Benjamin Leclercq resurrects lost architectures
The grand narrative of architecture is captivated by monumental projects, their happy endings, and memorable anecdotes. But what about the stories of buildings whose development was halted mid-project? Of structures destroyed? In short, of architectures that will never be, or never will be? These are the untold stories that journalist Benjamin Leclercq sought to tell in his book, *The Ghost of the Architect *, published by Parenthèses.
A hospital designed by Le Corbusier in Venice. A luxury desert resort conceived by Frank Lloyd Wright. A children's park in New York imagined by Isamu Noguchi. What do these three projects have in common? They were never built. It is this architecture of absence that animates Benjamin Leclercq's book, which revisits ten cherished projects by renowned architects that were never realized or, at best, destroyed. Born in the pages of the daily newspaper Libération , as part of a summer series, this collection of architectural ghosts now takes the form of a book. "I wanted to find this small, submerged continent of unbuilt architecture, with projects that were dear to the hearts of the architects and into which they poured a little more of themselves than usual . "
Absence and disappearance
While the journalist's articles only mention absent buildings, in his publication he wants to "add the notion of disappearance." "What does it feel like for an architect to see, in their lifetime, a building into which they have poured time and ideas, disappear?" Thus, his collection includes Lina Bo Bardi's Casa do Chame-Chame and Minoru Yamasaki's Pruitt-Igoe. This also gives the author the opportunity to highlight singular trajectories. "Yamasaki was a somewhat cursed architect, rather snubbed by the profession because he was quite gentle and sensitive. He paid great attention to ornamentation, at a time in modernism when the focus was on purity, simplicity, and rationality. He had a somewhat unconventional career, but he persevered ." " A cursed architect, because he was behind the World Trade Center, which collapsed on September 11, 2001. But the one who touched me the most was undoubtedly Noguchi. He wasn't really an architect, more of an artist, even though he wanted to be a landscape designer. I was truly moved by his determination. He spent forty years trying to sell his playgrounds to the New York City government. Despite his stubbornness, he was unlucky; he was a little too early, a little too innovative."
Daily lot
In developing his cast, Benjamin Leclercq also sought to vary the types of failures. “In the context of a competition, not being selected despite a fantastic project is a daily occurrence for any architect. I also wanted to show how other obstacles can derail projects, and how architecture collides with economic, political, and cultural history. In Charlotte Perriand's case, it was a world war; for Frank Lloyd Wright, the stock market crash; for Le Corbusier, his own death; and for Francis Kéré, a civil war.” As for the case of Zaha Hadid and the Cardiff Bay Opera House, “ It's more mysterious, more nebulous, but the main hypothesis is racism and misogyny within the local ecosystem, which wasn't thrilled to see this Arab woman come and build right in the middle of the city .”
Anger and suffering
Ten trajectories written thanks to an in-depth study of press clippings, archives, but also thanks to encounters, such as that with "members of Zaha Hadid's team who were working with her on the project at the time," but also with the Indian Raj Rewal, the mastermind behind the Hall of Nations in New Delhi, destroyed in 2017. The author then describes an interview "where you could really feel his pain," during which he finds the terrible and implacable answer to his question: " We architects never think about the disappearance of our works. So, when it happens, the result is anger and suffering . "
THE GHOST OF THE ARCHITECT BY BENJAMIN LECLERCQ
PARENTHES PUBLISHING, NOVEMBER 2024
