In collaboration with Brandon Clifford & Johanna Lobdell of Matter Design.
The Cannibal’s Cookbook violently consumes the body of past cyclopean constructions. The cookbook assembles, re-packages, and offers this latent knowledge for your contemporary consumption. It is a manual for the hungry, for those who are not satiated by the careless building practices of the present. With one foot in the past and another in the present, the cookbook bridges the realities of our ancestors and ourselves. We propose a series of architectural ‘recipes’ after dining on this body of past expertise. The recipes are deciphered from ancient cyclopean masonry systems, but with a contemporary twist. They cannibalize leftover debris—building rubble that typically stuffs our landfills—to fabricate new systems. This book is a limited (250 copies), first edition print, intended to spark debate and exploratory building. The work is a tripartite manual of 192 pages. It features artwork by Joshua Longo, and graphic design by Johanna Lobdell. Each copy is numbered, and endorsed by author, artist, and mythical creature. We intend for this manual of timeless information to be discussed, contested, and disseminated. It is an interactive body of work that demands an engaged reader. It is not for the sedentary. This cookbook is for the voracious builder.