The Archisutra: The Handbook's Final Chapter

Description

In the age of ubiquitous design, why shouldn't sex be designed as well? The Archisutra, expanding the meaning of the term "graphic" design, runs with that notion. The Archisutra presents architectural designer Miguel Bolivar's erotic guide of designed sex positions, all described in succinct yet explicit prose. The bodies in the book arch, vault and cantilever over drafting tables, Eames lounges and Barcelona chairs, connecting their configurations to the designs that inspired them. The Archisutra imagines the sexual spirit of classical, neoclassical, brutalist and other styles of architecture. Further, keeping in mind the concerns of our time, the book documents the "sustainability" of each position, that is, how long each position can be maintained over time. Or, drawing from the language of architecture, each sex position is accompanied by its typical location, whether "residential," "commercial" or "mixed use." A long history of attempts to quantify the human form and organize architecture accordingly, from Vitruvius' schema of the ideal mathematical proportions of the human body to Le Corbusier's Modulor system, now culminates in this most pleasurable and elemental of human activities: sex. Miguel Bolivar encourages fans of architecture to redesign their sex life with guide in hand or, perhaps more realistically, propped up nearby.