Week 9

Situationism as described by Guy Debord in the first text analyzes the relationship between “two components in perpetual interaction, the material environment of life and the compartments which it gives rise to and which radically transform it.” This is ultimately related to situations in life, “momentary ambiances” as Debord describes it, and the way in which our individual behavior as humans creates the sense of derive which Debord coins. Derive in my words is almost a term that could be utilized in a psychology class; it combines two things, the environment and our own unique interpretation of that environment, perspectives is another way to put it, to immerse an individual into an environment, and this can be related to creating this sense of Derive in city environments as an architect would intend to. Tschumi’s interpretation of this topic is more specific than Debord’s, and he is more focused on that question of how the architect uses Situationism and a concept such as derive when thinking about constructing a city. Tschumi also raises interesting questions regarding how an architect can add his imprint onto society and the balance between the existing political and social conditions of a community, and how the architect can characterize certain feelings through the architecture, or make a “statement” with a work of architecture that moves away from norms that this community may have. Both Debord and Tschumi’s texts can be viewed from a psychoanalytic viewpoint, and help explain how humans perceive and react to certain stimuli, and how these things can be related to the context of architecture and community and city building. 

Tschumi, Bernard. n.d. Archtecture and Disjcuntion.

Debord, Guy. 1956. Various Readings.