描述
During the vernissage of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, the internationally acclaimed publication Architectural Review launched its latest monograph Towards Abundance: the Delightful Paradoxes of Gender. Co-edited by John Jennifer Marx and The Architectural Review the 58-page publication advocates for designers and architects to reconsider a normative masculine tradition in how spaces are conceived and created, a tradition that may feel outdated yet is very much alive in contemporary practice.
Towards Abundance: the Delightful Paradoxes of Gender tackles the subject of gender and design through actively soliciting multiple interpretations in a non-prescriptive, wholly inquisitive and intellectually inclusive way. It is very much about an abundance of voices and ways of thinking and feeling, as the publication’s title suggests. The monograph – consisting of an essay collection – asks questions and invites readers to interrogate what is suggested by its editorial team of 16 contributors who represent the worlds of design practice, architectural history and theory as well as gender research and journalism.
The cover of the essay collection is an interpretation of the Three Graces by artist Madelon Vriesendorp who in 1975 co-founded the Dutch architecture studio OMA. Made as a special commission for the publication, Vriesendorp’s work speaks of how, through meaningful change, we can reach a new understanding that is reflected all around us, including the buildings we occupy.
