Superstudio, the Italian architecture and design collective active between 1966–86 radically reconceived architecture as a conceptual tool for deconstructing modernist utopias. Gian Piero Frassinelli (born 1939) joined Superstudio in 1968 and became the archivist of the Superstudio legacy after the group disbanded. Though trained as an architect, Frassinelli’s primary contributions within Superstudio included writing and drawing that explored the intersections of architecture and anthropology and his work from the 1960s to the present are conceived as dystopian essays, literary fictions, and retro-futuristic scenarios. Life after Architecture creates a historical document of Radical Architecture—and its aftermath—and presents texts from some of the most important Superstudio works, alongside contemporary writing by Frassinelli, all available in English for the first time. These texts encourage innovative thinking about the space inhabited by humans, the spaces of social inclusion and exclusion, the state of the planet, and the needs for a future cohabitation—critical concerns that are echoed in current discussions in the field.

Angelika Stepken is a curator, author, and researcher. She has published many reviews, catalogue texts, and books on contemporary art. Among her publications are Lara Vinca-Masini, Scritti scelti 1961–2019: Arte Architettura Design Arti applicate (Gli Ori, 2020); Giuseppe Chiari - Maria Gloria Bicocchi, Giancarlo Cardini, Alvin Curran, Gian Piero Frassinelli, Daniele Lombardi, Paolo Masi, Lara-Vinca Masini, Gianni Pettena, Renato Ranaldi parlano di / sprechen über Giuseppe Chiari (Verlag für Moderne Kunst, 2017); Ketty La Rocca: You - works and writings 1964–1976 (Revolver Verlag, 2017); and Unmapping the Renaissance (Verlag für Moderne Kunst, 2016). From 2006 to 2022 she was the director of Villa Romana, a German run artists’ residency and center for contemporary art in Florence. From 1998 to 2006 she was director of Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe. She works as a freelance consultant in Germany and Italy.