AWC 16 – NEON PALLADIAN

In the last few incarnations of Architecture Without Content, two defining tracks emerged. On the one hand, we investigated the roots of an architecture of the perimeter in different incarnations of 'the big box' a building so big that it defines the immediate context it inhabits. We traced its emergence to the particular scale defined by the American landscape. On the other hand, we reconnected Architecture Without Content to its ultimate ancestor: Roman Architecture. The emulation of Roman architecture through early Renaissance, Palladian and contemporary examples was the research topic of several studios. In all cases, the territorial power of a building that simple, and to a certain extent undefined, was at stake. This time we wanted to bring these two tracks together. An interest in Neo-Palladianism was added to a project that continues to investigate the impact of scale, as Palladianism was a defining factor in the early identification of 'American Architecture'.