Through the Magpie Eye: The Archigram Archive Project

25.11.2014

Archigram collage titled Oasis, with an orange lattice megastructure over city tower blocks against a blue sky

Archigram was a forward-thinking group of architects that joined forces in the early 60s. Whereas most architects spend their time working out where stairwells should go, this lot aimed to drag the world into the future by challenging pretty much everyone’s idea of what a house or a city should be. Bonkers ideas included a giant nomadic city that would walk around the countryside when resources were depleted, and an ‘instant city’ that would fly by balloon to dull towns, bringing the residents up to date on culture and technology.

Unsurprisingly, none of their designs were ever built, but their influence can be seen on such bizarre buildings as the Pompidou Centre in Paris and that massive new Tescos in Trafford.

The University of Westminster have just launched the Archigram Archive Project featuring all manner of Archigram ephemera, and it’s most definitely worth at least nine minutes of your time. Haven’t got nine minutes? I’ve pasted some corkers below…

Archigram's A Walking City: giant pod-like buildings on long legs in front of a city skyline

Ron Herron's Seaside Bubbles, 1966: a section drawing of bubble structures on masts, above and below the sea

Red, black and white Archigram collage of a futuristic structure in a cloud, with the words Now, Fantasy and Reality

Cross-section drawing of a multi-level city block labelled open space, recreation, shopping, plaza, offices and rail

Panoramic photomontage of a snowy car park, with a scaffold-like lattice building behind and one car picked out in orange

The Metamorphosis of Our Town, It Happened Cheek-by-Jowl: four illustrated strips of a street changing over time

Lincroft shopfront collage: a red frontage under a wavy blue and yellow canopy, with cut-out figures in front

Lincroft shopfront drawing in pink, yellow and purple on a grid floor, with a cut-out figure in a navy top beside it

Air House Exhibition Project, Cardiff Castle, by Ron Herron, 1964: a row of orange, white, striped, pink and blue inflatables

Pen drawing of a tall tower of stacked mechanical parts rising from a low jetty beside a curling wave

Seaside Bubbles, a colour drawing of pink, yellow, green and blue capsule pods hung from masts topped with lamps

Collage of a pink and yellow concourse with stairs and big graphics, with cut-out figures in long coats walking through

A red collage of clear inflatable domes, cars and people, propped up outdoors among leafy plants

See the Archigram Archive Project

Cheers to the great Shelf Life Stuff blog for the inadvertent tip off.

And whilst we’re on the subject, keep at least one eye open for our Archigram-esque Ardwick posters designed by Steve Hockett.

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