3 Review(s)

Choreographing Space is a reflection on the collaborative work of New YorkCity-based architecture practice, e+i studio. In the book, the founders of thepractice, Eva Perez de Vega and Ian Gordon, outline a fascinating selectionof projects from the studio, which will take the reader on a journey andgive them a key understanding of the important work of this dynamic andforward-thinking architecture and design practice.This insightful book offers both a retrospective and speculative outlook.Retrospectively, it explores the people, places and practices that haveinfluenced each project. For certain projects it also proposes speculativepost-human scenarios, to support the idea that the impact of architecture onits environment involves a reconning with the ecologies it replaces.The book is uniquely structured. Organised into four parts, each partopens with a philosophical text that acts as an insightful prelude to thetopics, questions and reflections posed by each project. Each part concludeswith a speculative scenario, where one of the projects is imagined thrivingin a future where life is now almost extinct. These are not intended asapocalyptic or even nostalgic scenarios, but rather as affirmative alternativesto the bleak imaginary arising from the world's current climate crisis.Choreographing Space involves the self-reflexive act of selecting theconceptual strands of each project and organising them under headings,or species. Much like the concept of 'speciation' where living creatures arecategorised into seemingly related groups, under their 'genus'. This typeof grouping synthesizes the ideas, intents and hopes for each project, andlooks into how it could have been implemented differently. Nothing is static,or definite; projects are in continuous process of becoming, as they continueto relate to evolving ecologies of thought.