After being introduced by Thom Mayne, Lebbeus Woods describes his exploration of a basis for architecture more fundamental than historic and traditional concepts and values. He emphasizes the importance of the experience of the world, uncertainty, ambiguity and the relationships between observer and the observed.
Woods discusses the project Underground Berlin created for an exhibition on Berlin and the future in 1988. Underground Berlin was developed while the Berlin Wall was still in place, and it proposes a strategy for connecting the city through the existing underground spaces of Berlin’s U-Bahn. The project consists of a series of inverted structures that are constructed into the ground to accommodate living and working spaces. Projection towers are proposed around the city to allow a connection between the underground hidden spaces and the city above.
Woods discusses two projects developed for Paris and Berlin. In a sequel to his Underground Berlin proposal, parts begin to scatter and fly out to Paris where they reassemble as floating structures.
Woods discusses a 1990 project for Zagreb, Croatia, consisting of a series of mobile structures that would be embedded within existing structures of the city. He concludes by stating that architecture should engage more political and community issues and not only aesthetic and form-making issues.
