Project 2 A: Drawing & Speculation
A drawing of the world around you as an anonymous megastructure
Bingyi Wang (3416129)
UTS College
DDWO001
Christie Cooper
Superstudio
History of Superstudio
Superstudio was part of a radical architectural movement in the late 1960s (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.). It was organized by a group of highly minded Italian university students to reflect social and political issues. The most important characters were Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldodi Francia, and then more and more like-minded people joined their art studio. The work they presented was highly conceptual and unconstrained by physical definitions, meaning that the building was a physical building that did not exist at the time (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.). This building was called "anti-architecture" and its purpose was to assume “Supersurface," a total structure that was completely consumed, associated with a hyperconnected and networked energy society (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.).
The Anti-Architecture
Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia decided to take the Sustainable development task of designing a new method that enable people to have a good life live in the earth (Overstreet, 2020). Driven by the idea of science fiction novels and the desire to design to deal with problem of their era (Overstreet, 2020). They try to create an “anti-design” which means to criticize the politics, capitalism and urbanism, by creating ideas to give everyone’s a functional space that the need of free time, place and objects. At the beginning, they used neutral and malleable materials such as wood, steel, glass, brick and plastic. At the end, they were dystopian, reminding people with anti-architectural style. The concept of Superstudio was very avant-garde in 20th century architecture and design. Since their first appearance at the Superarchitecture Fair in Pistoia, Italy in 1966, Superstudio has caused a great deal of impact as its architectural ideas challenge the modernist ideas that have dominated architecture for more than a decade (Overstreet, 2020). Then came ideas that influenced generations of designers and architects, from the Studios of Alchymia in the late 1970s, to the Memphis team in the mid-1980s, and later groups of architects who became famous (Overstreet, 2020).
Continuous monument
Natalini proposes that three types of research that will be realized in the future are the architectural, image and technical forms of monuments, which aim to interact between the physical space and the metaphysical space. Using nature as a technical basis, they created a series of continuous monuments that reflect contemporary utopian ideas, because they believed that the order of the earth in the universe could be imitated through abstract and geometric shapes (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.). Due to the stagnation of intellectual culture, the modernism of the 1920s turned into conservatism, and Superstudio responded to this phenomenon with ironic images, reflecting the destruction of nature by urbanism with a combination of anti-architecture and nature (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.). The classic example is the flood of Florence in 1966, which led to a declining population, but instead of dealing with that, the government turned it into a commercial area (See Figure 1). Superstudio made a mockery of this phenomenon with an image showing that two-thirds of the buildings in Florence were flooded, except for the roofs. Their aim was not to restore the city's conservative fabric, but to prevent the Arno River from flooding Florence further. Ironically Florence became an underwater city and tourism continued (Superstudio — Visual Melt, n.d.).
Figure 1
My observation
I found Superstudio's work to have very large white architectural grids that extend in geometric shapes. After learning more about the Superstudio's reach across the globe and even into outer space and these white mega-buildings I found that these contrasting images depicted the homogenizing effects of globalization, and early postwar architectural ideas, creating a homogenizing quality on a global scale. The works look beautiful, but these are illusions created by Superstudio, which have been called "dystopia". Superstudio will continue the series of monuments in order to attack social phenomena and corrupt political issues and so on. So, I think what Superstudio wants to express is to use "anti-architecture" and "Supersurface" to satirical the government's actions and poor urban planning. For example, overdevelopment leads to the loss of biological communities, urban flooding, and the destruction of animal habitats. From the concept of Superstudio, I learned to use white grid buildings to satirical social phenomena, and then use nature or the universe as the basis to cover some areas with white grid buildings, such as "Supersurface" grid design to cover the sea surface or roads or draw huge grid buildings in the open space around animal habitats. To caricature the consequences of human overdevelopment. Because I know there were no computers in the 20th century, so they must have presented the work as a collage. So, I decided to draw my general idea first and then use an architectural game to realize my idea, because it was difficult to reach my expectations with only Ps, and the work presented looked strange. However, the game is a bit like "3DMAX" where you can build whatever you want, so I thought it was an interesting way to present the work.
Visual analysis
•The technique of three-point perspective paints the buildings in white grid, and the structure in the painting is very three-dimensional.
•Superstudio's "Continuous Monuments" series is often used to satirical the phenomenon of contemporary socio-political and cultural conservatism.
•The huge mountain valley scene is inserted in the center of a huge hollow white grid building, meaning less visible nature, the result of more and more human architecture.
•The vision is focused on a point in the upper center of the painting, from which the huge white building emerges, and this technique is called perspective.
•What catches the eye is the group of people eating together, and the contrast between the characters and the environment.
•There were no editing tools in the 20th century, so I think Superstudio used to cut posters onto paintings.
•The white grid is arranged in an oblique way to increase the sense of space and change the visual effect.
•This anti-architecture is supposed to be ”Supersurface" in order to describe the connections between a hyperconnected society and real world structures.
•The relationship between the characters and the building objects is harmonious, not very abrupt. The color and shadow are also very good.
My work processes
I think art has no boundaries, so I try to use games to complete my designs instead of using Photoshop. Because it can better show my ideas and knowledge.
•Three point perspective
•Imitate Superstudio's anti-architectural concept
•Human overexpansion and commercial development have led to fewer and fewer plants
•"Continuous Monument" series
•Transparent Grid assumes a hyperconnected society and networked energy that connects the entire world
•This picture shows the results of overdevelopment
•The purpose of the visual presentation is a transparent grid building that will cover all water sources
•The connection betweenn architecture and anti-architecture
•Classic perspective design tips
•Contrast and distance between trees and buildings
•Anti-architecture in a hyperconnected society is globally connected, as is the relationship between earth and the universe
•The excessive development of the government has led to the disappearance or extinction of some precious animals
Reference
Superstudio — Visual Melt. (n.d.). Superstudio — Visual Melt. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from https://visualmelt.com/superstudio
Overstreet, K. (2020, November 29). The Return of Superstudio and the Anti-Architecture Ideology. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/951925/the-return-of-superstudio-and-the-anti-architecture-ideology
