Christopher Long: Josef Frank and the Architecture of Accidentalism

Gallery VI PER, Vítkova 2, Prague 8 invites you on March 28, 2017, at 7:00 PM to a lecture by American architectural historian Christopher Long titled Josef Frank and the Architecture of Accidentalism.

In 1958, Vienna-based architect Josef Frank, who was living in Stockholm at the time, published his manifesto "Accidentalism," sharply criticizing modernism and its dogmas. He attacked the idea of "planned" design and its emphasis on functionality. He argued that it leads to boredom and sterility in creativity. His counterproposal was a vision of architecture that reaches its peak when it seems to be the result of happenstance and looks as if it appeared "by accident." Frank was not the only one who held this approach. In the 1950s, others, especially John Cage, were also interested in accidental processes in creation; however, Frank's designs of irregular dwellings that did not fulfill expected functions were among the most radical visions of their time. This lecture will explore the roots and meanings of Frank's "accidentalist" aesthetics and its significance for contemporary architecture.

Christopher Long is a professor of the history of architecture and design at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of several publications on Josef Frank and a leading expert in modern architecture in Central Europe and the United States. His works include: Josef Frank: Life and Work (2001), Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design (2007), The Looshaus (2011), and The New Space: Movement and Experience in Viennese Modern Architecture (2016). His latest book, Adolf Loos on Trial, will be published in March 2017.

The lecture will be in English.

More information >