Building with Writing: Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture

Stan Allen and Michael Meredith discuss the text Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture by Robert Venturi, published in 1966. They talk about architecture education, writing, and pragmatism, among other topics. While Stan first encountered the book as a freshman at Brown University in 1975, the text made perhaps a more pronounced return to Stan’s practice in the recent decade. 

Stan Allen is an architect, writer, educator, and former dean of Princeton University School of Architecture.

Michael Meredith teaches and runs a small practice with Hilary Sample.

Guest: Stan Allen

Host: Michael Meredith 

Editor: Michael Meredith, Bruce Hongming Liang

These conversations were recorded in parallel to the exhibition Building with Writing at Princeton University School of Architecture in Spring 2025, on the work of Stan Allen.