Book Review: Architectural Body

Architectural Body by Madeline Gins and Arakawa, published by University of Alabama Press, 2002. Paperback, 120 pages. (Amazon)

"Isolating persons from their architectural surrounds leads to a dualism no less pernicious than that of mind and body."

This quote helps to see Arakawa and Gins's thinking behind the "architectural body", a concept that extends from the duos artworks, be they written, seen or inhabited. Summing up this short, poetic book is difficult, as it begs to be illustrated to further explain the lofty ideas of the artists. A good companion would be Architecture: Sites of Reversible Destiny (published by Academy Editions), where computer renderings visualize their concepts of landing sites, ubiquitous sites, tentative constructed plans, reversible destiny, and others that find a continuity in their work. In each book the reader is required to abandon all that is ordinary, be it space, surface, or even life, and try to realize the integral nature of a person and her surroundings. Upon this realization, communal experimentation could lead to humankind reversing its destiny and being able to live forever, the authors contend. Regardless of the reader's belief in their argument, Arakawa and Gins's assertion that architecture is the greatest tool available to humans is apparent and ultimately infectious.