The Function of the Oblique: The Architecture of Claude Parent and Paul Virilio, 1963-1969

The Function of the Oblique describes the experimental, provocative and largely un-documented collaboration between the architect Claude Parent and the cultural theorist Paul Virilio, who investigated a new kind of architectural and urban order that forced the body to adapt to disequilibrium, encouraging vertigo and promoting fluid, continuous movement. The publication contains English translations of key texts in their manifesto magazine Architecture Principe and shows the projects that gave their theories concrete form -- a cultural centre, a series of houses and, most notably, the church of Sainte-Bernadette du Banlay, which was inspired by the German bunkers of the Atlantic Wall. Retrospective assessments of the collaboration are provided by Parent, Virilio and others.