Todd Gannon outlines the context of The Architecture Gallery exhibits in terms of the destabilization of modernism in global architecture culture in the 1970s, and proposes that Los Angeles, “proudly peripheral,” became an ideal venue for postmodern experimentation. While acknowledging the individuality of the architects (Eugene Kupper, Roland Coate Jr., Frederick Fisher, Frank Dimster, Frank O. Gehry, Peter De Bretteville, Thom Mayne & Michael Rotondi, Craig Hodgetts & Robert Mangurian, Eric Owen Moss, Coy Howard) Gannon proposes several shared themes: “pragmatic opportunism” in selecting jobs, an interest in disciplinary fundamentals, inexpensive materials, re-imagining production, drawing, and attentiveness to publication.
Gannon explores in detail the evolution of architectural discourse in Los Angeles throughout the 1970s, and reviews each of The Architecture Gallery lectures and exhibits, commenting on each architect’s work. He concludes with a discussion of how Confederacy of Heretics was not only be organized around different kinds of spatial projection, but would employ different techniques in the display.
source
