Synopsis "Choreographing Space: The Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection"
Choreographing Space is a reflection on the collaborative work of New York City-based architecture practice, e+i studio. In the book, the founders of the practice, Eva Perez de Vega and Ian Gordon, outline a fascinating selection of projects from the studio, which will take the reader on a journey and give them a key understanding of the important work of this dynamic and forward-thinking architecture and design practice. This insightful book offers both a retrospective and speculative outlook. Retrospectively, it explores the people, places and practices that have influenced each project. For certain projects it also proposes speculative post-human scenarios, to support the idea that the impact of architecture on its environment involves a reconning with the ecologies it replaces. The book is uniquely structured. Organised into four parts, each part opens with a philosophical text that acts as an insightful prelude to the topics, questions and reflections posed by each project. Each part concludes with a speculative scenario, where one of the projects is imagined thriving in a future where life is now almost extinct. These are not intended as apocalyptic or even nostalgic scenarios, but rather as affirmative alternatives to the bleak imaginary arising from the world's current climate crisis. Choreographing Space involves the self-reflexive act of selecting the conceptual strands of each project and organising them under headings, or species. Much like the concept of 'speciation' where living creatures are categorised into seemingly related groups, under their 'genus'. This type of grouping synthesizes the ideas, intents and hopes for each project, and looks into how it could have been implemented differently. Nothing is static, or definite; projects are in continuous process of becoming, as they continue to relate to evolving ecologies of thought.
