Constant Nieuwenhuys : situationist architect
For those interested in Unitary Urbanism, the architect/artist Constant Nieuwenhuys is key to understanding what a Situationist cityscape would have looked like. This article by the cult architect Lebbeus Woods, discussing Nieuwenhuys’ neo-marxist city vision, New Babylon, covers a great deal of ground.
New Babylon is a world created by, rather than for, the individual – for me it suggests a masculine angularity and brusqueness, rather than a softer, more hopeful, organic form. I’ve also always been nonplussed about the neo-Babylonian moniker too – not the most auspicious of re-creations, with its connotations of confusion and hubris. Nonetheless, it removes the layer of architect-presidio and gives instead a collective multilayered labyrinth, split into two levels – the mechanics of modern life below and the life of the liberated individual, free to move in space unhindered by traffic, above.
Images from Lebbeus Woods’ post
