In our contemporary word in which railway tumed into nighi-clubs, the ol, stable coor which airports Incorporate amusement arc land 6 on, the “cy,” a6 a complex and inte point cf reference. These imbrications of tions, altering the once stable contours of change on the way. They disrupt and dtc inga rch texture of experiences that redefr Bornard Techumi 28 January 1994 ‘The Manhattan Transcripts. London anc Pross.t981 2aeetertie and Pisinetion Cambs ac Urban Architecture In the urban architectures of the Tokyo Opera, the Strasbourg County Hal, the Karsruhe Center for Art and Media, the Pari Library of France and Le Freshy, we con= fronted specific programs, defined in space and time, Through their cultural an poiical ambit, these urban architectures bocome centers of attraction suggesting a new type of cy, in which the notion of the event is as important as that ofthe street or the square. Tokyo, Opera, 1986 A Mode of Notation— Programmatic sociationssbourg County Hail, the >and Le Fresnoy, we eon- "heir cutura and political fon suggesting @ new type ‘he stret or the square. A Mode. ProgrammaHypothesis How to deconstruct opera and architecture so as fo think ther concepts inthe most pre- ‘ise manner possible and, simutaneously, to observe them from an extemal, datached point of view? How to devise a systematic and ireducible configuration of concepts, such that each concept intervenes at some decisive moment in the work? How fo ques- tion the unity ofa bulding or a monument without recourse either to a compostion of aficulated and formalized elements oF to a random accumulation of isolated program matic fragments? To play on lis without being enclosed within limite? To welte to ‘other operas while refering only to one's own? Juxtaposition We abandoned traditional rules of compostion and harmony, replacing them with a ‘mode of organization based not on “frm follows function,” “orm folows form” or even, “form folows fiction” but rather on breaking apart the tradtonal components ofthe the- ater and opera house to develop a new “tonality or sound.” No more artful arcuations ‘among the audtorium, the stage, the foyer, the grand staircase; a new pleasut ies in the parallel juxtaposton of indeterminate cultural meanings, 2s opposed to fixed histor- cist practices In our project, functional constraints are not tranelate Into a composiion of symbolic Unis but are extrapolated into a soore of programmatic stips, each of which contains the main activites and elated spaces, The sequence of strips Is as follows: 1. The glass avenue provides direct access from the subway, parking lt and buses. ts busy mezzanines (theater lobbies) provide a vertical spectacte while its ground floor ‘gathers crowds employing pubs services—box offces, shops, bars, press office, recep- tion areas, information, police station and exhibition spaces. A restaurant is located ‘between the glass avenue and the opera's garden. 2. The vertical foyers overlook he glass avenue and encompass coatrooms, box offices, bars of butets, ana suspended gardens. The border between the glass avenue and the vera fyersis articulated by ighting forthe avenue (handrails, stirs, and so fort). 8, The auedtorums act as an acoustical stip accommodating each audience in a mini ‘mum volume (for acoustical quay) with maximum visual access. This stip, which also ‘accommodates VIP rooms, lavatories, et, allows for small, localized flure programs at ether end, 4. The stip coincides wit the proscenium, acting 2s central artery servicing the whole complex. ‘5. The stages provide maximum fexbilty and technical potential 16. This strip contains the backstage area, assembly hall rehearsal spaces anc scenery workshops. Wherever possible, the later two are provided wih dayight. 7. The final strip serves artists and staf. It contains dressing rooms and related spaces—organized along the beloonies of a four-story artists’ concourse (which avoids. the anonymous repetition of coridors)—as well asthe administrative offices, which ben- et nm a ect viaw of ha one narcen Tato BrNotation ‘The bands are analogous to the tins of a music parton that can accopt any kind of melody or rythm. Some are technical or administrative spaces, others are urban spaces, concert spaces where the crowd sits, listens and observes, All are interchange- able. The Logic of Ditforences “Ths organization relists the dissociation between langue and parole, the code and the ‘message, that leads to @ system of dtference:in our project, for example, one can dis- tinguish between the logic of stages, halls and auctorums. Each logis dtlerent fom the oters and les in a diferent space from the adjacent ones, None ofthe bands can exist by tse; however, no one must depend on the others in order to exist. They slide on parallel, neutral, independent rls. However, the events (the crowd, the spectacles) cut actess them and establish ephemeral relations between them. A Hypermetropolitan Stage “This project oflersa simple tool open toa great variety of theatrical demands, @ working instrument, without a preconceived form, whose flexbilty allows fr the viewing of an ‘opera or of the Elizabethan theater as an electronic of neon spectacle, The stage becomes hypermetropoltan and suggests @ new spatial model for he ats of spectacle Tot