The buildings of Diller Scofidio + Renfro can be spotted in cities and skylines across the world. The architectural studio was founded in 1981, and since then has produced some of most revered civic spaces and cultural institutions, including the High Line in New York, the Broad Museum in Los Angeles and Zaryadye Park in Moscow. In 1999, DS+F were the first architectural firm to receive the McArthur Fellowship, known as the “Genius Grant”, given to those who have brought “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” Today, more than 100 architects, designers, artists and researchers work to make DS+R’s visions come to fruition. They focus on cultural and civic projects, addressing the changing role of institutions and the future of cities. The studio has now brought its characteristic ingenuity to a new publication, Architecture, Not Architecture, which provides a comprehensive overview of more than 100 built and ephemeral works.
The thing that makes Architecture, Not Architecture so distinct is its inclusion of two distinct types of projects – one typical of the discipline, the other not traditionally considered part of architecture. The intention is to tell the story of how art and architecture can change the face of a location in countless ways, not just by adding a new building to the streets. Readers are given exclusive insights into plans and blueprints, as well as images from renowned architectural photographers Iwan Baan and Matthew Monteith. There are also interviews and dialogues with visionaries from other creative fields, including artist Edmund de Waal, art critic and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and actor Alan Cumming. The Shed, built in New York in 2019, is included as an example of how architecture is in constant dialogue with art. One, by nature, is geo-fixed, permanent and slow to respond to change, whilst the other is in perpetual flux. The plans for The Shed were centred around a final product which could physically transform to keep up with the ambitions of artists. The dynamic space offers flexibility and adaptability, as well as guaranteed sources of electrical power and structural capacity – artists’ two unchanging needs.
Customary perceptions of architecture, like towering skyscrapers and concert halls, give way to a more cross-disciplinary perspective in the second half of the book. These works showcase how art installations can shape cityscapes, encourage inhabitants to look at their surroundings different and encourage social change. They may not be physical buildings or structures, but they too have the power to shape the future of a place. Examples include Have You Ever Been Mistaken for a…? (2006), which saw advertising screens in Lille, France share microvideos of fictional inhabitants performing behaviours that, in a climate of fear, could be seen as suspicious. The installation sought to address rising xenophobia across Europe. Also featured is Deep Blue Sea (2021), a performance piece built upon a call for racial justice. Architecture, Not Architecture seamlessly expands understandings of the profession and celebrates boundary-pushing creatives working outside of the norm.
Architecture, Not Architecture: Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Diller Scofidio + Renfro; published by Phaidon, £100 (Phaidon.com)
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
The Broad, Los Angeles, 2015. View from South Grand Avenue. Photo credit: Iwan Baan (fig. 4, pages 166-167) Architecture.
The Shed, New York, 2019. View from southeast above the High Line. Photo credit: Iwan Baan (fig. 3, page 253) Architecture.
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2020. View from southeast. Photo credit: Jason O’Rear (fig. 4, page 299) Architecture.
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