Lebbeus Woods: System Wien

” System Wien is an experimental sketch of Vienna’s first District, and shows how it might find a way to change, even radically…” New York architect Lebbeus Woods, founder of the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture (RIEA), is deeply involved in architectural theory and experimental work. Rather than approach individual building plans, he develops visionary projects that embrace science, philosophy, and art. His design process, a complex intellectual model also inspired by science-fiction icons, has influenced generations of architects. Woods sets his hypothetical projects in zones of crisis–he believes that the architect’s task is to design spaces and urban structures that react to the full range of human living conditions.

The transdisciplinary treatment documented here is a series of architectural interventions, on the urban structure of Vienna’s first district. The accompanying essays provide a broader context for the project, and analyze the work and ideas of one of the most important architects of our time. Bound with exposed boards and an open spine, the book’s stitches, glue and fragmented images draw a parallel between Woods’s work and the architecture of the book.