| also, interesting how he deflects the big "S" question
| Old Design-L.V1 had these ideas already, no?
BLDGBLOG: There also seems to be a huge reliance today on
extra-architectural theory, like Gilles Deleuze. But if students were
instead locked in a room with some science fiction novels, or even a
comic book, it might actually stir up some new ideas. At the very least,
science fiction actually addresses architecture. So perhaps the problem
is one of reference? Or even of genre? Or just specifically Deleuze?
Wigley: To cut to the chase, if it’s a choice between being locked in a
room with a science fiction book or being locked in a room with Deleuze,
go for the science fiction book, for sure. No doubt about it.
But that’s not a choice against theory – because, in fact, science
fiction is an incredibly important mode of theorizing about technology
and about space, and the people who produce science fiction are often
incredibly canny theorists. ((((Yo!)))
So the problem in the current discussion about theory is that when
people say theory they really mean a particular thing. For example, when
you say: what do I think about the use of these extra-architectural
theories? That makes sense only if we know what architecture is. In
fact, what’s so exciting about architecture is that its limits are not
clear. It’s a way of thinking; it’s not a fixed territory. In a way, you
can reach what seems a long way away – to somebody like Deleuze – in
order to get a feel for how those limits are moving. At certain moments
in time, Deleuze might seem to be totally inside the limits; at other
moments, he might seem a long way away – but that’s not necessarily a
move toward or away from theory.
Mies’s famous saying: build, don’t talk. Well, that’s a theoretical
statement. He had a theory about practice. It’s amazing how many people
quote him saying that – they quote a piece of theory against theory. The
more important question is: which theory, at which time, mobilized in
which direction? I, myself, would like to be locked in a room with a
science fiction book – but that’s just me.
cont'd....
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/architectural-weaponry-interview-with.html