Banal by Design: Silicone Joint Sealant and the Supply Chain of Architectural Production

Historically, environmental mediation and its relation to cultural production on found a broad audience in Super studio’s iconic project, The Continuous Monument. As is well known, The Continuous Monument proposes a global infrastructure of uniformly structured and conditioned interior space as a polemical response to largely unchecked suburban growth that was widespread in 1960s Italy. According to Aldolfo Natalini, however, the proposal “should not be understood in its physical sense, but as a visual and verbal metaphor for a rational and orderly distribution of resources.” While not intended as a literal material propositi on, considering The Continuous Monument as such reveals strong resonances with much contemporary development. Consisting ng of nothing more than a mirrored surface and a uniform grid, both The Continuous Monument and many new constructions rely on the utter er banality of architecture in achieving their goals. These utterly banal buildings, in turn, rely on equally banal technology; in this case, silicone joint sealant. Simply acknowledging this resemblance, however, fails to elucidate anything unique about the present moment in architecture and urbanism. Looking with a more critical eye attuned to contemporary political, economic, and cultural phenomena opens the door for new interpretations. In this paper, the assumed materiality of The Continuous Monument is used as a point of departure to consider the contemporary built environment as a complex assemblage of social and environ-mental relations mobilized by design decisions.

Volume Editors
Jasmine Benyamin, Kyle Reynolds, Mo Zell, Nikole Bouchard & Whitney Moon

ISBN
978-1-944214-28-9