Never Modern

In Never Modern, Irenee Scalbert explores the role of narrative, history, and appropriation in the works of the London-based firm 6a Architects, whose recent projects include the South London Gallery, Raven Row, and the new fashion galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Scalbert examines the unique approach of the members of 6a, wherein they avoid style and signature in favor of what Scalbert calls a premodern sense of metis, or “flair, wisdom, forethought, subtlety of mind, deception, resourcefulness, vigilance, opportunism, varied skills, and experience.” Scalbert’s analysis is accompanied by a striking visual essay of archival photographs, artworks, film stills, and recent projects by the firm. In the end, Scalbert argues that like contemporary society in general, the architecture of 6a Architects is fundamentally a work of bricolage, creating art composed of various objects on hand, drawing from history and the everyday to create something new and vital.   

Irénée Scalbert is a French-born architect, historian, and critic based in London.

Tom Emerson is cofounder of the London-based firm 6a architects and professor of architecture and design in the Department of Architecture at ETH Zürich.