Urbatecture

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Spotted at Neatorama this week, Cédric Dequidt‘s Urbicande lamp, a cubic design which appears to be sinking into the table. The Neatorama people don’t seem aware that the name of the lamp refers to Fever in Urbicande (1985), a comic book by François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, and the second volume in the masterful Cités Obscures series.

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Fever in Urbicand: Urbatect Eugen Robick ponders the properties of the strange cube which is invulnerable yet able to grow through solid materials.

The mysterious para-dimensional cube and its effects on the divided city of Urbicande have been described here already. Fever in Urbicande is my favourite of the core stories by Schuiten and Peeters, and it seems to be one of the more popular of Schuiten’s creations to judge by the lamp and some of the spin-off works that follow.

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Fever in Urbicand: Several months later, and the cube has burgeoned into a city-spanning “Network”.

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Sedimental Journey (1985) by Peter Principle.

I mentioned this solo album by Tuxedomoon’s bass player in the earlier Urbicande post. The cover image is one of a number of views by Schuiten of the Obscure World which show a corner of the Network still growing somewhere.

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François Schuiten Et Benoît Peeters Présentent Bruno Letort: L’Affaire Desombres (2001).

A CD of musical pieces related to the Obscure World. Track 13 is Urbicande.

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Urbatectures (2011) by Nebulo & Druc Drac.

An album by a German duo based on Fever in Urbicande. The cover image is a panel from the book.

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Ten Axitecture (2014) by Aliceffekt.

An EP whose four pieces relate to different invented places: Euxdoxia (Calvino), Tlön (Borges), Urbicande, and Dinaisth, a creation of Devine Lu Linvega aka Aliceffekt.

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François Schuiten Et Benoît Peeters Présentent Bruno Letort: Le monde sonore de François Schuiten (2014).

A limited vinyl collection featuring some of the same pieces of music from the 2001 CD.

Previously on { feuilleton }
Echoes of the Cities
Further tales from the Obscure World
Brüsel by Schuiten & Peeters
La route d’Armilia by Schuiten & Peeters
La Tour by Schuiten & Peeters
La fièvre d’Urbicande by Schuiten & Peeters
Les Murailles de Samaris by Schuiten & Peeters
The art of François Schuiten
Taxandria, or Raoul Servais meets Paul Delvaux

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