BMI by Cedric Price: A Documentary Study
This article begins with a documentary study of BMI, a thesis subject proposed by Cedric Price in 1971. Its purpose is not initially to explain the project, but to establish what kind of architectural investigation Price's surviving material records.
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- The five pages examined here are from AD/6/71, the BMI material in Cedric Price's surviving records.
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[edit] AD/6/71 — Page 364
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BMI is presented as an existing body of activity whose future development requires a new headquarters — BMI-HQ — and the page begins to treat the headquarters itself as an architectural proposition. There are really two things being placed together:
So the page is not merely asking “What is BMI?” It is beginning to establish a relationship: existing organisation → changing requirements → new architectural situation that is important for our investigation because CP is apparently not presenting BMI-HQ as an ordinary building commission. The question becomes: what sort of architectural situation does the page make visible? Page 364 establishes the architectural proposition of a new BMI headquarters by placing an existing and apparently developing organisation in relation to a new architectural requirement. |
[edit] AD/6/71 — Page 365
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BMI should be understood as a changing pattern of activities, areas, frequencies, capacities and connections — and the building should be organised to accommodate that changing pattern. |
[edit] • Page 366
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[edit] • Page 367
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[edit] • Page 368
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