The Heuristics of Heroism: Lebbeus Woods Notebooks (1988-1997) at the Getty Research Institute Special Collections

Gary Huafan He & Yanzi Huang

Architectural Theory Review, Volume 28, Issue 2 (2024): 240-258.

This paper introduces the notebooks of Lebbeus Woods (1940–2012) as a substantive document in the œuvre and critical practice of the New York architect. Dating from 1988 to 1997, this previously unpublished trove includes hand-written notes and over three hundred drawings. Held at the Getty Research Institute, these twenty notebooks cover a wide range of topics, from theoretical musings, to political statements, to fragments from everyday life. Crucially, these documents also reflect the period of Woods’ interest and involvement in the Bosnian War, leading to the publication of War and Architecture in 1993. Complementing his published and exhibited works, Woods’ notebooks are a daily register of his travels, stochastic thoughts, and of his struggles with a continued belief in the possibility of architecture as an intellectual pursuit against the context of modern geopolitical catastrophe. Our brief examination presents these important documents from three major vantage points: drawings, writings, and their theoretical synthesis.

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