A student-run publication of the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
This issue of See/Saw aims to locate architecture’s general position between nothing and something. Nothing is temporary, easily intimidated, fleeing whenever something comes to take its place. Architecture as a discipline has become occupied by a diffuse range of topics and fields which poses the question — is everything now architecture, or alternatively, is architecture now nothing? Is there a middle ground between the two? And is nothing residual— does it last or linger, smell stinky or pleasant, strong or subtle?
Returning to nothing is the worry of everything. Forming two sides of a larger system, nothing and everything rarely exist without the other. Nothing goes by many aliases: zero, zilch, nil, space, in-between, not a thing, no-thing, etc., however, in conversation nothing usually refers to something, i.e. “What are you up to?” / “Oh, nothing (of course I’m up to something — it’s extremely interesting actually — however I don’t feel like explaining it right now).”
Nothing is forgotten. Sweet nothings are now texted and no longer spoken, eternally preserved in some sort of digital amber. Identities of architecture and individuals are formed and perceived through social media, transmitted through cables and wavelengths, and seen on screens of varying dpi. Is nothing original anymore? Is nothing slowly becoming endangered as spectacles become everything? Does nothing matter?
Publication Date
Winter 2018
ISBN
978-0-692-18548-3
Publisher
The University of Maryland, College Park
Editor
Ben Dooley
Gabrielle Metzger