HEJDUK: BUILDING CHARACTERS

Presentation of the book “HEJDUK:  BUILDING  CHARACTERS”; edited by Lettera Ventidue, about the architect John Hejduk,

The presentation will be given by the architect and author of the book, Luca Cardani, as well as the architects Josep Lluís Mateo, Antonio Pizza i Dan Hoffman. A conversation that will include Hejduk’s fellow architect and co-author for his buildings in Santiago de Compostela, Antonio Sanmartín.

Hejduk (New York, 1929-2000) is known by critics as a theorist, professor, dean and founder of Cooper Union, poet and designer, but above all he was an architect and builder of universes and civic lists. His built architectures have rarely been investigated, but they are proof that conceiving, describing and building are identical purposes.

This book attempts to provide a complete interpretation of his built work, with some buildings and architectural installations built between 1980 and 2000, through the analysis of archival documents, analytical redrawings and an extensive photographic apparatus, showing the tangible value of Hejduk’s thinking about architecture and the important role that his works played in the transformation of the city. The book also includes a detailed chronicle of the definition and construction – both with Hejduk and without him – of the constructed “characters”.