Ness: Issue 1: Between Cozy History and Homey Technics/ On Architecture, Life, and Urban Culture Spring 2018

NESS is a printed publication about architecture, life, and urban culture. We are in continuous dialogue with provocative designers and thinkers to expand and diversify our conversations and to be open to new visions and ideas. It is divided into Browser, The Dossier, and Documents. For the Spring 2018 issue, NESS warms up with a selection of the nine installations that rocked 2017 and further browses through the work of Eleni Petaloti & Leonidas Trampoukis, whose sibling practices―LOT and objects of common interest―shift from one scale to another with subtle sophistication. Plus, Berlin-based architect Lena Wimmer presents her utmost experimental projects. Next, NESS headed to Detroit and dedicates a 38-page survey to draw a portrait of the city through their own curious and questioning lenses. The editors went to the Planning and Development Department and talked to authorities, designers, architects, community representatives, and developers shaping the former Motor-City. In the Dossier section, “Between Cozy History and Homey Technics”, architects, critics, and thinkers were asked to provocatively discuss the intellectual and pragmatic set of tools at hand: Stan Allen and Jesus Vassallo talk about photography and the built environment as a filter of abstraction; Enrique Ramirez and Mimi Zeiger reflect on the aesthetics―or lack thereof―in contemporary representation technics; Emanuel Christ and Camilo Restrepo imagine the type as a vehicle for ideas to travel through building cultures; and Sharon Johnston and Florencia Rodriguez exchange views on curating in architecture. Lastly, NESS crew flew to Chicago, Vienna, Seoul, and Valparaiso to review the latest events and reflect upon the biennial phenomenon. And, finally in Documents, NESS sat down with two acclaimed architecture offices: French Bruther and New York-based SO – IL to get to know each of their practice, processes, and projects in a comprehensive interview, detailed drawings and photographs.

Florencia Rodriguez is an architect, critic, curator, and lecturer. She is one of the founders of Lots of architecture publishers, where she acts as Chair and Editor in Chief. In 2010, Florencia founded PLOT, one of the ongoing leading publications in Spanish. In 2013 she received the Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has taught Theory at Torcuato Di Tella University in Argentina, and has taught isolated courses in other institutions abroad. She has received awards for her editorial work and acted as juror in various opportunities among which the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) stands out.

Pablo Gerson is an architect, photographer, documentary filmmaker, and lecturer. He acts as Chief Executive Officer of the editorial platform Lots of architecture publishers. He has built his professional practice on audiovisual production, where his work specializes on themes related to architecture, urbanism, landscape, and theory. Gerson is a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Studies at Torcuato di Tella University, previously he has taught at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad de Palermo, and The Boston Architectural College. His work has been published widely.

Daniela Freiberg is an architect and editor of the editorial platform Lots of architecture publishers. She studied at the University of Córdoba and is a Master's Degree candidate in History and Culture of Architecture and the City at Torcuato Di Tella University. She was commissioner for the Uruguay Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2012 & 2014 and has worked on projects focused on architecture and visual arts management such as the Archigram Archives catalogue in London, three editions of the Dark Side Club in Venice, and the digitization of the exhibition archive at Fundación PROA in Buenos Aires.

Isabella Moretti is an architect and editor acting as Executive Editor of the editorial platform Lots of architecture publishers. She studied at the University of Buenos Aires and holds a Master of Science in Design Research (Humboldt Universität/Hochschule Anhalt). She has worked as researcher at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the City Government of Buenos Aires. Moretti is assisting professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Studies at Torcuato di Tella University.