Monday 10 December 2012

The Archigram Poem

Cover in Archigram No. 1 (1961)


The love is gone. 

The poetry in brick is lost. 
We want to drag into building some of the poetry of
countdown, orbital helmets. 
discord of mechanical body transportation methods
and leg walking
Love gone. 

Lost
our fascinating intricate
movings are trapped in soggen
brown packets all hidden all
art and front, no bone no love.

A new generation of architecture must arise
with forms and spaces which seems to reject
the precepts of 'Modern' yet in fact
retains these precepts. WE HAVE CHOSEN TO
BYPASS THE DECAYING BAUHAUS IMAGE
WHICH IS AN INSULT TO FUNCTIONALISM.

You can roll out steel     any length
You can blow up a balloon      any size
You can mould plastic        any shape
  blokes that built the forth bridge 
                  THEY DIDN'T WORRY
You can roll out paper      any length
take Cambers' dictionary THAT'S LONG


You can build concrete      any height

FLOW? water flows or doesn't or does
            flow or not flows
YOU CAN WEAVE STRING          any mesh
TAKE THIS TABLE you've got a top there
            top and four legs
you can sit IN it you sit ON it, UNDER it or half under


 A poem in Archigram 1 by David Greene.