Following the success of site (n.), Chez Etym. will be hosting Ex Libris as part of Scotland’s 2019 Architecture Fringe programme. A
panel discussion hosting four speakers, Ex Libris will consider the role, form and relevance
of contemporary architectural literature.
From Vitruvius to Ruskin, architecture’s history has both shaped, and been shaped by, the works of literature which it sits alongside. The past century has seen architecture propped upon manifestos from one decade to the next. Contemporary architectural criticism is just at home now on Instagram and in zines as in established journals.
Are the titans of modernism still relevant, or have Corbusier, Rossi, Alexander and Venturi fallen? What of Tanizaki, Bachelard, Zumthor, Pallasmaa and the poetic zeitgeist? In the digital age of democratised, ‘free’ information, what is the role of architectural literature and what form should it take? Is the prescribing opus a dated medium in a pluralist and diverse world? In the shadow of capital and its increasingly formalist definition of architecture, what role should literature play?
Speakers to be confirmed.
*Online Etymology Dictionary. 2019. “library | Origin and meaning of library by Online Etymology Dictionary.” https://www.etymonline.com/word/library.
From Vitruvius to Ruskin, architecture’s history has both shaped, and been shaped by, the works of literature which it sits alongside. The past century has seen architecture propped upon manifestos from one decade to the next. Contemporary architectural criticism is just at home now on Instagram and in zines as in established journals.
Are the titans of modernism still relevant, or have Corbusier, Rossi, Alexander and Venturi fallen? What of Tanizaki, Bachelard, Zumthor, Pallasmaa and the poetic zeitgeist? In the digital age of democratised, ‘free’ information, what is the role of architectural literature and what form should it take? Is the prescribing opus a dated medium in a pluralist and diverse world? In the shadow of capital and its increasingly formalist definition of architecture, what role should literature play?
Speakers to be confirmed.
*Online Etymology Dictionary. 2019. “library | Origin and meaning of library by Online Etymology Dictionary.” https://www.etymonline.com/word/library.
Ex Libris
Saturday 8th of June
5.30pm - 7.00pm
SouthBlock, Ground Floor
60-64 Osborne Street
Glasgow
G1 5QH
Tickets are free and can be reserved here.
ex libris (adv.)
Latin, literally "out of the books (of)," from ex "out of" + ablative plural of liber "book" (see library (n.)).
library (n.)
place for books, late 14c., from Anglo-French librarie "collection of books; bookseller's shop" (14c.), from Latin librarium "book-case, chest for books," from Latin liber (from Proto-Italic *lufro-) was originally "the inner bark of trees," and perhaps is from PIE *lubh-ro- "leaf, rind," a derivative of the PIE root *leub(h)- "to strip, to peel" (see leaf (n.)).*
Saturday 8th of June
5.30pm - 7.00pm
SouthBlock, Ground Floor
60-64 Osborne Street
Glasgow
G1 5QH
Tickets are free and can be reserved here.
ex libris (adv.)
Latin, literally "out of the books (of)," from ex "out of" + ablative plural of liber "book" (see library (n.)).
library (n.)
place for books, late 14c., from Anglo-French librarie "collection of books; bookseller's shop" (14c.), from Latin librarium "book-case, chest for books," from Latin liber (from Proto-Italic *lufro-) was originally "the inner bark of trees," and perhaps is from PIE *lubh-ro- "leaf, rind," a derivative of the PIE root *leub(h)- "to strip, to peel" (see leaf (n.)).*