Toward an American Spolia: A Loose Inventory of Antecedents and Possibilities

Spolia is what historians call the ancient practice of recycling of building materials, and until recently it was deemed rather inconvenient as it contaminates an understanding of history as a linear progression of time.It is both constructive (re-use) and destructive ('spoils' imply conquest, destruction and uprooting).Yet as a way of engagement with historic artefacts, spolia opens a new door into the creation of built form.This publication is an inventory of the processes of spolia, a distinctive cultural practice from the ancient times to ours, framing the necessity for the spoliation of the American 20th century - its materials, inventions, aesthetics and debris.The book contains appropriated and repurposed images, drawings, and texts presented as a series of unbound plates affording multiple ways of sorting, comparing, mixing, and reusing. The book consists of antecedents of ancient and contemporary spolia in the form of images, texts and drawing, composed of an introductory Boun