Metabolism Redux

ARC 700 Metabolism Redux Seminar / Aurel von Richthofen @ The Ohio State University 2008

Metabolism Redux will revisit Japanese architecture in the 1960ies, more precisely a Japanese avant-garde postulating an architecture of change, that they called Metabolism.

Metabolism transpired into "common" architecture history and theory as a distinct phenomenon - both geographically remote and temporarily closed - an exclusive, yet failed utopia. While this Western perception adds another "-ism" to the collection of post war modern architecture, it falls short to capture the momentum that gave birth to an extraordinary wealth of ideas. What were the economic, social and political circumstances that triggered this explosion of projects? What were the pop-cultural forces mobilizing a whole country to propel itself into a sci-fi future? How are we to re-construct a Metabolist project that vanished just about 10 years after its first appearance on the international architectural scene?

Metabolism Redux will work with primary sources such as Japanese magazines, movies and advertising. Our focus will lie on the apparent advances in technology, an evolved visual language, an expressive use of biological, technical and cybernetical metaphors, and a general transformation of Japanese culture. In collecting and "reading" the visual legacy of Metabolism, we will derive a catalogue of Metabolist projects, eventually enabling us to recuperate Metabolism as a contemporary project. At the same time we will contrast Metabolism with cybernetic advances in pattern recognition, communication theory and computer technology. The visual and the digital will present a link to present day architectural research. By utilizing media theory and reworking the visual project the seminar will thus propose a "cultural history" of Metabolism.

Production The Metabolist Project is about production. The seminar will produce both a common catalogue and timeline of Metabolist influences and works..

Catalogue: The seminar will produce a common catalogue of Metabolist projects by scanning, collecting and re-working Metabolist projects in their context of magazines, movies or advertisements.
Timeline: In good Modernist tradition, Metabolism exploited the power of imagery. Instead of re-designing a "complete" Metabolist project, we will produce poster of images of an updated project.