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| Anthony Gwilliam, ARCHIGRAM, David Greene, Cedric Price | |
| Archigram Archives |
Professional printing was funded by money won by Peter Cook (competition for a Gas House) Contains ad for the LCC. Sold for 1s 6d (7.5p); money posted by readers on receipt of magazine. Copies are rare
ARCHIGRAM 2, 1962
Interview with Dennis Crompton
Dennis Crompton
This was the second issue, a year or so later. By this time Ron [Herron], Warren [Chalk] and myself were in contact with Peter, David and Mike, mainly because Peter wanted us to contribute to the second issue of Archigram. We weren’t big buddies by then, that came slightly later.
Just before this issue came out, Peter had entered a Student or a Young Architects Competition for a Gas House and he’d won a prize. He put some of the prize money --or maybe all of the prize money -- into the production of the second issue of Archigram; because he wanted to, as he puts it, use “proper printing”. So the text pages were actually typeset with metal type because there wasn’t any digital type-settings then.
Both issues 1 and 2 are extremely rare; this is the only one I’ve got [of Archigram 2] and it’s got notes written on it and so on. It had, I think, four pages of type written and printed by letterpress pages; and other pages, like this one, which were printed offset litho.
And these two projects are the reason, Peter had got in touch with ...
Professional printing was funded by money won by Peter Cook (competition for a Gas House) Contains ad for the LCC. Sold for 1s 6d (7.5p); money posted by readers on receipt of magazine. Copies are rare
ARCHIGRAM 2, 1962
Interview with Dennis Crompton
Dennis Crompton
This was the second issue, a year or so later. By this time Ron [Herron], Warren [Chalk] and myself were in contact with Peter, David and Mike, mainly because Peter wanted us to contribute to the second issue of Archigram. We weren’t big buddies by then, that came slightly later.
Just before this issue came out, Peter had entered a Student or a Young Architects Competition for a Gas House and he’d won a prize. He put some of the prize money --or maybe all of the prize money -- into the production of the second issue of Archigram; because he wanted to, as he puts it, use “proper printing”. So the text pages were actually typeset with metal type because there wasn’t any digital type-settings then.
Both issues 1 and 2 are extremely rare; this is the only one I’ve got [of Archigram 2] and it’s got notes written on it and so on. It had, I think, four pages of type written and printed by letterpress pages; and other pages, like this one, which were printed offset litho.
And these two projects are the reason, Peter had got in touch with Ron, Warren and myself. We did a competition for the Westminster Housing -- Lillington Street Housing -- that Peter liked. That was the plan of it, and the elevation was on the front sheet. So this was all highly organised: stapled down one edge, printed on both litho and letterpresses.
So there was a guy Ken Martin, I haven’t met him once in the last ten years. I think it was a project at Liverpool, and various people contributed. Andrew Anderson, whose project is there, was a student with Peter at the AA at the time, part of a group that were called -- I don’t know if only by Peter -- The Christian Weirdies. Andrew became the architect of the fabric, I think, of one of the Cathedrals, later on [Chelmsford]. And again, it’s got projects by Peter, Mike, David. Cedric [Price] had appeared on here, Andrew Anderson (the guy we were just talking about) and Tony Gwilliam, all of whom were young graduates at the time.
Now that page was folded, folded back to go in [page 5]. I suspect the cutting was done by hand because to fold back in like that it has to have a notch cut out of it.
Kester Rattenbury
And would you have done that yourselves or would that have been partly professionally done?
Dennis Crompton
It looks to have been die-cut. Again, I have no memory, and I doubt that Peter has particularly, but from the quality of the stapling, I would say that was done by hand. But I think the trimming was done on guillotines and so on.
And then there’s a page of text, another couple of projects, Timothy Tinker and so on, David Lewis (I wonder if that’s the same David Lewis?) Hang on, there are two pages missing from this one.
What happened very early on was Peter met up with David Rock, who was part of Architects Co-Partnership [ACP]. David was very generous in finding support, so there was a page in I think, the next sort-of six issues that was paid for by David Rock of ACP. And there was a page from the London County Council. Goodness knows how Peter persuaded them to put money into it, but it was there.
Kester Rattenbury
Corporate advertising!
Dennis Crompton
Corporate advertising, yes. Support of the arts.
Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron, Peter Taylor, Michael Webb
Anthony Gwilliam
problem – a library
Function of a library to communicate knowledge. It is one of the essential assumptions of civilisation that junctions such as these should be readily accessible to all those to whom they might be useful.
People move
naturally – horizontally
mechanically – vertically
But distance too great, therefore try a balance –
a spiral.
One continuous floor wraps above and below itself and around itself.
The section is similar when taken through the centre in any direction. The solid so formed is likely to be symmetrical – completely.
The pyramid (of glass) gives more light with its slope – and more light still on the corners. Height of floor over floor decreases up the building.
The pyramid above is reflected in a shallower pyramid in the ground – the floors here act as compression members. The pyramids give uninterrupted floor areas with no columns. The service cores are immovable and the staircases act as diagonal bracing of the main core.
… models based upon biological models are not art, they work, function, form – the shape and form of a bone …
Surely the form of the thing will come from the answering of a certain problem or development from industrial process. The straight line still tends to dominate – but the oil refinery – the chemical process, the feeding of liquids and solids; heating, cooling continuously: same as plants – why not buildings, from a thorough study of the problem, form arrives …
David Green [sic]
project – sprayed plastic house
Why don’t rabbits burrow rectangular burrows?
Why didn’t early man make rectangular caves?
Supposition: Architect … Client wanting single storey house in the landscape.
Phase 1 Burrows … Purchase foamed polystyrene block 40ft. by 40ft. by 15ft. and suitable burrowing tools, e.g. electric hedge-cutter, blowlamp. Block placed on site, burrowing commences, kids carving out playroom, etc., parents carving rest. Architects advising.
Phase 2 Dissolve … House burrow completed. Enter burrow with plastic and fibreglass spray machinery (with client), spray burrow under supervision of plastics engineer. Client chooses regions of surfaces to be transparent or translucent, the spray mixture alters accordingly.
Phase 3, Completion … Shell entered by architect and service consultants and client. Client decides upon regions of lighting, wall, floor, heating, sinks, power points.
Also decided are finishes, e.g. sprayed rubber, flooring, carpet, etc. Services and equipment fixed, insulation sprayed on ready to receive finishes. (Spray outside of burrowed block with acetate, dissolving the polystyrene, leaving plastic cocoon which is wired to the ground. Structural correction made.)
Flats utilising spray plastic system:
Total environment by planners and architects and sociologists, etc. anticipation … Serviced decks i.e. stairs, ramps, heat, electrics, fire escape, total traffic organisation on to which each person puts their own living cell giving complete control over immediate surroundings. No art straitjacket.
Cedric Price
activity and change
An expendable aesthetic requires no flexibility in artifact but must include time as an absolute factor.
Planned obsolescence is the order within such a discipline – shoes; motorcar; magazines.
The validity of such an aesthetic is only achieved if replacement is a factor of the overall design process. The mobile home presupposes a continuance of production of such units.
(The last manned war plane has been designed.)
In all cases the artifact at any one time is complete in itself and the overall design problem requires a solution to the organisation of such units – flowers in a bowl, caravans on a site.
In allowing for change, flexibility, it is essential that the variation provided does not impose a discipline which may only be valid at the time of design.
It is easier to allow for individual flexibility than organisational change – The expandable house; the multi-use of fixed volumes; the transportable controlled environment. The massing of living units in single complex presupposes the continuance of physically linked activity complexes.
The expandable urban centre presupposes the continuance of both town centres and town as known.
Physical forms as known are often the by-product of social, economic, technical conditions no longer relevant. Planning for activities must allow for change not only in content but in means of operation. Disciplines can only be based on foreseeable change and thereafter only order and not direction of change should be established.
Fig. 1 The Gumpertz system of automatic dispensing allowing change of use of building from supermarket (an intermediate form of merchandising) to mail order despatch house. Project 1958.
Fig. 2. Variation of activity zones and movement patterns. Primary School with C. Grillet 1958.
Fig. 3. Allowance for change in family unit. House 1960.
Fig. 4. Controlled environment. Radome development 1962.
Fig. 5. Urban activity interchange and flow. Urban plan 1961.
Anthony Gwilliam.
Nottingham School of Arch. 1956–61. Experiments with Fuller-type structures. Made a film of his movable theatre (1961). Works for Cumbernauld New Town.
David Greene.
Nottingham School of Arch. 1954–59. Experimenting with plastics and plastic form, e.g. his mosque (Archigram 1). Has been working with P. Cook on Archigram 1 and several competitions. Works for James Cubitt and Partners.
Cedric Price.
Cambridge and the Architectural Association – where he now teaches. Has built several small buildings and is architect member of the team working on the London Zoo birdcage, with Lord Snowdon and Frank Newby. In private practice in London.
problem – a library
Function of a library to communicate knowledge. It is one of the essential assumptions of civilisation that junctions such as these should be readily accessible to all those to whom they might be useful.
People move
naturally – horizontally
mechanically – vertically
But distance too great, therefore try a balance –
a spiral.
One continuous floor wraps above and below itself and around itself.
The section is similar when taken through the centre in any direction. The solid so formed is likely to be symmetrical – completely.
The pyramid (of glass) gives more light with its slope – and more light still on the corners. Height of floor over floor decreases up the building.
The pyramid above is reflected in a shallower pyramid in the ground – the floors here act as compression members. The pyramids give uninterrupted floor areas with no columns. The service cores are immovable and the staircases act as diagonal bracing of the main core.
… models based upon biological models are not art, they work, function, form – the shape and form of a bone …
Surely the form of the thing will come from the answering of a certain problem or development from industrial process. The straight line still tends to dominate – but the oil refinery – the chemical process, the feeding of liquids and solids; heating, cooling continuously: same as plants – why not buildings, from a thorough study of the problem, form arrives …
David Green [sic]
project – sprayed plastic house
Why don’t rabbits burrow rectangular burrows?
Why didn’t early man make rectangular caves?
Supposition: Architect … Client wanting single storey house in the landscape.
Phase 1 Burrows … Purchase foamed polystyrene block 40ft. by 40ft. by 15ft. and suitable burrowing tools, e.g. electric hedge-cutter, blowlamp. Block placed on site, burrowing commences, kids carving out playroom, etc., parents carving rest. Architects advising.
Phase 2 Dissolve … House burrow completed. Enter burrow with plastic and fibreglass spray machinery (with client), spray burrow under supervision of plastics engineer. Client chooses regions of surfaces to be transparent or translucent, the spray mixture alters accordingly.
Phase 3, Completion … Shell entered by architect and service consultants and client. Client decides upon regions of lighting, wall, floor, heating, sinks, power points.
Also decided are finishes, e.g. sprayed rubber, flooring, carpet, etc. Services and equipment fixed, insulation sprayed on ready to receive finishes. (Spray outside of burrowed block with acetate, dissolving the polystyrene, leaving plastic cocoon which is wired to the ground. Structural correction made.)
Flats utilising spray plastic system:
Total environment by planners and architects and sociologists, etc. anticipation … Serviced decks i.e. stairs, ramps, heat, electrics, fire escape, total traffic organisation on to which each person puts their own living cell giving complete control over immediate surroundings. No art straitjacket.
Cedric Price
activity and change
An expendable aesthetic requires no flexibility in artifact but must include time as an absolute factor.
Planned obsolescence is the order within such a discipline – shoes; motorcar; magazines.
The validity of such an aesthetic is only achieved if replacement is a factor of the overall design process. The mobile home presupposes a continuance of production of such units.
(The last manned war plane has been designed.)
In all cases the artifact at any one time is complete in itself and the overall design problem requires a solution to the organisation of such units – flowers in a bowl, caravans on a site.
In allowing for change, flexibility, it is essential that the variation provided does not impose a discipline which may only be valid at the time of design.
It is easier to allow for individual flexibility than organisational change – The expandable house; the multi-use of fixed volumes; the transportable controlled environment. The massing of living units in single complex presupposes the continuance of physically linked activity complexes.
The expandable urban centre presupposes the continuance of both town centres and town as known.
Physical forms as known are often the by-product of social, economic, technical conditions no longer relevant. Planning for activities must allow for change not only in content but in means of operation. Disciplines can only be based on foreseeable change and thereafter only order and not direction of change should be established.
Fig. 1 The Gumpertz system of automatic dispensing allowing change of use of building from supermarket (an intermediate form of merchandising) to mail order despatch house. Project 1958.
Fig. 2. Variation of activity zones and movement patterns. Primary School with C. Grillet 1958.
Fig. 3. Allowance for change in family unit. House 1960.
Fig. 4. Controlled environment. Radome development 1962.
Fig. 5. Urban activity interchange and flow. Urban plan 1961.
Anthony Gwilliam.
Nottingham School of Arch. 1956–61. Experiments with Fuller-type structures. Made a film of his movable theatre (1961). Works for Cumbernauld New Town.
David Greene.
Nottingham School of Arch. 1954–59. Experimenting with plastics and plastic form, e.g. his mosque (Archigram 1). Has been working with P. Cook on Archigram 1 and several competitions. Works for James Cubitt and Partners.
Cedric Price.
Cambridge and the Architectural Association – where he now teaches. Has built several small buildings and is architect member of the team working on the London Zoo birdcage, with Lord Snowdon and Frank Newby. In private practice in London.
2010 © Project by Centre for Experimental Practice
