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9781138254503

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'A flight into the poetics of gossamer, the metaphysics of optics, and the most imaginative reaches of architectural thought, Victoria Watson's book is indeed a utopian adventure, leading the reader on an exhilarating excursion into a project of late-modern Italian urbanism, on the wings of robot beetles.' Joan Ockman, Columbia University, USA 'What to do with unloved public housing projects is a perennial source of controversy and debate. Those assertive, post-War concrete giants prompt apoplexy throughout much of middle England, with dynamite and wrecking balls often the preferred solution. In the final chapter of a new book, architect and historian Victoria Watson proposes an extraordinary use for the defining feature of a grim Italian estate - fill it with millions of robot beetles.' The Telegraph 'Watson's adventure links the thinking of a series of artists, architects and philosophers in a fascinating, mind-bending trip. Side-stepping the usual debates over utopian mid-century architecture [...] her text opens questions about the role of the aesthetic and the monumental in the city, challenging materialist and economically rationalist ideas of city making.' LSE Review of Books

'A flight into the poetics of gossamer, the metaphysics of optics, and the most imaginative reaches of architectural thought, Victoria Watson's book is indeed a utopian adventure, leading the reader on an exhilarating excursion into a project of late-modern Italian urbanism, on the wings of robot beetles.' Joan Ockman, Columbia University, USA ’What to do with unloved public housing projects is a perennial source of controversy and debate. Those assertive, post-War concrete giants prompt apoplexy throughout much of middle England, with dynamite and wrecking balls often the preferred solution. In the final chapter of a new book, architect and historian Victoria Watson proposes an extraordinary use for the defining feature of a grim Italian estate - fill it with millions of robot beetles.’ The Telegraph 'Watson’s adventure links the thinking of a series of artists, architects and philosophers in a fascinating, mind-bending trip. Side-stepping the usual debates over utopian mid-century architecture [...] her text opens questions about the role of the aesthetic and the monumental in the city, challenging materialist and economically rationalist ideas of city making.' LSE Review of Books

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Dr Victoria Watson, Architect of The Big Air World and Senior Lecturer in Architecture at The University of Westminster, UK

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