The Foster-Eisenman complex

Abstract

In The Art-Architecture Complex, Hal Foster claims that the nexuses between these two disciplines evolved to what he sees as a radical reversal of roles: Whereas, in his words, ‘minimalists opened the art object to its architectural condition’, contemporary architecture allowed buildings to be reduced to their superficial and imagistic condition – briefly, to mere appearance. The present paper takes Foster’s claim as the point of departure for a detailed examination of the theoretical and epistemological foundations of his reading, while using the work of the architect Peter Eisenman as a counterpoint. My contention is that, in contrast with Eisenman’s practice, and regardless of its uncontained commitment to ‘the contemporary’, Foster’s critique remains deeply attached to the modern worldview.