CANDILIS, JOSIC, WOODS: Structuring the Common

Documents from the Josic Family Archives

2 – 26 NOVEMBER, 2020

Author: Zoran Dmitrović
Organizer:  Association Kolektiv Arhitekata

The exhibition Candilis, Josic Woods: Structuring the Common – Documents from the Josic Family Archives presents for the first time the most important projects of the architectural trio Candilis, Josić, Woods, one of the most significant architectural practices of the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibition is mostly based on the personal archives of the family of Alexis Josić, an architect of Serbian origin, who realized his oeuvre in France, in ATBAT workshop, working together with Candilis and Woods, and eventually in his independent practice – atelier Josić.

The title of the exhibition refers to the ideas of the upcoming generation of European architects of the 1950s gathered around Team X (Team Ten) group advocating a new discourse and criticizing canonized Modernism which no longer managed to tackle the problems of the society of that time. These ideas supported the departure from modernistic definitions of architecture and urbanism; they sought to define new paradigms through the understanding of the concepts of environment, wider human community and possibilities of different forms of organization of society – through the absence of hierarchy, ideas of time and space continuity, as well as through the possibility of change and growth of constructed structures.

Candilis, Josić and Woods were three authors of different cultural and life backgrounds. They managed to forge a creative amalgam through joint work and practice, which during the short ten year period of research and construction work gave birth to significant creations which still give the impression of accomplished utopias which post-war generation pursued.

The internal organization of this architectural group is also represented in the series of documents and photographs, which was based on ‘brotherhood and solidarity’ as Josić used to say, and not on economical-hierarchical principles which have been to this day a common practice in architectural workshops.

Alexis Josić was recognized as an extraordinary drafter, capable of specifying projects and ideas created in joint work through a drawing. This gift and skill Alexis carried from the workshop of his father, a renowned Serbian painter Mladen Josić. Alexis’ illustrations and drawings, displayed in this exhibition, clearly depict this exceptional gift.

The exhibition also includes a presentation of the book Georges Candilis/Alexis Josic/Shadrach Woods (Carnets d’architectes) by Bénédicte Chaljub, which represents the first published work in Serbian dealing with the ideas and practices of the group Candilis, Josić and Woods. As part of the book presentation, the author Bénédicte Chaljub will deliver a lecture at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade and a curator guided tour will be organized.

Candilis, Josic, Woods: Structuring the Common – Documents from the Josic Family Archives exhibition is the continuation of the work which team of the association Kolektiv Arhitekata started by an exhibition at the Cultural Centre of Serbia in Paris in December of 2018 when the project was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information.