A publishing project aiming to give an account of the plurality of the conceptions in twenty-first century architecture in their original language, and to discuss their translation.
PROJECT PRESENTATION
“Though the translator’s work remains centered on transmission, this task appears to take on a specific role in the case of architecture today. In a time that is still looking for its counterproposal to twentieth-century modernism, translating can provide some help. Translation deals with variations and discrepancies, differences, and limitations, and ultimately speaks of what offers resistance to its process; untranslatables are an instrument of resistance to the dominant narrative.
Our conception of translation, which we are largely borrowing from philosopher Barbara Cassin, invites us to revisit our modern, Western heritage and to refresh our discourse on architecture and our conceptions of architecture by availing ourselves of other cultural frames of reference.
‘Translating: Architecture’ is a publishing project that aims to give an account of the plurality of conceptions in twenty-first century architecture. To this end, a selection of architects working in all corners of the world were invited to write, in their own language, a short essay sharing their take on architecture. These revealing essays will turn into a series of manifestos that will then be translated in French and English (which act as our host languages), and the translators will be asked to comment on their work and on any language-related discrepancies they encounter.
The city of Paris has always played a major role in the dissemination of French and Western architectural culture. Through this project, we want to reverse this one-way editorial flow, and put Paris at the receiving end—as a place that will receive architectural content in all its diversity.
The original manifestos and their translations, as well as the translation commentaries will form the primary material for a publication.”
“Though the translator’s work remains centered on transmission, this task appears to take on a specific role in the case of architecture today. In a time that is still looking for its counterproposal to twentieth-century modernism, translating can provide some help. Translation deals with variations and discrepancies, differences, and limitations, and ultimately speaks of what offers resistance to its process; untranslatables are an instrument of resistance to the dominant narrative.
Our conception of translation, which we are largely borrowing from philosopher Barbara Cassin, invites us to revisit our modern, Western heritage and to refresh our discourse on architecture and our conceptions of architecture by availing ourselves of other cultural frames of reference.
‘Translating: Architecture’ is a publishing project that aims to give an account of the plurality of conceptions in twenty-first century architecture. To this end, a selection of architects working in all corners of the world were invited to write, in their own language, a short essay sharing their take on architecture. These revealing essays will turn into a series of manifestos that will then be translated in French and English (which act as our host languages), and the translators will be asked to comment on their work and on any language-related discrepancies they encounter.
The city of Paris has always played a major role in the dissemination of French and Western architectural culture. Through this project, we want to reverse this one-way editorial flow, and put Paris at the receiving end—as a place that will receive architectural content in all its diversity.
The original manifestos and their translations, as well as the translation commentaries will form the primary material for a publication.”
PROJECT TEAM
As Found is an editorial project dedicated to the histories of modernity and its contradictions in architecture, exploring the variety and inventiveness of the forms of the text in architecture: manifestos, essays, interviews, correspondences, reviews... through the document and the archive, through the text and its translation.
Marc-Antoine Durand is an architect, graduate of ENSA Paris la Villette, Senior Lecturer at ENSA Clermont-Ferrand, researcher at UMR Ressources. He worked in 2017 and 2018 on the archives of Reyner Banham at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, research that now feeds a doctoral thesis, which he is conducting at the University of Paris Cité - CERILAC. His field of investigation intersects with theories and critiques of modernity and the history of the architectural text. He created As Found in 2018.
Katie Filek is an architect, a graduate of the University of British Columbia and the Politecnico di Milano, and a PhD student and researcher in architecture at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on transnational exchanges within the post-war Italian intellectual debate. Translation is an important part of her work, whether from French, German or Italian. After a first editorial experience at GAM (Graz Architecture Magazine), she joined As Found in 2021.
As Found is an editorial project dedicated to the histories of modernity and its contradictions in architecture, exploring the variety and inventiveness of the forms of the text in architecture: manifestos, essays, interviews, correspondences, reviews... through the document and the archive, through the text and its translation.
Marc-Antoine Durand is an architect, graduate of ENSA Paris la Villette, Senior Lecturer at ENSA Clermont-Ferrand, researcher at UMR Ressources. He worked in 2017 and 2018 on the archives of Reyner Banham at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, research that now feeds a doctoral thesis, which he is conducting at the University of Paris Cité - CERILAC. His field of investigation intersects with theories and critiques of modernity and the history of the architectural text. He created As Found in 2018.
Katie Filek is an architect, a graduate of the University of British Columbia and the Politecnico di Milano, and a PhD student and researcher in architecture at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on transnational exchanges within the post-war Italian intellectual debate. Translation is an important part of her work, whether from French, German or Italian. After a first editorial experience at GAM (Graz Architecture Magazine), she joined As Found in 2021.
