How Surrealism Has Shaped Contemporary Architecture

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1974 installation of Mae West’s Face which May be Used as a Surrealist Apartment by Salvador Dali. Image © Flickr user Torrenega licensed under CC BY 2.0

In 1924 writer André Breton penned the Surrealist Manifesto, which called to destabilize the divides between dreams and reality, between objectivity and subjectivity. For many architects who had been—and continue to be—interested in the fundamental role of the built environment, Breton’s surrealist thinking provided a rich resource to examine the role architecture plays in forming reality. Since then, from Salvador Dali and Frederick Kiesler to Frank Gehry, Surrealism has profoundly shaped architecture in the 20th century.

Time Transfixed by Rene Magritte, 1938. Image via Flickr user - EMR - image in public domain
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Cite: Evan Pavka. "How Surrealism Has Shaped Contemporary Architecture" 06 Jun 2018. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/894658/how-surrealism-has-shaped-contemporary-architecture> ISSN 0719-8884

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