In 1961 a group of young London architects—Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron, and Michael Webb—formed Archigram out of dissatisfaction with the Modernist architectural status quo. Cook described it as a reaction against "the crap going on in London, against the attitude of a continuing European tradition of well-mannered, but gutless architecture that had absorbed the label 'Modern' but had betrayed most of the philosophies of the earliest 'Modern.'"

The new group founded a magazine of the same name. The suffix "gram" was meant to convey the collective's desire to stand apart from the architectural mainstream in publishing—to reflect the magazine's resemblance to a telegram or instant communication, rather than a traditional magazine. The Archigram Group published 9 1/2 issues between 1961 and 1974 (Issue 9 1/2 was devoted to the work done by the Archigram studio, rather than being conceived as a complete Archigram issue on its own). It was printed by a small-press printer, assembled at home by the group, and distributed to and by students at universities throughout the UK and at a limited number of booksellers throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States (including Barbara's Bookstore in Chicago).

Archigram took a democratic view towards architecture, proposing a customizable, disposable, often mobile product, which the consumer could assemble, add to, and remove from as desired to modify according to changing needs. Their work draws heavily from pop culture imagery, introducing a technocratic vision of the future that remains optimistic, despite plans that might otherwise appear oppressive.

1. Archigram 6. London: Archigram, 1965.
2. Archigram 7. London: Archigram, 1966.
3. Archigram 8. London: Archigram, 1968.
4. Archigram 8. London: Archigram, 1968.
5. Archigram 8. London: Archigram, 1968.
6. Archigram 9. London: Archigram, 1970.