Event-Cities

Bernard Tschumi's Event-Cities presents an original selection of his most recent architectural projects, which are at the center of polemics on architecture and cities today. Tschumi has already expanded the field of contemporary architectural theory through his writings. Now, with Event-Cities, he enlarges some of his earlier concerns to address the issue of cities and their making. Event-Cities explores contemporary architecture through its confrontation with the major programs defining the edge of the twenty-first century - airports, business centers, multipurpose railroad "cities," downtown areas, and multimedia art centers, as well as video installations and domestic environments. Using different modes of notation ranging from rough models to sophisticated computer-generated images and testing various means to inscribe the movement of bodies in space, Tschumi reveals the complexities of the architectural process and the rich texture of architectural events that define the nature of urban reality. Event-Cities unfolds a new type of architectural documentation, far removed from the glossy picture books that have become the major means of presenting architectural projects - a "project discourse" that may be as extensive and precise as any theoretical or critical text. The selection of Tschumi's main recent projects includes the National Center for Contemporary Arts (Le Fresnoy) in Tourcoing, France; the "inhabited bridges" for the city of Lausanne, Switzerland; the mile-long "airport city" for Osaka, Japan; and a new business and entertainment center in Chartres, France.