Eva Franch i Gilabert, Ana Milijački, Ashley Schafer, Michael Kubo (eds.)

OfficeUS Atlas (Repository)

OfficeUS, the U.S. Pavilion for the 2014 International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, reframes the history of U.S architecture through the lens of export in two interrelated constructs: “The Office” and “The Repository.” The “Repository” presents 1000 projects designed by 200 US offices working abroad in a chronological archive of the last 100 years. Collectively these projects tell multiple, imbricated stories of U.S.

firms, typologies, and technologies, as well as a broader narrative of modernization and its global reach. The “Office” engages these projects, revisiting their premises and conclusions over the

course of the Biennale. It functions as a laboratory staffed by a diverse group of resident design partners collaborating with outpost offices and a rotating cast of visiting experts. Together, these two halves of OfficeUS create both an historical record of the U.S. contribution to global architectural thought, and a petri dish in which that record is submitted to contemporary agents of disruption and critique.

The outcome of this exhibition has resulted in three publications: the Agenda, the Atlas, and the Manual.

OfficeUS is curated by Eva Franch i Gilabert, Ana Miljački and Ashley Schafer and produced by Storefront for Art and Architecture, PRAXIS Journal, students from MIT’s Department of Architecture and the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University, Leong Leong, Pentagram: Natasha Jen, CASE, Lars Müller, Architizer, and CLOG.

OfficeUS, the U.S. Pavilion for the 2014 International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, reframes the history of U.S architecture through the lens of export in two interrelated constructs: “The Office” and “The Repository.” The “Repository” presents 1000 projects designed by 200 US offices working abroad in a chronological archive of the last 100 years. Collectively these projects tell multiple, imbricated stories of U.S.

firms, typologies, and technologies, as well as a broader narrative of modernization and its global reach. The “Office” engages these projects, revisiting their premises and conclusions over the

course of the Biennale. It functions as a laboratory staffed by a diverse group of resident design partners collaborating with outpost offices and a rotating cast of visiting experts. Together, these two halves of OfficeUS create both an historical record of the U.S. contribution to global architectural thought, and a petri dish in which that record is submitted to contemporary agents of disruption and critique.

The outcome of this exhibition has resulted in three publications: the Agenda, the Atlas, and the Manual.

OfficeUS is curated by Eva Franch i Gilabert, Ana Miljački and Ashley Schafer and produced by Storefront for Art and Architecture, PRAXIS Journal, students from MIT’s Department of Architecture and the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University, Leong Leong, Pentagram: Natasha Jen, CASE, Lars Müller, Architizer, and CLOG.

Edited by Eva Franch i Gilabert, Ana Miljački, Ahsley Schafer, Michael Kubo

16 x 24 cm, 6 ¼ × 9 ½ in

1232 pages, 1416 illustrations

hardback

2015, 978-3-03778-438-9 , English
CHF 40.00

Storefront

Founded in 1982, Storefront for Art and Architecture is a nonprofit organization that advances innovative and critical ideas at the intersection of architecture, art, and design. Storefront’s
exhibitions, events, competitions, publications, and projects provide alternative platforms for dialogue and collaboration across disciplinary, geographic, and ideological boundaries.

Eva Franch i Gilabert

Eva Franch is an architect, curator, educator and lecturer of experimental forms of art and architectural practice. Franch specializes in the making of alternative architecture histories and futures. Since 2010, she is the Chief Curator and Executive Director of Storefront for Art and Architecture. Franch teaches at The Cooper Union.