Retreat

More than a lexicon, Unmanned is a guidebook for a journey through the contemporary implications of withdrawal from civic life. Moving between different media, disciplines, and forms of association, the book offers the possibility of navigating the spatial necessities, strategies, and practices of retreat. Unmanned as the title suggests, the book leaves readers in charge of finding their own path, offering glimpses of ideas that might lead them towards the unexpected. The selection of terms and expressions speaks personally to all human beings living through times defined by a continuous negotiation between anxiety and securitization: voices such as Faraday, Black Mirror, Home, Care, Panopticon, BOB, Mars, Science Fiction, and Quarantine coexist on a non-judgemental plane, bringing the reader beyond the polarization that characterizes current discourse. In Retreat, the reader is not taken by hand, but gently pushed towards an infinite series of possible directions. This offers not only a compelling portrait of a complex reality made of constant societal threats but, most importantly, a deep sense of acceptance towards individual reactions that develop as a consequence.

— Chiara Dorbolò, Curator of the Architecture Book Fair 2021