‘photon kite’ from the series ‘centricity’ by lebbeus woods,1988graphite on paper; 24 in. x 22 in. (60.96 cm x 55.88 cm) collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift of the members of the architecture + design forum, sfmoma architecture and design accessions committee,and the architecture and design community in honor of aaron betsky, curator of architecture, design and digital projects, 1995–2001image © estate of lebbeus woods

all images courtesy of the san francisco museum of modern art

 

 

‘lebbeus woods, architect’san francisco museum of modern art, san franciscoon now through june 2, 2013

 

 

‘architecture and war are not incompatible. architecture is war. war is architecture. I am at war with my time, with history, with all authority that resides in fixed and frightened forms.’

 

 

lebbeus woods, a trained architect and engineer, remains responsible for shaping of contemporary architectural thought, as evidenced in the 175 works shown in ‘lebbeus woods, architect’ at SFMOMA. the only tangible remnant of his ideas are showcased in two rooms of selected objects, writings and drawings that span 35 years of provocative experiments about the built form and the potential of space. while his work, all but fixed and a far cry from frightened, only exists in form of drawings and models, they ceaselessly ask questions about fragmentation and instability an their consequential roles in the complex landscape of the political, social, and geographical world. although woods began his career in the offices of eero saarinen & associates in the 1960’s, the exhibit focuses on his work post 1975 and up until his death in 2012, choosing not to focus on the biographical, historicizing trappings of the the iconoclastic figure.

 

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘san francisco project: inhabiting the quake, quake city’ by lebbeus woods, 1995 graphite and pastel on paper; 14 1/2 in. x 23 in. x 3/4 in. (36.83 cm x 58.42 cm x 1.91 cm) collection sfmoma, accessions committee fund purchaseimage © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view at san francisco museum of modern art

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘nine reconstructed boxes’ by lebbeus woods, 1999; plastic models and ten sketches; 11 in. x 8 1/2 in. (27.94 cm x 21.59 cm)collection sfmoma, accessions committee fund purchaseimage © estate of lebbeus woodsphoto© ben blackwell

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘unified urban field’ from the series ‘centricity’ by lebbeus woods,1987graphite on paper; 24 in. x 23 in. (60.96 cm x 58.42 cm) collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift of ned and catherine topham and the accessions committee fund; image © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA‘photon kite’ from the series ‘centricity’ by lebbeus woods,1988graphite on paper; 24 in. x 22 in. (60.96 cm x 55.88 cm) collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift of the members of the architecture + design forum, sfmoma architecture and design accessions committee,and the architecture and design community in honor of aaron betsky, curator of architecture, design and digital projects, 1995–2001image © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘concentric field’, from the series ‘centricity’ by lebbeus woods, 1987 graphite on paper; 23 in. x 24 in. (58.42 cm x 60.96 cm) collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift of the members of the architecture + design forum, sfmoma architecture and design accessions committee, and the architecture and design community in honor of aaron betsky, curator of architecture, design and digital projects, 1995–2001image © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

 

 given the context, his proposal for san francisco that posits harnessing the power of earthquakes to yield new architectural forms is particularly indicative of his reverence for the possibilities if the built form. in this proposal, the force of destruction is turned into an autocatalytic method of building that incorporated the instability of the landscape. works from the 1980’s show an impressive and rich degree of architectural representation in form of drawings. the ‘centricity’ series depicts an otherworldly portrait of ‘the immense void of being’ through a series of concentric landscape plans and fields of weathered towers. even more lightly-tethered mechanisms exist in proposals like ‘ einstien tomb’ in which the architect created an alternate home for the physicist’s ashes that moved around the universe on a beam of light. the depth and breadth of his influence remains to be seen as generations of architects under his training at cooper union, where he was a professor for decades, make manifest the possibilities of their own worlds.

 

‘there is beauty of form only where there is beauty of idea.’

 

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘conflict space 4’ by lebbeus woods, 2006; crayon and acrylic on linen; 74 x 120 in. (187.96 x 304.8 cm) collection sfmoma, purchase through a gift of anonymous donors and the accessions committee fundimage © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

(left):

installation view

image © matthew millman

(right): ‘einstein tomb’ by lebbeus woods, 1980; aluminumcourtesy aleksandra wagnerimage © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

installation view

image © matthew millman

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

untitled sketch for the series ‘nine reconstructed boxes’ by lebbeus woods 1999; ink on paper; 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. (21.59 cm x 27.94 cm)collection sfmoma, accessions committee fund purchaseimage © estate of lebbeus woods

 

 

lebbeus woods drawings and models on view at SFMOMA

‘meta-institute’ by lebbeus woods,1996chipboard, wood, paper courtesy austrian museum of applied arts / contemporary art (MAK) image © estate of lebbeus woodsphoto © wolfgang woessner/MAK