Tom Avermaete

Another Modern
The Post-War Architecture and Urbanism of Candilis-Josic-Woods

Design: Janna Meeus, Illustrated (colour and b/w), Paperback, sewn, 432 pages, Format: 17 x 24 cm
English edition, ISBN 90-5662-473-3 / 978-90-5662-473-6, € 42.00 / OUT OF PRINT

With the support of the Netherlands Architecture Fund, the Ministry of the Flemish Community's Cultural Administration, the Belgian University Foundation, the University of Leuven's Department of Architecture, Urban Design and Regional Planning

An important architectural debate about the changing urban realm has been ongoing since the Second World War. Retrospectively, architects seem to have focused most often on particular facets - traditional, vernacular or modern - of the urban territory. Rarely have attempts been made to integrate these different aspects into a larger, coherent view. This book argues that a more integrated architectural perspective on the urban realm can be found in the work of the Team 10 - a group of architects formed in 1953 as an internal critique of one of the most prominent organizations of the Modern Movement in architecture: the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM).

This book focuses on the theory and practice of the French contributors to Team 10: Georges Candilis, Alexis Josic and Shadrach Woods (all disciples of Le Corbusier). Relying for the first time on the archives of both Georges Candilis and Shadrach Woods, it re-situates the work of the Candilis-Josic-Woods partnership (1952 - 1970) within the international framework of CIAM as well as within the French context of decolonization and modernization during les trente glorieuses (the 'thirty glorious years' between 1945 and 1975).

The author argues that the work of Candilis-Josic-Woods entails a new way of analysing, understanding and conceiving the built environment, an approach that is radically different to those previously propagated within CIAM. Avermaete reveals how this new approach to the built environment was elaborated in architectural and urban projects for three realms that changed drastically during the post-war period: residential culture, urban culture and mass leisure culture. This book addresses the projects and ideas of Candilis-Josic-Woods as a relentless quest for an inclusive design approach that acknowledges both the complexity of social life and its spatial translation.