We Are Light - Supergraphics: A Tool for Transformation

This thesis analyses the emergence of Supergraphics in the 1960s and traces their subsequent development to the present day. The thesis studies the shift from modern to postmodern architecture that was spearheaded by the Supermannerists, as it was from this group of experimental architects that Supergraphics found their first expression. The thesis also examines the cultural context from which the Supermannerists emerged: the global fascination with space, the experimental attitude of the 1960s and the advent of postmodernism. Supergraphics at their peak were ubiquitous and were applied to situations as diverse as motorcars and domestic interiors. However, much of this work quickly became tired and dated. The thesis contends that in order for Supergraphics to be successful, they must have meaning and for this reason they are best employed in projects that have a social dimension. The thesis analyses a number of diverse contemporary Supergraphics that all possess an empathetic or social intention. The success of the selected projects creates an argument for Supergraphics to be considered a serious architectural tool with a very particular transformative nature.