Unitary Urbanism
Encyclopedia
Unitary urbanism was the critique of status quo
urbanism
employed by the Lettrist International
and then further developed by the Situationist International between approximately 1953 and 1960.
The praxis originates from the Lettrist technique of hypergraphics which was applied to architecture by the Lettrist International
(LI). The UU critique of urbanism
was further developed in the 1950s by the LI, consisting of a range of practices including but not limited to:
The critical practice continued to be developed by the Situationists and others. It was largely abandoned for the Debordian theory of the spectacle after the Second Situationist International
and Situationist Antinational
were formed. London
based evoL Psychogeographix is one of the few groups openly practicing unitary urbanism today.
It was announced as a very specific and precise praxis at the Alba
platform between the Lettrist International and the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus
where Gil J Wolman announced
"A unitary urbanism — the synthesis of art and technology that we call for — must be constructed according to certain new values of life, values which now need to be distinguished and disseminated."
t in his Address by the Lettrist International Delegate to the Alba Conference of September 1956 http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/wolman.html. It was also appellated in a tract distributed during demonstration by Lettrists in Turin
, Italy
in December 1956. http://www.notbored.org/UU.html
Constant Nieuwenhuys
and Guy Debord
disagreed about the praxis, issuing the designation "the complex, ongoing activity which consciously recreates man
's environment according to the most advanced conceptions in every domain," however the widening gulf between Nieuwenhuys' "structural" approach and Debord's focus on "content" eventually lead to Nieuwenhuy's split from the SI in 1960 http://www.notbored.org/ten-years-on.html.
Unitary urbanism, one of the major early Situationist concerns http://www.socialfiction.org/psychogeography/unitary_urbanism.html, stands on two tenets:
In the relative utopia
of the UU ideal, the structural and artistic elements of human's metropolitan
surroundings are blended into such grey area that one cannot identify where function ends and play begins. The resulting society
, while it caters to fundamental needs, does so in an atmosphere of continual exploration, leisure, and stimulating ambience.
may today be willing to grant to fragmentary or deliberately retrograde artistic tentatives, creation can now be nothing less than a synthesis aiming at the construction of entire atmospheres and styles of life. . . . A unitary urbanism — the synthesis we call for, incorporating arts and technologies — must be created in accordance with new values of life, values which we now need to distinguish and disseminate. . . . "
Gil J Wolman “La plate-forme d’Alba” originally appeared in Potlatch: Information Bulletin of the Lettrist International #27 (Paris, 2 November 1956).
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
urbanism
Urbanism
Broadly, urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment.-Philosophy:...
employed by the Lettrist International
Lettrist International
The Letterist International was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord as a schism from Isidore Isou's Letterist group...
and then further developed by the Situationist International between approximately 1953 and 1960.
The praxis originates from the Lettrist technique of hypergraphics which was applied to architecture by the Lettrist International
Lettrist International
The Letterist International was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord as a schism from Isidore Isou's Letterist group...
(LI). The UU critique of urbanism
Urbanism
Broadly, urbanism is a focus on cities and urban areas, their geography, economies, politics, social characteristics, as well as the effects on, and caused by, the built environment.-Philosophy:...
was further developed in the 1950s by the LI, consisting of a range of practices including but not limited to:
- the situation
- the dériveDériveIn psychogeography, a dérive is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, where an individual travels where the subtle aesthetic contours of the surrounding architecture and geography subconsciously direct them with the ultimate goal of encountering an entirely new and authentic...
or driftDrift- Film and literature :* Drift , a 2002 Doctor Who novel* Drift , a series of Japanese films written and directed by Futoshi Jinno* Drift, 2007 experimental short film by Max Hattler* Drift , a fictional character... - psychogeographyPsychogeographyPsychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Another definition is "a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for...
- detournementDetournementA détournement is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and consist in "turning expressions of the capitalist system against itself." Détournement was prominently used to set up subversive political pranks, an influential tactic called situationist prank that was...
- industrial paintingIndustrial PaintingIndustrial Painting is defined by the "Manifesto of Industrial Painting: For a unitary applied art", a text by Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio which was originally published in Notizie Arti Figurative No. 9 . A French translation was soon published in Internationale Situationniste no.3...
- recuperationRecuperation (sociology)Recuperation, in the sociological sense, is the process by which politically radical ideas and images are commodified and incorporated within a mainstream society and, thus, become interpreted through a more socially acceptable or conventional perspective. More broadly, it may refer to the...
- revolutionRevolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
The critical practice continued to be developed by the Situationists and others. It was largely abandoned for the Debordian theory of the spectacle after the Second Situationist International
Second Situationist International
Jørgen Nash identifies the first manifestation of the Second Situationist International after it broke away from the Situationist International as a leaflet signed by himself along with Jacqueline de Jong and Ansgar Elde, shortly after the group Seven Rebels was formed at Situationist Bauhaus at...
and Situationist Antinational
Situationist Antinational
The Situationist Antinational was an American magazine formed in 1974, two years after the disbanding of the Situationist International. Only one issue of the magazine was published...
were formed. London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
based evoL Psychogeographix is one of the few groups openly practicing unitary urbanism today.
It was announced as a very specific and precise praxis at the Alba
Alba
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
platform between the Lettrist International and the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus
International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus
The International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus was a small European avant-garde artistic tendency that arose out of the breakup of COBRA, and was initiated by contact between former COBRA member Asger Jorn and Enrico Baj and Sergio Dangelo of the Nuclear Art Movement.-Timeline:*December 1953:...
where Gil J Wolman announced
"A unitary urbanism — the synthesis of art and technology that we call for — must be constructed according to certain new values of life, values which now need to be distinguished and disseminated."
t in his Address by the Lettrist International Delegate to the Alba Conference of September 1956 http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/wolman.html. It was also appellated in a tract distributed during demonstration by Lettrists in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in December 1956. http://www.notbored.org/UU.html
Constant Nieuwenhuys
Constant Nieuwenhuys
Constant Anton Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch painter, and one of the foremost innovators of Unitary Urbanism. In 1941, he became deeply interested in the work of Paul Cézanne, Cubism and German Expressionism....
and Guy Debord
Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
disagreed about the praxis, issuing the designation "the complex, ongoing activity which consciously recreates man
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
's environment according to the most advanced conceptions in every domain," however the widening gulf between Nieuwenhuys' "structural" approach and Debord's focus on "content" eventually lead to Nieuwenhuy's split from the SI in 1960 http://www.notbored.org/ten-years-on.html.
Unitary urbanism, one of the major early Situationist concerns http://www.socialfiction.org/psychogeography/unitary_urbanism.html, stands on two tenets:
- the rejection of the standard EuclidEuclidEuclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
ean, almost wholly functional approach to urban architectural design, and - the rejection of the compartmentalized way in which "art" is typically detached from its surroundings.
In the relative utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
of the UU ideal, the structural and artistic elements of human's metropolitan
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
surroundings are blended into such grey area that one cannot identify where function ends and play begins. The resulting society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
, while it caters to fundamental needs, does so in an atmosphere of continual exploration, leisure, and stimulating ambience.
Unitary Urbanists
- Lettrist InternationalLettrist InternationalThe Letterist International was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord as a schism from Isidore Isou's Letterist group...
- Guy DebordGuy DebordGuy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
- Constant NieuwenhuysConstant NieuwenhuysConstant Anton Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch painter, and one of the foremost innovators of Unitary Urbanism. In 1941, he became deeply interested in the work of Paul Cézanne, Cubism and German Expressionism....
- Piero SimondoPiero SimondoPiero Simondo is an Italian artistPiero was born in Cosio di Arroscia, Liguria, Italy.In Alba, Piedmont, Italy, with Asger Jorn and Giuseppe Pinot Gallizio he founded the Laboratory of immaginiste experiences as part of the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus .He edited Eristica the...
- Providence Initiative for Psychogeographic StudiesProvidence Initiative for Psychogeographic StudiesProvidence Initiative for Psychogeographic Studies [PIPS] or as it sometimes stands for, People Interested in Participatory Societies, is a small collective of artists in Providence, Rhode Island which promotes artistic and social investigations in psychogeography.The group states: "In order to...
- Psy-Geo-ConfluxPsy-Geo-ConfluxPsy-Geo-Conflux is the annual New York City festival dedicated to psychogeography, where visual, performance and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers, researchers and the public gather for four days to explore the physical and psychological landscape of the city.Conflux was co-founded by...
- The Workshop for Non-Linear Architecture
Quotes
"Whatever prestige the bourgeoisieBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
may today be willing to grant to fragmentary or deliberately retrograde artistic tentatives, creation can now be nothing less than a synthesis aiming at the construction of entire atmospheres and styles of life. . . . A unitary urbanism — the synthesis we call for, incorporating arts and technologies — must be created in accordance with new values of life, values which we now need to distinguish and disseminate. . . . "
Gil J Wolman “La plate-forme d’Alba” originally appeared in Potlatch: Information Bulletin of the Lettrist International #27 (Paris, 2 November 1956).