Touring the Suburban Environment

Jason Griffiths and Alex Gino set out in 2002 to document the unremarkable character of the American suburbs. 22,382 miles and 2,593 photographs later, they concluded that suburbia "is difficult to define."

1 minute read

October 24, 2011, 6:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

After taking a detailed and objective look at commercial developments across the country, Griffiths and Gino -- both from London -- ended up developing a nuanced view of the suburban character:

"While we recognize that suburbia is clearly problematic, we also feel that solutions must lie within the reconfiguration of familial forms for architecture. If recent histories of postmodernism have sought to mimic the condition within which it seeks to operate, such as the commercial vernacular or fragmentation, then our found condition is banality - a repetitious landscape desensitized by excess choice. Our response to this world is not dialectic or corrective; our rejection of the suburban ethic coexists with an intense pleasure in its scenographic feel."

Design Observer also features a slideshow.

FULL STORY: Manifest Destiny: A Guide to the Essential Indifference of American Suburban Housing

Thursday, October 20, 2011 in Design Observer

Land Use United States Suburbs Tract Housing

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