a stable world that will last forever

Influenced by the languages of propaganda and graphic art favoured by the Italian Superstudio from the 1960s, A Stable World That Will Last Forever is a constructed portrait of Vancouver. Rather than casually viewing architecture as a benevolent force, the members of Superstudio blamed it for having aggravated the world's social and environmental problems, while being equally pessimistic about politics. It is said that, the group's once radical theories about architecture's environmental impact, the potentially negative consequences of technology and the inability of politics to untangle complex social problems are now considered to be core concerns by self-aware contemporary architects and designers. Through examining the relationship between environment, architecture and society in the modern city, A Stable World That Will Last Forever addresses the complex role of their interconnectivity and dependency. By rearranging line, space and forms that communicate the power of architecture within the environment and how people interact with both, this piece is a starting point to help envision Vancouver from a different perspective while circulating through the city; to imagine a New Vancouver.

It is the designer who must attempt to re-evaluate his role in the nightmare he helped to conceive, to retread the historical process which inverted the hopes of the modern movement.
- Toraldo di Francia, Superstudio

A Stable World That Will Last Forever, digital photo montage

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 About HCMA | AIR

Hughes Condon Marler Architects (HCMA) Artist-In-Residence (AIR) program was developed by the firm in 2014 as part of a broad strategy to examine the potential of the practice’s work to contribute to social sustainability goals. This initiative continues the research started by Darryl Condon (Managing Principal at HCMA) in a course on Social Sustainability offered to students of UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in the Spring of 2014. HCMA | AIR is meant to stimulate discussion and challenge preconceptions about the limits of architectural practice. The program invites artists to investigate the interface between the public realm and people through an exploration of the boundaries between architecture and the artist’s creative field.

Artists working in a variety of media are encouraged to participate, including visual arts, video, photography, theatre and writing. Throughout the course of the residency, artists collaborate with the staff at HCMA, discussing issues related to their work and to the project, and exploring themes related to social sustainability.  Resident artists have access to the resources of the office (including computers, plotters, printers and model shop) and are supported with an honorarium and materials budget.


For further information about HCMA | AIR or this project please contact:

Hughes Condon Marler Architects
604.732.6620
hcma.ca