The Indicator: On The Universal Declaration of Manifestos

Subscriber Access

© Open-source architecture manifesto by Walter Nicolino and Carlo Ratti, "Adhocracy" exhibition, Istanbul Design Biennial, via Wallpaper.com

Way back in 1755 an Op-Ed appeared in, of all places, Domus, concerning the relevance of the architectural manifesto. Speaking of relevance, the authors waxed on about some movement known as Occupy Wall Street—remember them? They claim—though I’m not certain it’s entirely true—that Occupy proliferated without the aid of any manifesto and thus serves as an example of how the manifesto has become a thing of the ancient past. Well, there you go. Manifestos are more or less dead these days. They have been supplanted by tweets and something called pragmatism. Seems like this whole pragmatism in architecture thing has been taken around the block a few times before, hasn’t it?

The point of the Op-Ed, a nice little salvo across the bow of intellectual architectism, was to showcase a little symposium hosted by none other than Columbia University's GSAPP. The symposium—is this part over yet?—was titled—kill me now—What Happened to the Architectural Manifesto? What happened, indeed. Who cares, really? And that would be the point, right? Nothing really happens with most of them. They are like those paperback books you pick up in supermarkets right after you’ve selected your favorite brand of tampon or micro-brew designer beer. They are cheap, glossy, and disposable. More for distraction than for actually getting your literature on. But wait. There are some that are like signed, hard-back first editions. The ones that are perhaps truly relevant and stand the test of time are political in nature.

Content Loader
About this author
Cite: Sebastian Jordana. "The Indicator: On The Universal Declaration of Manifestos" 24 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/311833/the-indicator-on-the-universal-declaration-of-manifestos> ISSN 0719-8884

You've started following your first account!

Did you know?

You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.