Archigram was an experimental architecture group formed in the 1960s in London. The group is known for producing conceptual designs for walking cities, instant cities, and plug-in cities that incorporated emerging technologies and drew inspiration from pop culture and science fiction. Their designs represented a rejection of the austerity and formality of postwar modernist architecture in favor of mobile, flexible cities that celebrated technology and consumerism. Their conceptual projects were published in Archigram, an avant-garde magazine they founded, helping them gain prominence and influence architectural thought in the 1960s and beyond.
3. ARCHIGRAM
WHAT IS ARCHIGRAM?
The name Archigram (Architecture+Telegram) was invented to describe a home-made
magazine, the free-form was designed to explore new projects and new thinking
which were overturning the strict modernist dictates of the 1960s. The group was
comprised of six members Peter Cook, David Greene and Mike Webb published the
first issue and then invited Ron Herron, Dennis Crompton and Warren Chalk.
03
ToA 2
5. Corresponding member of the
Group. his airmail relationship (and
occasional head-to-head sessions)
with the London part of the group
is a very necessary part of its
thinking and the total effort.
MICHAEL WEBB
05
The poet of the group. Sometimes
contemplative, sometimes fatalist,
writing or inventing something that
often has references to the existing
world, contrived in an original way.
Concerned with conceptual
possibilities and a fascination with
the words absence and erasure.
DAVID GREENE
The most talkative and ‘public’ member
of the group. Enjoys inventing situations
and very much enjoys forming analogies
between the quirks and experiences of
individual people and possibilities for the
environment that are ambiguous and
unexpected. Preoccupied by the idea of
‘Metamorphosis’.
PETER COOK
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6. The most abrasive and critical of
the Archigram Group, hid doubts
and dissatisfaction with the
obvious and the banal, have many
times been justified by subsequent
events.
WARREN CHALK
06
Best known for his work with the
seminal English experimental
architecture collective Archigram,
which was formed in London in the
early 1960s. Built the much
acclaimed Immagination
RON HERRON
Conspicuously in charge of all the
technical matters that form part of
Archigram’s output. An enthusiast on
gadgets, machines, techniques and
systems. The most practical member of
the group.
DENIS CROMPTON
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8. 08
WORLD WAR II
Largely recovering from the second world war,
and the sorts of collective trauma and
physical carnage it entailed.
SHORTAGE
Housing shortage and economic decline were
very apparent in post-war Britain.
9. 09
AVERSION TO MODERNISM
A collective aversion to modernism developed
which changed the physical fabric of Britain,
due to the destruction and atom bombs.
ALTERNATIVE HOUSING
STRATEGIES
Government’s approach to the housing shortage
was to investigate prefabricated and alternative
housing strategies.
10. 10
MATERIAL SELECTION
Scrap aluminum and idle airplane factories
were attempted to be re-engaged to produce
quick and easy housing solutions.
ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY
Promote experiments in the application of new
science and technology to create better and
quick solutions.
12. POP CULTURE AND AMERICANA
INFLUENCES ON ARCHIGRAM 12
"Ron Herron and Warren Chalk were very into Americana. They used to buy Ivy League type suits and
smoke American cigarettes"
~Peter Cook
ROOM OF 1000 DELIGHTS
ARCHIGRAM
13. 13
Kirby’s mechanical details can be seen in the
graphic construction of Herron’s “Walking City.”
The machinery that appeared in these comic
books looks a little bit like the graphic clichés.
There was a use of the characters of comics in
the “Living City” exhibition. Superman showed
up In page 8.
Dennis Crompton was very vocal about the fact
that the issue was about architecture and
science fiction.
It was called “Zoom” issue because it was about
the comic paper relationship and the towers.
They believed that there is always a shock value
of comics as a provocation tool
Left: Amazing Archigram 4: Zoom Issue. Cover by Warren Chalk, May 1964
Right: Cover of Mystery in Space
14. Atmosphere of the sixties and the socio-economic mobility with which the
self-consciously provincial Archigram members played to the
transforming attitudes of drug culture.
Following WWII, the art world's attention switched from Europe to the
United States. As the Americanization of British culture grew during the
1960s, this legacy was especially important for the Archigram group.
From cowboy boots and denim to jazz, Marvel Comics, science fiction
magazines, and, of course, advertisements, Americana of all types
prevailed. Images from popular culture, ranging from consumerism to
fantasy, were used to construct a concept of architecture that reflected
the vitality of the surrounding urban environment.
Consumer culture images were used to create a feeling of fluidity and
circulation, or even to correlate lifestyle with architecture. Building was
not, after all, the most important aspect of architecture as a network of
imagery. Representation was in and of itself a form of architecture.
BOURNEMOUTH STEPS
ARCHIGRAM
15. 15
By experimenting
with layout,
compositions, and
processes, the
qualities of printed
media were explored.
Almost all of the
pages had collages,
drawings, and text,
which made a visual
narrative of the
concepts given. Their
visualisations, like the
cities they show, are
made up of bits and
pieces from many
styles and sources,
which are cut and
pasted and placed in
fluid compositions.
16. "REPRESENTATION IS IN AND OF ITSELF A FORM OF ARCHITECTURE."
ARCHIGRAM'S INFLUENCE ON
THE WORLD
BATIMENT PUBLIC,
ARCHIGRAM
17. There was very little projection or experimenting
with projection in the type of drawing that one was
supposed to do before to the start of Archigram. If
you must include a figure, it should be small and
serve just to illustrate scale, not to take up three-
quarters of the drawing surface. you can see
where they got the concept from Richard
Hamilton's "Just What Is It That Makes Today's
Homes So Different, So Appealing?"
It wasn't so much about showcasing modern
architecture as it was about demonstrating that
the structure is entertaining and exciting in and of
itself, rather than serving as a background to
what's going on. The important thing is to have a
good time, and the design only facilitates it rather
than determining it. Prior to that, the perception of
architecture was that you lived according to the
demands of the structure you were in. You're
creating a life, and the architecture makes it
possible."
18. 18
The appealing image is a
magazine collage depicting a
very traditional, almost
cheap-looking living room.
Out the door, there's a
gorgeous marble staircase
leading to the floodlit movie
entrance, with a bathing
beauty and a strong man
posing; big biceps. It's a
lovely, dream-like image. The
drawing style of Archigram is
derived on this.
19. 19
THE PLUG-IN CITY, WITH OTHER PROJECTS LIKE THE WALKING CITY
OR THE INSTANT CITY, PROMISED A MOBILE LIFESTYLE AND, MORE
IMPORTANTLY, AN ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA'S MODERNIST RESPONSE.
21. 21
WALKING CITY
This piqued developers' interest because they saw a chance to produce more with less, with little regard
for the user's quality of life. The result was living spaces that adhered to the principles of minimalism but
with none of the luxury, freedom, or flexibility that characterised the Tiny House movement.
22. THE STYLE KNOWN AS ‘HIGH TECH’, FOLLOWED
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ARCHIGRAM.
22
CENTRE POMPIDOU
PARIS, FRACE,
23. ToA 2
ARCHIGRAM was a collective
of architects that became
famous for their radical
architecture concepts drawing
from the emerging
technologies and consumer
culture of the time.
-- ARCHIGRAM started life in 1961 as a
self-published magazine comprising of
Cook, Michael Webb and David Greene.
Archigram was named after a magazine, which was first published in 1961
24. 18
Crompton, Chalk and Herron began
contributing to subsequent issues
of Archigram and the group that
would come to be named after the
magazine was formed.
However, the magazine piqued the
interest of a group of slightly older,
more established architects –
Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron
Herron – who were working for
London County Council (LCC) on
projects including London's
Southbank Centre.
The second issue of Archigram magazine was also published in 1961
25. 1963 Living City exhibition helped Archigram gain
prominence in Britain.
Another key figure who took an interest in the early
magazines was Theo Crosby, an architect and editor of
Architectural Design magazine, who would later bring the
six Archigram members to work under him at Taylor
Woodrow Design Group.
Archigram applied technologies developed during the
second world war to architecture
The third issue of Archigram magazine was published in 1963
26. Archigram's first exhibition, titled Living City, was held at the ICA in London in 1963
Archigram's ideas were partly a reaction against the
Brutalist architecture of postwar Britain, according to
Cook.
The fourth issue of Archigram magazine, published in 1964, made the group world-famous
The ICA exhibition helped establish Archigram in
Britain. But the group did not reach international
prominence until the fourth edition of the magazine,
which featured a bright yellow cover in a distinctive
comic-book style, was published in 1964.
Peter Reyner Banham takes Archigram to America
27. THE
ARCHIGRAM
MOVEMENT
THE FIRST ARCHIGRAM WAS AN OUTBURST
AGAINST THE CRAP GOING UP IN LONDON,
AGAINST THE ATTITUDE OF A CONTINUING
EUROPEAN TRADITION OF WELLMANNERED BUT
GUTLESS ARCHITECTURE THAT HAD ABSORBED
THE LABEL ‘MODERN,’ BUT HAD BETRAYED MOST
OF THE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE EARLIEST
PETER COOK
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28. KEY TOPICS ToA 2
02
London suffered widespread damage
during World War II as a result of
aerial bombardment, which
devastated the docks and many
industrial, residential, and commercial
districts, including the historic heart
of the City leaving.
The end of hostilities brought a return of evacuees, and reconstruction of the city began at once, even though
building materials were in desperately short supply
29. 11
BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE IS AN
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE WHICH
EMERGED DURING THE 1950S IN
THE UNITED KINGDOM, AMONG
THE RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
OF THE POST-WAR ERA.
BRUTALIST BUILDINGS ARE
CHARACTERISED BY MINIMALIST
CONSTRUCTIONS HAT SHOWCASE
THE BARE BUILDING MATERIALS
AND STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
OVER DECORATIVE DESIGN.
BRUTALISM
NEO-FUTURISM IS A LATE-20TH
TO EARLY-21ST-CENTURY
MOVEMENT IN THE ARTS, DESIGN,
AND ARCHITECTURE.
DESCRIBED AS AN AVANT-GARDE
MOVEMENT,AS WELL AS A
FUTURISTIC RETHINKING OF THE
THOUGHT BEHIND AESTHETICS
AND FUNCTIONALITY OF DESIGN
IN GROWING CITIES, THE
MOVEMENT HAS ITS ORIGINS IN
THE MID-20TH-CENTURY
STRUCTURAL EXPRESSIONIST
WORK
NEO-FUTURISM
top: brutalist interpretation of walking city; bottom; city synthesiser project 1963
31. Reynar Banham believed ‘’with the current
revolution in control mechanisms poised to
automate production systems under the
direction of computers, removing routine
intervention from human operators''.
CONTROL EVERYTHING , ALL AT ONCE
ONE UNIFIED
TECHNOLOGY
22
32. 15
Archigram’s insistence
that modernism should
celebrate all that is new
reacted against the
routines of day-to-day
architectural education
and practice.
HIGH TECH
LIGHT WEIGHT
INFRASTRUCTURAL
34. 07
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After the war, the
broken surroundings
left people yearning for
more stable living
conditions and cities
which cater to their
ideal world.
To put it simply, they
sought a solution which
was way too good to be
true.
36. 07
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The group’s technique
was neo-futuristic, anti-
heroic and pro-
consumerist, drawing
inspiration from
technology in order to
create a new reality that
was solely expressed
through hypothetical
projects.
37. 07
ToA-2
Committed to a 'high
tech', light weight, infra-
structural approach that
was focused towards
survival technology, the
group experimented
with modular
technology, mobility
through the
environment, space
capsules and mass-
consumer imagery.
38. 07
ToA 2
Their projects were
transdisciplinary in the
field of form, structure
and material and they
did have a slight
polemic underlining the
glamorous future
machine age that they
pictured but the social
and environmental
issues were still left
unaddressed.
39. 07
ToA-2
The group put forth
their designs only
through illustrations as
they were essentially
just hypothetical
depictions of utopian
cities that they
personally thought
would work out but they
only ever remained as
ideas and they were
never acted upon as it
was structurally
outlandish.
41. 07
ToA-2
Archigram’s initial
design was the Plugin
City, followed by the
Walking City and then
Instant City.
Their opinions and
designs came from a
very personal
standpoint given that it
was mostly designed by
Cook. It was highly
influential.
42. 07
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They changed with
different concepts and
ideas as they kept
evolving, but the
ultimate goal of a
utopian future machine
was not compromised.
The theory of neo-
futurism and pro-
consumerism remained.
The concept started to
become more
engineering driven.
43. PLUG IN
CITY
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01
Developed between 1963 and 1966, Plug-In City is a conceptual
city comprising personalised pre-fabricated homes that are
inserted into high-rise megastructures.
44. 08
NEW APPROACH TO URBAMISM
REVERSING TRADITIONAL
PERCEPTIONS OF INFRASTRUCTURE
MOBILE
FLEXIBLE
IMPERMANENT
45. A method to allow people to grow their dwelling within themselves and the servicing of the
city didn’t have to be ground based unlike traditional existing cities
The concept of the plug in city allows everything to be FUNCTIONAL , USED , REPLACED and UPDATED.
CONSTANTLY EVOLVING MEGATRUCTURE THAT INCOPRATES EVERY ESSENTIAL AND IS MOVED BY GIANT CRANES
46. City is lifted off the ground and enjoys space in a certain way
because there are certain pieces of enclosed spaces that become
public spaces tn the mega structure that you hold the building on
start to sprout up and become high rise and become public open
spaces inside giving space for growth and change
Transportation, sanitation, computing and other essential
services would be embedded into the central
infrastructure and shared by the community but designed
in a way that would allow them to be readily reallocated to
other parts of the city, if necessary.
47. The construction industry is used for construction but planning would be done by occupants of the
house and these vary in size. The concept aimed to give people more FLEXIBILITY and choice in the
design of their home, allowing them to CUSTOMISE the capsules and easily replace them when
required.
48. It was looking at prefabrication and saying: 'Come on, this doesn't
have to be boring. It can be quite romantic and quite exciting.''
- Peter Cook
49. RESIDENTIAL UNITS
EVERYHTING IS EXPANDABLE
MOBILTY , ADAPTIBILITY , EXPANDIBILITY are the key features
is industrially fabricated in a
space saving design with fold
away features and a clip on
appliance wall
Each suit has a plug serving a
similar function to the key to
your front door'' wrote webb
you can plug into your
friend's envelope or you
can plug into any
envelope .
the plug also serves as a
means of connecting
envelopes together to
form larger spaces ,
providing various models
ranging from super sports
to family models
51. Offices work in a similar interchangeable manner
got a new company , slide on in
got a new buisness , taking it out
everything has an expiration date
52. WHAT IT WOULD ACHIEVE
By allowing a temporary and flexible deployment of urban resources, Plug-In City would enable adaptable collective
living, integration of transportation and the accommodation of rapid change in the urban environment
53. THE WALKING CITY
14
Walking City emerged from 1960s
notions of indeterminacy, specifically
the notion of the city as a dynamic
entity capable of responding to the
needs of its residents. concepts of
location indeterminacy, resulted in
The Walking City.
54. 06
The idea was of a world capital
capable of being anywhere in the
world at any time, a kind of United
Nations City taken to an extreme.
There was a complete family of
these vehicles, each of which had
all of the components of a
functional city: a business center,
offices, housing, public and private
services, and so on. Auxiliary units,
such as hospitals and disaster
response units, were removable in
some cases.
55. 06
The basic Walking City included
extendible arms that could link to other
walking components, the ground, and
the water, allowing products and
materials to be transferred.
an object that travelled gently across the
ground like a big hovercraft, only
utilising its legs to level itself when it
arrived at its destination.
