Lebbeus Woods died October 30 in New York. The obituary in the Guardian features tributes from many colleagues and admirers, including Nigel Coates:

“He reminded us that to believe in the existence of architecture you need to feel it. Elaborate drawings of found spaces full of whirring sticks and lines of energy were genuine attempts to materialise the experience of space. Who else could do this? Nobody!”

The following lectures by Woods were recorded at SCI-Arc on October 20, 2003 and September 16, 1991.

Woods presents two projects that challenge preconceived notions of what architecture should look like, what it should do, and how it interacts with other architecture. The first project deals with the concept of civilization and the role architecture plays in supporting or defining the existence and progress of man. This idea is manifested through a display for a museum exhibit in Berlin in 1999. The second project looks at the circus and other areas where extreme performance is on display. Woods presents a speculative project for Vienna that tests the limits of what is structurally possible.

Lebbeus Woods discusses a selection of conceptual projects developed in the last five years. The projects are a series of experimental underground and floating structures that are developed for the cities of Berlin, Paris and Zagreb. In a time of change and conflict in some of these cities, the projects intend to deal with the specific cultural and political implications of each location as well as creating a sense of ambiguity about function and form. Woods challenges architecture to engage with what is occurring in the world and not only restrain itself to questions of aesthetics, form and function.