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By Maria Luisa Palumbo.
BirkhÉuser, Basel, Switzerland, 2000.
96 pp., illus. 70 col., 40 b/w.
ISBN:3-7643-6294-4
Reviewed by Robert Pepperell, University College Wales, Newport, Caerleon Campus, Newport, NP18 3YH, U.K. E-mail: pepperell@cwcom.net


New Wombs is issued as part of a series called 'The Information Technology Revolution in Architecture' which, as the blurb explains, reflects "on the effects the virtual dimension is having on architects and architecture in general." In a critical reassessment of the practice of making buildings in the context of new technology and the (so-called) "information age" Palumbo starts with the Renaissance projection of the idealised human body in mathematical space (Leonardo's Vitruvian figure) and concludes with a scherzo through some radical contemporary architectural projects. In reading the book it soon becomes apparent that the text is translated, presumably from the Italian, since it has the air of a slightly faltering interpreter. The sentences are often long, wordy and sometimes unreadable: "The exploration of the limit between formed and formless matter is translated into the articulation of enveloping or folded cavities, capable of mediating organic and inorganic inspiration, natural and technological fascination." (p. 56). This does not mean, however, that the book is unable to impart ideas. The huge diversity of material gathered together in such a small space gives some sense of the fluid information overload that Palumbo sees as an alternative to rigorous classical form, even if the effect is sometimes like listening to numerous chords being played simultaneously on a piano. The dissolving of static physical space and boundaries in favour of semi-structured flow and continuity is, Palumbo argues, the new "shape" of architecture which, womb-like, extends beyond, and into, the human body. The world-view she describes as 'postorganic' is a familiar brew of biotech fusion, Deleuzeian social theory and virtuality which, like much theory written in this vein, tends to be impressionistic rather than precise. There are moments, however, of revelation and humour: the concept of compact form dissolving into spatial vibration is a beautiful idea (p.53) and her re-visitations of experimental sixties architects like Archigram with their "walking cites" (1964) and Haus-Rucker-Co's "Mind Expander I" (1967) are refreshing and amusing. The book makes a strong case for regarding the human body as entirely continuous with its environment. She discusses the driver's ability to "feel" the car as an extension to their own body, thus allowing tight manoeuvres (the driver winces if the car is bumped) and the nomadic sense of space in which the "nomad incorporates the whole of space under his own skin, because his tent is a house that never interrupts his progress, but on the contrary accompanies it: space is an extension, a prosthesis or vehicle for his own movement." (p. 71). The book certainly improves towards the end, the writing style becomes relatively lucid and the text is concluded with a useful overview of relevant literature and sources.

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