Yona Friedman. the Dilution of Architecture

Understanding Yona Friedman’s working process and thinking involves a fascinating journey within underrated yet fundamentally relevant architectural discourses and political movements. This ranges from the ephemeral and emergency architecture in emerging countries to the adventures of the CIAM and the GEAM, the rise and fall of the Megastructure, and to the utopian discourse.

Friedman is also a great producer of concepts. The pedagogical aspect of his work complies well with the context of art and architectural schools. This new book emphasizes the architect’s aspiration to develop a discourse deeply correlated to contemporary architectural and urban concerns we are facing. It ties his work to the critical dialogue inherent to architectural education. It underlines his visionary approach to problems of urban development and aims to generate the foundation for a new philosophy of architecture and urban design innovations.

The book is structured in three sections:

Part I comprises the largest anthology of Friedman’s projects to date, based on an exhibition staged at Archizoom gallery in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2012. It consists of brief texts and annotations and an abundance of images, sketches, drawings, watercolors etc. by Freidman himself, and presents also a vast range of documents related to his work.

Part II, The Erratic Universe of Yona Friedman, is a study by the historian Manuel Orazi. The author analyzes Friedman’s work, following his progress through disciplinary and geographic areas apparently remote from one another, in which Friedman has moved erratically and incessantly. Rather a study of comparative architectural literature than an essay on Friedman as a figure of architectural history, it expands on historical, social, and political contexts, thus facilitating a more comprehensive perception of Friedman’s work.

Part III is an appendix, documenting Friedman’s intellectual relationships important both to the development of his work the reception of his ideas by a younger generation of architects and a wealth of other resources. A conversation between Freidman and Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi and a comprehensive bibliography conclude the book.