Individual architects Books

Book SynopsisIn this first monographic book on the work and vision of Houston-based architecture firm Schaum/Shieh, founders Troy Schaum and Rosalyne Shieh invite their readers into the studio. It is a real and conceptual space where they work on recurring themes: operating within the city at the scale of building (urbanism); the interrelation of materiality, units of form, and building products (tectonics); and, ways to collaborate with the life of a building in its context (preservation), among others. In addition to visual material at all stages of figuring and finality, equally important and less documented is what is said and what can be heard in the studio. So much of architectural thinking and knowledge is presented, formulated, and traded in spoken words: the pinup, the meeting, the walk-through. This material is the medium within which projects are formulated.That pedagogy of the studio informs this book, in which the information and knowledge usually only spoken is written down and made accessible to a reader. Organised into ten chapters led by ten thematic questions, formed by a process that Schaum and Shieh borrow from metal fabrication: Blanking. In the context of their practice, the term describes the collaborative formulation of ideas around a collection of terms and images that make up a conceptual lexicon for practice. In this book, it takes the form of material, projects, and buildings drawn from 15 years of collaboration set within a wide range of textual material, reframing practice away from individual works and toward the navigation of values, questions, and propositions as knowledge formed in the studio.

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Book SynopsisHistorically, women architects were disappointingly absent in the news and at awards ceremonies, but now they are spearheading some of the most exciting and important projects in every corner of the globe. These profiles of fifty female architects bring to light some of those projects and highlight pioneering women architects. Each architect is introduced in double-page spreads that include a brief biography, an overview of her philosophy and vision, and stunning photographs of her most significant works. Interviews with several of the architects provide a global perspective on how women are changing the face of the world—including feminist icon, philanthropist, and Nigerian “starchitect” Olajumoke Adenowo; Tatiana Bilbao, who is leading the way in sustainable Mexican architecture; Rossana Hu, who is fighting to preserve Chinese village culture in her rapidly urbanizing country; and Elizabeth Diller, who created the High Line, one of New York City’s most beloved public spaces, and helped redesign the city’s Museum of Modern Art. This volume offers indisputable and inspiring evidence that the architectural profession is no longer just a man’s game.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the completely unique aesthetic of Tadao Ando, the only architect ever to have won the discipline’s four most prestigious prizes: the Pritzker, Carlsberg, Praemium Imperiale, and Kyoto Prize. Philippe Starck defines him as a “mystic in a country which is no longer mystic.” Philip Drew calls his buildings “land art” as they “struggle to emerge from the earth.” His designs have been described as haiku crafted from concrete, water, light, and space. But to Ando, true architecture is not expressed in metaphysics or beauty, but rather through space that embodies physical wisdom. This thoroughly updated edition spans the breadth of his entire career, including such stunning new projects as the Shanghai Poly Theater and the Clark Center at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Each project is profiled through photographs and architectural drawings to explore Ando’s unprecedented use of concrete, wood, water, light, space, and natural forms. Based on the massive XXL monograph, this edition brings the architect’s definitive career overview to an accessible format.Trade Review“A thoughtful and provocative study of the Japanese architect whose earthbound concrete buildings are both sensual and serene.” * Metropolitan Home *“The book is sure to satiate all fans of the architect, and create new ones out of those who have not come across his work.” * thedailybeast.com *"If there’s one man responsible for making concrete sexy again it’s this guy." * The Independent *

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, the relationship between landscape and architecture has formed the basis of culture and the development of human settlements. The unfolding of a site, its transformation through the construction of buildings or of entire cities, translates into this basic idea: that history extends geography. In recent decades, generic architecture has increasingly homogenized the appearance of different territories, resulting in a profoundly different understanding of nature and landscape. Within his work, french architect and urban planner Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours continuously articulates the relationship between landscape and architecture. This book traces his line of thought by reflecting on 16 projects and their specific conditions.

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, Carlo Scarpa's relevance has been steadily on the rise. At a time when architects have to use existing city and building structures as a point of departure for their work, his oeuvre remains a source of inspiration. Buildings such as the Castelvecchio in Verona show us that architecture is capable of communicating its own history, has meaning, and develops a contemporary dynamic of its own. Scarpa's layered architecture makes visible the process of becoming and the time-related sedimentation of material and meanings. It is especially at points of transition and interface that layering becomes a narrative element that elucidates the tectonic qualities of the building. Overlaying includes leaving a record of how an object came into being -- either by means of the sediments of its history or through the intervention of the architect. In this book Anne-Catrin Schultz presents her research about the phenomenon of layering in Carlo Scarpa's architecture. Layering describes the physical composition of layers defining space as well as the parallel presence of cultural referrals and formal associations imbedded in the physical layers. Scarpa's work is an embodiment of multidimensional layering and, at the same time, a focal point for architectural movements of his time that have stratification as their theme. In most buildings, the principle of layering may be regarded as something that is part of the nature of building. Functional conditions call for planes, elements, or "layers" to provide the supporting structure, and others to protect from rain, cold or the heat of the sun. However, architectonic layering goes beyond merely fulfilling technical requirements -- the principle of layering may be used as a formative method that allows elements of different origins to be combined into a non-hierarchical whole. Layering exists in a realm of complexity and implies a capacity of being interpreted that goes beyond itself and creates references to the world at large. The first part of the book examines Scarpa's fields of influence and intellectual roots and puts them in perspective with former theories and their interpretation of architecture as layered, for example Gottfried Semper's theory of clothing. The second part displays an analysis of three major projects, Castelvecchio and Banca Popolare in Verona and the Querini Foundation in Venice.Table of ContentsPreface; The principle of layering: precedents -- Layering and stratification in architecture; Carlo Scarpa -- stratified architecture; Theoretical fundamentals of the principle of stratification in the architectural discussion; at the turn of the 20th century; Stratification in Scarpas work: influences; A detailed analysis of layering in three examples; Conclusion; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn an age of glossy architectural visualizations and slick photography, today's media is saturated with images of projects mummified in their ideal, untouched, and unused state. Every design and technical publication on landscape architecture tries to teach us how to do things based on best practices. Rarely do we see a landscape project that has been in use for five or even ten years. To counterbalance this status quo, it is time to review and scrutinize the Sh*tscapes: typical mistakes in the design of our public realm. This publication is a compendium of a hundred failures made in the design, construction, or maintenance processes of urban landscapes. Looking at these unsuccessful examples, the authors propose simple and practical solutions aimed at preventing common mistakes, predicting future scenarios, and averting or accepting failures.

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Book SynopsisThere is no doubt at all that Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is one of the most spectacular buildings of recent years. As the central element in Bilbao's comprehensive urban renewal programme the building raised high expectations from the outset. Its site between river, railway, bridge and new town makes it a symbol of the Basque metropolis that can be seen from a considerable distance. It is both the heart of the city and a test bed for the arts, representing both public presence and artistic change. The process by which it was created demonstrates the most recent advances in computer aided design and in material manufacture. For a long time design and building were broken down into a large number of individual components, Gehry's museum unifies this process and is thus able to create fluent links between architectural detail and urban impact. But the innovations do not stop at technology, they also extend to the way in which the interior spaces are shaped. These are extremely varied in form, as the museum is not so much designed to house a permanent exhibition of the collection, but to enable artists to create installations. In contrast with the usual neutral gallery spaces, Gehry offers a whole variety of stages for artistic presentation. His artist friends have risen to the challenge of his architecture and are experimenting very successfully with this new way of showing their work to the public.

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Book SynopsisThe first in-depth publication of drawings that reveal the creative genius of H. H. Richardson, the greatest American architect of the nineteenth century The trove of 4,000 drawings, preserved since Richardson?s death, have been largely unpublished, until now. This new book encompasses masterpieces such as Trinity Church in Boston, MA? voted the ?most beautiful building in America? in 1885? the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in Pittsburgh, PA; the Ames Gate Lodge in Easton, MA; the Glessner House and the Marshall Field Wholesale Store in Chicago, IL; and many more. The book makes a major contribution to Richardson scholarship through its presentation of unpublished sketches, renderings, and plans of more than 50 projects, including city and country houses, churches, libraries, railroad stations, and municipal buildings. Its companion text includes an essay surveying the life and career of Richardson by James F. O?Gorman, the leading scholar of his work, which provides context to the drawings, together with additional essays that discuss the organization of Richardson?s studio in Brookline, MA, and his personal approach to a wide network of clients as well as an overview of the Richardson archive at Harvard.With its curated selection of 450 drawings, meticulously reproduced to reveal the design process and hand of the architect, this book is a revelatory exploration of Richardson?s work, work that set American architecture on a new course and exerted a global influence on the birth of modernism. Henry Hobson Richardson: Drawings from the Collection of Houghton Library was selected for the Classical America Series in Architecture by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art

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Book SynopsisThe changing climate is no longer debatable here, it is this land's unfeigned, monstrous reality, says Dhaka-based architect Kashef Chowdhury. His firm URBANA, established in 1995, has produced an astonishingly diverse collection of works of divergent scales, typologies, and contexts and located in one of the meteorologically most complex and challenging regions in the world. A hospital introduced into an economy decimated by rising oceans, a shelter against cyclones in Bangladesh's southern coastal region, projects for locations in the country's north near the Himalaya mountains facing devouring waves of floods, and architectural interventions in one of the world's densest metropolitan areas: URBANA's designs are incisive critical responses to dissimilar issues and urgencies. They are all rooted in the belief that architecture can no longer be optical or sensational, but be built of philosophy and empathy for our increasingly fragile and shared ecological and human condition.Meditations in Entropy is the first-ever comprehensive monograph on the work of Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA. It features 16 of the firm's designs in detail through photographs by acclaimed architectural photographer Hélène Binet and numerous plans, drawings, sketches, and further images. Perceptive essays are contributed by eminent critics and historians Kenneth Frampton, Robert McCarter, and William J R Curtis. The book is rounded-off with conversations between Chowdhury, Swiss architect Niklaus Graber, and the distinguished architectural historian Philip Ursprung that further explicate URBANA's unique approach.

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Book SynopsisThe term performance, as used in 1955 by the British philosopher of language John L. Austin, refers to processual, performative aspects that take centre-stage instead of rigid states and fixed norms. It has found its way into the most diverse areas of science and technology and has recently also appeared in the architectural context. Performance has long been a recurring topic also in the design and research work of Zurich-based architecture firm Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin (EMI). This is particularly visible in the award-winning design for a tourist infrastructure on the eastern ridge of the Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps (2012), in the temporary installation Amorphous Form for the Swiss Art Awards (2019), and in the residential building on Stampfenbachstrasse in Zurich (2022).Their own work is a catalyst for EMI's deeper engagement with performance, now set forth in this book. Texts by the firm's founding partner Elli Mosayebi and by Joseph Schwartz, Laurent Stalder, and Nina Zschocke, all of whom also teach at ETH Zürich's Department of Architecture, as well as artistic and documentary photographs, plans, and drawings, illuminate the phenomenon from the different perspectives of architectural practice, theory of architecture, and structural engineering.

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Book SynopsisAfter Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, and Fumihiko Maki, Kengo Kuma has breathed renewed vigor and lightness into Japanese architecture. Departing from the modernist skyscraper of the 20th century, Kuma traveled through his native Japan to develop a truly sustainable approach, translating local craftsmanship and resources into site-specific, timely buildings. Informed by tradition, and with both feet firmly planted in the present, this “materialist” heralds a new tactile architecture marked by its engaging surfaces, innovative structures, and fluid forms, reconnecting people with the physicality of a house. Kuma’s objective, above all else, is “just to respect the culture and environment of the place where I am working.” To this end, Kuma shaped the China Academy of Art’s Folk Art Museum partially from discarded roof tiles; created a Chapel out of birch and moss in Nagano; and worked with local craftsmen to sculpt the V&A Dundee into a twisted, layered reflection of the Scottish coastal cliffs. With an extraordinary sensitivity for space, light, and texture, Kuma reveals unexpected qualities in materials, finding the weightlessness of stone in Chokkura Plaza and the softness of aluminum in the thatched roof of the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Transportation Center. More recently, the architect brought his philosophy to the Japan National Stadium built for the Olympic Games, originally planned for 2020. Kuma has said the stadium could be “the catalyst that will transform Tokyo back from a concrete city. I want it to set an example that will help alter the direction of Japanese architectural design.” In this XXL-sized monograph with some 500 illustrations spanning photographs, sketches, and plans, Kuma guides us through his entire career to date, detailing milestone projects as well as ongoing works. Also available as an Art Edition with a custom-built wooden slipcase and accompanied by a photogravure of a sketch by Kengo Kuma, signed by the artist and limited to 200 copies.Trade Review“This tome establishes once and for all that sustainability and style need not be set at odds.” * The New York Times *“… a celebration of Kuma’s approach to sustainable architecture.” * fastcompany.com *“Through descriptions, elevation drawings, sketches, and photographs, the architect’s signature texture seems to jump off the page.” * architecturaldigest.com *“For the past 30 years, I have been driven to create architecture by the desire to recover materials, and to reconnect people and physical things. It turned out to be the most enjoyable experience imaginable. This is because the world itself is material.” * Kengo Kuma *“Explores all aspects of Kuma’s career – from 1988 all the way until today.” * designweek.co.uk *“Details the architect’s humanistic approach to architecture.” * fastcompany.com *“A richly illustrated overview of Kuma’s oeuvre that delves into his complete archive of built landmarks across the globe.” * thespaces.com *“…unfolds the mastery of Kengo Kuma’s architecture in its full glory.” * wallpaper.com *“Kuma’s unique and sustainable approach to contemporary architecture is celebrated.” * hypebeast.com *

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Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive biography of Mary Granville Delany—the artist and court insider whose wide-ranging legacy still reverberates todayTrade Review“Biographer Clarissa Campbell Orr immerses you in the minutiae of Mary’s life.”—Constance Craig-Smith, Daily Mail“The whole work resonates with the sound of not only Delany’s voice in quotations from her letters and occasional poems but also those of many of her contemporaries, which generates a highly pleasurable and instructive image of eighteenth-century sociability.”—Alain Kerherve, Burlington Magazine“This sensitively-written book immerses the reader in the world of a cultivated and artistic eighteenth-century gentlewoman. Through a fully-researched and fascinating exploration of the familial correspondence of Mary Delany, Orr throws new and original light on the attitudes of the eighteenth-century elite to marriage, family life and the education and status of women.”—Jane Rendall, author of The Origins of Modern Feminism“Mrs Delany’s love of gardens and natural history, combined with the dexterity of a craftswoman, led her, at over seventy, to an astonishing project: the wonderful cut-paper flower pictures for which she is now remembered. Orr gives us the Christian gentlewoman rather than the artist, in a panorama of gentry life with its many duties and constraints as well as privileges. One feels that Mrs Delany would give her blessing to the portrait.”—Norma Clarke, author of Queen of the Wits“How was it that Mary Delany so skillfully combined a high-profile social circle, copious letter-writing and attendance at the royal court with gardening, botanical enquiry and prolific and innovative artistic endeavour? This fascinating life is both timely and revelatory.”—James Raven, What Is the History of the Book?“Through a deep study of kinship, friendship and a large cast of characters, Orr skilfully crafts the story behind Mary Delany’s creation of nearly one thousand botanical collages as an album amicorum. With great clarity and verve, the author proves a most faithful companion to Delany and her life’s ‘work.’”—Mark Laird, author of A Natural History of English Gardening

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Book SynopsisIn the 1920s, the urban theory of Ludwig Hilberseimer (1885-1967) redefined architecture's relationship to the city. His proposal for a high-rise city, where leisure, labor, and circulation would be vertically integrated, both frightened his contemporaries and offered a trenchant critique of the dynamics of the capitalist metropolis. Hilberseimer's Grossstadtarchitektur is presented here for the first time in an English translation. Its propositions encourage us to reconsider mobility, concentration, and the scale of architectural intervention in our own era of urban expansion.

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Book SynopsisArchigram comprised Warren Chalk (1927-88), Peter Cook (1936-), Dennis Crompton (1935-), David Greene (1937-), Ron Herron (1930-94), and Michael Webb (1937-). Together they envisioned the future of architecture in ways that enthralled a generation. In an era defined by the space race, they developed a high-tech', lightweight, infra-structural approach that stretched far beyond known technologies or contemporary realities. They devised autonomous dwellings and focused on survival technology; they experimented with megastructures and modular construction systems; they explored mobility through the environment, and the use of portable living capsules: all through the medium of an incredible series of drawings and models. Archigram's influence has been profound and enduring. They gave the high-tech movement its impetus; they inspired architects such as Renzo Piano and Norman Foster; and they laid the ground for the design of buildings such as the Pompidou Centre. Edited and designed by Archigram member Dennis Crompton, this book catalogues Archigram's activities over fourteen years, together with commentaries by the architects and critics writing then and now.

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Book SynopsisA celebration of the recent work of McALPINE, the award-winning architectural and interior design firm, with a collection of residences embracing modernism, classicism, and romanticism.The work of renowned firm McALPINE has always communicated the power of romanticism, speaking directly to the heart through the beauty and poetry of the home. Tapping diverse influences, the residences draw from architectural languages ranging from Elizabethan and Dutch to colonial Caribbean and agrarian American. The book opens with Bobby McAlpine’s own newly designed house, featuring exquisite spaces that are modern in expression but classical in order and balance. Other projects include a white-on-white neoclassical pavilion-by-the-sea in the Bahamas; a masonry dwelling in the rolling hills of Virginia; a quintessential American country house in Tennessee that combines the familiarity of a farmhouse with crisp minimalism; and an exuberant house sited on the edge of a pastoral golfTrade Review"Design can be poetic, and so can designers. In this Rizzoli book, architect BOBBY MCALPINE, writing with Susan Sully, engages in flights of fancy in a series of chapters that are more discursive than descriptive; at the end of the volume is an actual poem he penned, “On Intimacy.” Of the 1STDIBS 50 HONOREE’S own Nashville home, which shows his penchant for white exteriors, high ceilings and squared-off volumes, McAlpine writes, “There is a recurrent feeling in the house of its being a vessel — a ship, an airplane, a cathedral.” Among the other projects in the book are a neoclassical Bahamas retreat and a wood-planked minimalist farmhouse in the Tennessee countryside. Veteran photographer Simon Upton captures the distinctive look and scale of McAlpine’s go-to features, like highly pitched white gables, and manages to harmonize with the inspiring text. The book is a good gift for anyone who has a true romance with their own home." —1STDIBS"In his latest tome, Bobby McAlpine showcases the recent projects by his award-winning architectural and interior design firm McALPINE. Inside McAlpine: Romantic Modernism, readers are not only wowed by the striking photography but also introduced to new viewpoints within the vernacular of architecture." —ATLANTA HOMES & LIFESTYLES "Some designer’s work speaks for itself. Bobby McAlpine is one of those designers. In his new book, McAlpine: Romantic Modernism, we get the pleasure of touring 5 incredible homes including the author’s own newly designed residence. We don’t use the term swooning often, but we are positively swooning over this book. McAlpines homes are always character-filled, luxuriously layered, perfectly patterned… Well, don’t take our word for it. Dive in and take a swim in this work that, just like jumping in the ocean, will leave you breathless." —DESIGN CHIC "Architectural and interior design firm McAlpine has garnered attention throughout the country for their distinct ability to design homes that are modern in expression but classical in order. In Romantic Modernism, founder Bobby McAlpine offers an exclusive look at a collection of residences that embrace modernism, classicism, and romanticism." —VERANDA“The poetic words in his latest release match the images with McAlpine’s signature flair.“ —GARDEN & GUN“Readers are not only wowed by the striking photography but also introduced to new viewpoints within the vernacular of architecture.” —ATLANTA HOMES & LIFESTYLES

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Book SynopsisThe definitive monograph on the ideas and work of the Canadian-born (of Norwegian ancestry), Florence-trained, Ibiza-based architect. The fusion of Ibizan traditions with modern function, form, and taste is the hallmark of Blackstad’s projects, which were dedicated to conserving the cultural significance of the island within today’s architecture. Rolph Blackstad exhaustively studied Ibizan architecture when it was still a living millennial tradition, with peasant builders working with rules passed down by word of mouth from father to son. The architect’s study of these builders formed the basis of his research, design and building for more than 40 years. This book is a tribute to Blackstad's work in the wake of his recent death. In it, the reader will discover an unbroken tradition reaching back to distant origins; a design based on historical Mediterranean architecture, combining style and building techniques to suit contemporary lifestyles.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive look at the life and work of one of the 20th century's most influential architectsTrade Review"A well-written, highly accessible overview on the work of a major figure. McCarter clearly knows his craft."—Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Yale University -- Eeva-Liisa PelkonenAn Architectural Record 2015 Gift Guide selection -- Jayne Merkel * Architectural Record *“The book delves into the figure of the architect and his concerns, presenting a chronology of his life and work, and portraying a personality and legacy that puts us face to face with a debate that is not just architectural, but also ideological.”— Ernesto Ibáñez, Arquitectura Viva May 2017 -- Ernesto Ibáñez * Arquitectura Viva *

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Book SynopsisMore Space for Architecture features a fascinating selection of buildings and projects designed by Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey over a seven-year period, from 2015 to 2021. Unbuilt and unpublished designs act like stepping stones to trace a continuous path between a wide range of recent and realised works, which includes schools, universities, housing, artist collaborations and public buildings. Context-sensitive buildings on complex and difficult sites in Dublin, Cork and Budapest are outlined and presented in detail for the reader, from conceptual sketches through to completion. Competition-winning projects under construction include the highly public V&A East and Sadler's Wells East, both currently on site at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London; the new Academic Hub in TU Dublin's city centre campus; and the brand new extension at the School of Architecture at Liverpool University. The book also features a collection of reflective essays written by O'Donnell + Tuomey, which includes a selection of O'Donnell's characteristic watercolour studies, expanding on ideas aired in public lectures and developed in studio conversations.More Space for Architecture is a companion volume to the earlier monograph from O'Donnell + Tuomey, Space for Architecture, first published by Artifice Press in 2014 and one of the publishing house's biggest sellers.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Revealing...Fuller could come across as a selfless seer, almost a secular saint; in Nevala-Lee’s biography he is all too human...The strength of this carefully researched and fair-minded biography is that the reader comes away with a greater understanding of a deeply complicated individual who overcame obstacles—many of his own making—to achieve a kind of imperfect greatness.” — Witold Rybczynski, New York Times "Alec Nevala-Lee is a sure-footed guide to a dizzying life. He eschews mythmaking, laying out the way Fuller burnished his own legend by rewriting history and slighting the contributions of his collaborators. Clear-eyed about his subject’s faults, Mr Nevala-Lee nevertheless gives him his due as a dazzlingly original thinker...The portrait the author paints is compelling...[Fuller] comes alive in these pages as a visionary who rose above his imperfections to labour for the benefit of humankind." — The Economist “Brilliant...Alec Nevala-Lee’s writing is as serene and precise as one of Fuller’s geodesic domes...A genuinely groundbreaking book full of surprises.” — Esquire “Nevala-Lee is something of an expert in a very specific type: twentieth-century men, working on the fringes of stem careers, who channeled the technological optimism of the years between World War I and the 1970s into careers as media icons…A labor of love…Meticulous and clearly written.” — New Republic "It requires a Dymaxion biographer to take the full measure of Buckminster Fuller—the huckster-visionary who finally made good on (at least some of) his dizzying schemes and changed the world. In his effervescent Inventor of the Future, Alec Nevala-Lee proves himself Bucky’s match, debunking myths and ferreting out deeper truths at every twist and turn of this remarkable saga of an unlikely rise to global fame and influence. Nevala-Lee is the rare biographer of a 'great man' who successfully links private and public life, showing how Fuller’s incomparable genius was both innate and inspired by the synergy of meetings with a cast of brilliant characters, a Who’s Who of the twentieth century’s modernist intelligentsia. For Fuller, a better future was never beyond imagining, an optimism this fine biography makes contagious." — Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life "Buckminster Fuller was part design guru, part visionary futurist, part bold technocrat, part New England patrician and part insecure striver. Until now we have never had a book about him that portrays the full extent of his complex and contradictory character, and explains how he could be at once a quirky iconoclast and an inspiration to technological empires. Alec Nevala-Lee’s beautifully written Inventor of the Future is the perceptive, nuanced biography of Fuller that we have needed, and it is as engaging to read as Fuller's extraordinary geodesic domes are to look at." — Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry “Various friends and acolytes wrote books about Fuller in his lifetime, but until now there has never been a thoroughgoing biography…Carefully researched…Nevala-Lee compares Fuller to Steve Jobs, a design visionary, and Elon Musk—both ‘outsiders who disrupted established fields’—as well as Jeff Bezos.” — James Gleick, The New York Review of Books "Ever the optimist, ever the outsider, Fuller never tired of trying to pull humanity toward a better future. Alec Nevala-Lee’s authoritative biography...tells Fuller’s story in greater detail than ever." — Wall Street Journal "Alec Nevala-Lee’s new biography, Inventor of the Future, fact-checks Fuller’s legend and then corrects the record...He resists the hypnotic whirlpool surrounding Fuller...A bedazzling cobweb of who’s who in 20th-century America." — Pradeep Niroula, Los Angeles Review of Books “Novelist, biographer, and science-fiction writer Nevala-Lee draws on abundant archival material to fashion a thoroughly researched, comprehensive biography of architect, inventor, and “serial entrepreneur” R. Buckminster Fuller….A perceptive and cleareyed biography of a unique figure.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "This probing biography of Buckminster Fuller distinguishes man from myth while giving the iconic designer and futurist due credit for influencing generations of big thinkers...Nevala-Lee diligently emphasizes Fuller’s contradictions...but he also persuasively demonstrates that, in the end, none of Fuller’s epic shortcomings would matter. Fuller’s most enduring creation was his own ethos, that of the free-thinking futurist whose design solutions would solve the planet’s problems. Such ideas would take deep root, especially in Silicon Valley, even if the math never quite worked out." — Booklist (starred review) "A clear-eyed portrait of the cult of (tech) personality that reads very 2022." — Chicago Tribune, "Books for Summer 2022" "Novelist Nevala-Lee (Astounding) offers a cogent assessment of futurist Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983), “a man who had been revered by both the counterculture and the establishment” in this solid biography...a fascinating portrait of a larger-than-life figure." — Publishers Weekly "This new biography of the multi-hyphenate American icon and futurist promises to dig deep into both his professional and personal life and frames him as the father of startup culture, showing how his ideas infected Silicon Valley and still hold sway today—whether you live in a geodesic dome or not." — Lit Hub, "Most Anticipated Books of 2022, Part Two" “Nevala-Lee draws a revealing portrait of the Buckminster Fuller behind the legend. It encompasses both Fuller’s passions and his foibles. Placing Fuller where he belongs in the pantheon of America’s inventors, Inventor of the Future is the first complete portrait of both the man and the myth.” — John Markoff, author of Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand "This is a deceptively artful book of circuitous tensions and great circles (which the author uses as beautiful chapter titles and section headings) where, finally, all the loops and time-bends of Buckminster Fuller's improbable life come close to merging into one." — Paul Hendrickson, author of Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright "Nevala-Lee brings back to life one of the most influential American minds of the twentieth century—revealing both the brilliance and the flaws that are contributing to the bold and radical technological reimagining of how we think and live." — David Edwards, author of Creating Things That Matter: The Art and Science of Innovations That Last "Revealing . . . Utterly fascinating . . . An important biography and entertaining read from start to finish." — Analog Science Fiction and Fact "This exhaustive biography of mastermind architect Buckminster Fuller sheds light on the origins of some of his most notable works. While the book looks back on interviews and unpublished documents from Fuller’s lifetime and career, Fuller himself will always be remembered for looking toward the future." — The Architect's Newspaper

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Book SynopsisAdolphe Appia (18621928) is an eminent figure in the history of the modern theatre, best-known for his writings on the mise-en-scène and stage design for the operas of Richard Wagner. Far lesser known is the Swiss scenographer's importance in 20th-century architecture and aesthetics.The Appian Way is the definitive account of Appia's significance also in this field. It is centred on his remarkable drawings that are at once austere and mysteriously atmospheric. Framing a series of monumental yet minimal scenes taking in runs of stairs, landings, platforms and terraces, all staged before a distant horizon under a luminous sky, the drawings are generally described as monochrome, but the subtle hues of the paper imbue each one with a distinctive ambient undertone. Appia himself might be thought about the same way. He was always distant yet also always enigmatically present in the ensuing drama of modern architecture and avant garde stage design.Comprising four main chapters and a coda, this engaging and accessible book is structured as a dramatic story that traces the contours of Appia's life his personal circumstances, convictions, aesthetic preferences, desires and motivations all aimed at constructing a comprehensive portrayal of his life and his work, within the horizons of his time. All of Appia's drawings are reproduced here in full colour, accompanied by a vast range of archival material, much of which has never been published before.

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first to explore the history of Le Corbusier''s studio at 35 rue de Sèvres in Paris, known as 35S. It looks at the many artists with whom Le Corbusier worked, including Charlotte Perriand, André Wogenscky, Sahakura, Roger Aujame and Pierre Jeanneret. It includes many previously unpublished documents. Text in English and French.

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Book SynopsisConquering the extremes: LIQUIFER Systems Group, a design and research firm based in Vienna and Bremen, has been addressing the issue of human life on planet Earth and elsewhere in the universe for two decades. Their work demonstrates how considerate technology-based design solutions and careful use of available resources can enable us to live in space. Their concepts, feasibility studies, and technological developments all deal with the key issue of scarcity that defines life everywhere: on Mars, on the Moon, in orbit as well as on Earth. LIQUIFER Systems Group’s projects range from a simulated Mars mission in Spain’s Rio Tinto region and the interior design for the habitation module of the planned Gateway space station, to the EDEN ISS mobile greenhouse in Antarctica and biogenerative studies in which microbes are integrated into buildings to generate energy and recycle materials. LIQUIFER. Living Beyond Earth is the first book to present the practice’s groundbreaking work. It features spectacular images and visualisations, detailed plans, and drawings that are supplemented with essays by renowned American space architects Brent Sherwood and Christina Ciardullo. It enables the reader to delve into the visionary world of Europe’s leading space design firms.

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Book SynopsisHow do our cities evolve, what forces drive their evolution, and how exactly do they change as a result? Zurich-based architecture firm EM2N has been working on urban transformation processes ever since its establishment in 1997. Initially, the firm’s main focus was on the greater Zurich area, yet in recent years they have also developed and realised projects in Berlin, Brussels, and Hamburg. Over time, a diverse body of work has grown, more than half of which consists of conversions of existing buildings, resulting in numerous successes and a few failures, small structures and large-scale complexes, quick decisions and slow processes. What unites the designs, projects, and texts featured in this first monograph on EM2N is a profound interest in the concept of the city as an exciting, contradictory, and above all productive space of human life that the founding partners Mathias Müller and Daniel Niggli have maintained throughout their 25 years of collaboration. In EM2N — City Factory they offer a self-critical review of their achievements and also speak about learning processes, personal interests, and conceptual approaches to future tasks in ever-changing cities. This is supplemented with contributions from fellow architects and friends as well as with a wealth of photographs, plans, drawings, and other illustrations.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An insightful portrait of [Lina Bo Bardi’s] pioneering spirit."---Letícia Wouk Almino, Architect's Newspaper"Material Ideologies is a wealth of insight into one of the world’s most significant (female) designers."---Kate Mazade, Madame Architect"[Lina Bo Bardi] and its illustrations provide an opportunity to revisit Bardi’s architecture, ideas, and continuing influences—from her works in Italy, the Glass House, and her exhibition designs to the material choices of her projects." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThe richly illustrated and accessible monograph on the Dutch designer and world-renowned architect - now in paperbackTrade Review"Impressive... engaging and highly accessible."—Self Build & Design"Another beautifully produced monograph from Phaidon... A great introduction to Rietveld's beautiful Modernist aesthetic. [commenting on the fact that the book's designer, Wim Crouwel, is a former pupil at the Rietveld Academy] ...[A] very handsome book. It displays an enviable lightness of touch, and is a good example of what happens when a designer really engages with his subject matter. We reckon Mr Rietveld would have been proud."—Grafik

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Book SynopsisThe third volume of the series 'The Architect’s Studio' focuses on Tatiana Bilbao’s exploration of the landscape: from the territory of Mexico over the urban to the interior landscape of the individual building, always taking social conditions into account. This is also demonstrated in Bilbao’s various projects such as the architectural design of a pilgrimage route, a botanical garden in the Mexican main trading center Culiacán, and not least the Light of Line, which is intended to enable women in particular to move more safely in remote districts of the city. In constant collaboration with experts from various disciplines, Bilbao wants to create architecture that has a direct impact on its users. The publication also provides insights into the Mexican cultural, artistic, and building traditions that Bilbao incorporates into her projects. The volume addresses the question of the use of collages in architecture and embeds Bilbao’s work in a contemporary as well as a historical context. TATIANA BILBAO, born in 1972, is a Mexican architect. She developed the architectural project along the Ruta del Peregrino and is a recipient of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture by the LOCUS Foundation, Cité de l’Architecture in Paris, and the patronage of UNESCO.

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Book SynopsisKazunari Sakamoto (born 1943) has mainly been working on smaller residential buildings, in which he questions and explores the principles of architecture. His buildings and theoretical works have had a big influence on the contemporary Japanese architecture. The lecture in this book is about his search for spaces, which enables the people to be free from the constraints and restrictions of our society and to develop freely. Text in English and Japanese.

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Book SynopsisJan Kaplický (1937-2009) was a visionary architect with a passion for drawing. It was his way of discovering, describing and constructing; and through drawing he presented beguiling architectural imagery of the highest order. Many of his sketches, cutaway drawings and photomontages are brought together and celebrated in this book. These drawings date from the early years of his independent practice, Future Systems, in the 1970s, to his final ink drawings, executed in the mid-1990s. Featured projects range from design studies for the International Space Station, undertaken with NASA, to the Media Centre at Lord''s Cricket Ground, in London, winner of the 1999 Stirling Prize.

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles, designed and built by Richard Neutra from 1927 to 1929, from its inspiration through its construction to its impact. It was a demonstration house': widely documented and written about in leading architectural journals when it was built. These publications elevated the house to the status of an icon in the history of modernism and an essential work of the international modern movement, from Berlin to Tokyo and Paris to Milan, at the high point of its influence and fame. The Lovell Health House helped to launch the international career of one of the central figures of 20th-century architecture, pioneered the use of concrete and steel in the dwelling, radically advanced the ideals of hygienic, carefree, and open-air living, and explored new relationships between space, structure, the natural world, and physical and psychological well-being. The book is framed with an introduction by Edward Dimenberg and includes new texts by Crosby Doe, Thomas Hines and Nicholas Olsberg and historic texts by Willard D. Morgan and Richard Neutra. At the heart of the book are six narrated portfolios of visual and textual documentation on the background, design, making, circulation, reception and resonance of this seminal house. Including photography by Willard Morgan in which he documents every stage of construction to the building's completion, this published imagery was exceptionally rich, refined, varied, widespread, and influential.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive book on the most influential English country house architect and designer.   This beautifully produced book celebrates the work of Robert Adam, the great eighteenth-century architect who influenced generations by stamping his distinctive neoclassical aesthetic vision on the English country house interior.   Lavish new photography provides a deeply visual exploration of Adam’s most important surviving country houses, to which the author and photographer gained unparalleled access. Included are magnificent country houses such as Syon House and Harewood House—styled and inspired by the ideal of the neoclassical—as well as Adam’s castle-style Mellerstain and town houses such as Home House— all captured in splendid detail. Original Adam design drawings, from Sir John Soane’s Museum, illustrate the boldness of planning, color, and creative interpretation of Adam’s domestic interiors. A biographicalTrade Review"Although Robert Adam was an architect in the 1700s, many of his homes are still around—and— drawing attention—centuries later. "Adam had from the beginning of his London practice made bold and sumptuous interior effect—the combination of novel architectural experience and refined decoration—the keystone of his invention. The bare ingredients of this he took from his study in Rome, and in the process contributed something new to the growing field of neoclassical design," writes author Jeremy Musson in the new book Robert Adam: Country House Design, Decoration, and the Art of Elegance (Rizzoli, $65). Many of his creations can be found in the English countryside, where his knowledge of color, craftsmanship, and antiquities are on full display."—ArchitecturalDigest.com "In remarkable detail, the book examines magnificent country houses, including Syon House and Harewood House, that were styled and inspired by the ideal of the Neoclassical; as well as Adam’s castle-style Mellerstain, and town houses such as Home House. In addition, Musson provides a rich account of Adam’s life and work, describing his unique design process, his patrons, and the legacy of his design achievement."—CJDellatore.com"Another book which makes its debut this spring is on an architect who needs no introduction. Robert Adam, Country House Design, Decoration & The Art of Elegance by historian Jeremy Musson from Rizzoli is really the definitive book on the Scottish architect who transformed the face of Neoclassicism."—Architect Design Blog

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Book SynopsisThis book presents Rahul Mehrotra’s writings over the last thirty years and illustrates his long-term engagement with and analysis of urbanism in India. This work has given rise to a new conceptualization of the city. Mehrotra calls it the Kinetic City, which is the counterpoint to the Static City, as familiar to most of us from conventional city maps. He argues that the city should instead be perceived, read, and mapped in terms of patterns of occupation and associative values attributed to space. The framework is established in this publication by Rahul Mehrotra’s anchor essay, which draws out its potential to “allow a better understanding of the blurred lines of contemporary urbanism and the changing roles of people and spaces in urban society.” The emerging urban Indian condition, of which the Kinetic City is symbolic, is examined in this publication through a selection of writings curated by Mehrotra, which led to and then subsequently built on this framework. The theory is reinforced by different perspectives that Rahul Mehrotra brings to bear on discourse, and on the profession of architects and urban designers, thanks to his career as an architect, urban designer, conservationist, educator, and advocate for the city. From essays such as “Evolution, Involution and the City’s Future: A Perspective on Bombay’s Urban Form” to more generally applicable ruminations such as “Our Home in the World,” this book offers an in-depth look at the last thirty years of reflection and theorizing behind Mehrotra’s work. The publication is divided into three parts. The anchor essay, “Negotiating the Static and Kinetic Cities,” and other contributions (twenty-one in total) make up the main section. A second book within the book is dedicated to an expansive complimentary photo essay by the photographer Rajesh Vora, illustrating the key themes transaction, instability, spectacle, and habitation. The last section presents an illustrated bibliography of Rahul Mehrotra’s wide range of research and writings.Trade ReviewIn the chronology at the end of Working in Mumbai, the excellent monograph from 2020 on RMA Architects, the firm of Rahul Mehrotra, buildings by RMA are listed and illustrated alongside publications written or edited by Mehrotra. There are dozens of the latter spanning between 1994 and 2018, but they are only a smattering of the architect and educator's prolific written output. The publication of The Kinetic City and Other Essays is therefore fitting, serving to present the breadth of Mehrotra's writing over a period of thirty years. All of it is generally focused on the city; specifically the essays illustrate his development of the idea of the "kinetic city."Although the collection of 22 essays does not include one strictly called "The Kinetic City," as the title of the book suggests, the phenomenon is explicitly found in two essays: "Negotiating the Static and Kinetic Cities: The Emergent Urbanism of Mumbai" and "Looking at the Kinetic City," a photo essay by Rajesh Vora with words by Mehrotra. The former was published in Other Cities, Other Worlds: Urban Imaginaries in a Globalizing Age, a 2008 book edited by Andreas Huyssen, while the latter appears to be newly published for this collection published by ArchiTangle. In a nutshell, the Static City is the relatively permanent, formal city of concrete, steel, and brick, and the Kinetic City is temporary, built of recycled materials and sometimes used for celebrations in India where throngs of people converge for a few days or weeks.Vora's photo essay is especially good at illuminating the myriad aspects of the Kinetic City. Mehrotra structures the photographer's street scenes and aerials into four categories: transaction, instability, spectacle, and habitation. To use the first as an example, photos of street vendors in Mumbai (third spread, below) are accompanied by drawings and words illustrating the gradients of permanence and legality, from vendors squatting on a mat with their wares to attached lean-tos that are not demountable but do enable the wares to be locked up. This is followed by step-by-step photos of the dabbawala service (lunchbox delivery and pickup) that is also mentioned in the "Negotiating" essay that precedes it. In short, rather than being separate, the Kinetic City is grafted onto the Static City, the former serving the needs of entrepreneurship, celebrations, housings and the like.Of the twenty other essays in the book, the one that stood out to me the most was "The Architecture of Pluralism: A Century of Building in South Asia," Mehrotra's lengthy introduction to the volume of World Architecture 1900-2000: A Critical Mosaic that he edited. Although the reprint here does not have as many illustrations as the original, its appearance in this collections commendably makes it available to hopefully many more people than in its initial publication (year ago series editor Kenneth Frampton lamented the bad distribution of the ten-volume set). Furthermore, Mehrotra singles out that essay in his "Preface and Gratitude," writing that Frampton's invitation to edit the volume on South Asia "propelled many subsequent writings," many of which are found in this excellent collection. -- John Hill * A DAILY DOSE OF ARCHITECTURE BOOKS *

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Book SynopsisTo ensure chartered architects are reaching a high standard of health and safety knowledge and the life safety of building users, the RIBA has introduced an online test based on a comprehensive curriculum to test for competency. This guide is designed to improve industry understanding of issues in accordance with CDM Regulations and prepare architects for the health and safety test. It provides practitioners with the required knowledge regarding site safety, hazards and design risk management to discharge their professional services and legal duties competently and safely. The 2nd edition features updates to the content relating to design risk management and statute that reflects the changes enacted under the Building Safety Act 2022 and amendments to the Building Regulations 2010, introduced in 2023. The new content includes a new chapter with guidance on designer’s duties and competence requirements under Part 2A of the Building Regulations. This features a review of the relationship between these and the dutyholder regime under the CDM Regulations and practical examples of how designers/architects might discharge their duties in accordance with the requirements of the regulations. Essential guidance for improving professional standards and ensuring safety among architects Companion book for architects preparing for the RIBA health and safety test Features over 80 high-quality original illustrations, highlighting safety risks and best practice. Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Preparing to Visit Site Chapter 2: Undertaking Site Visits Chapter 3: Site Hazards Chapter 4: Design Risk Management Chapter 5: Statute, Guidance, Competence and Codes of Conduct Chapter 6: Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 Chapter 7: The Building Safety Act and Building Safety Regulations Chapter 8: Building Safety Design Chapter 9: Principles of Fire Safety Design Appendix I: Principles of human behaviour during an emergency Appendix II: Examples of site safety signs

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Book SynopsisOver more than five decades, legendary architect Moshe Safdie has built some of the world's most influential and memorable structures - from the 1967 modular housing scheme in Montreal known as Habitat to the Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore. For Safdie, the way a space functions is fundamental; he is deeply committed to architecture as a social force for good, believing that any challenge, including extreme population density and environmental distress, can be addressed with solutions that enhance community and uplift the human spirit.If Walls Could Speak takes readers behind the veil of an essential yet mysterious profession to explain through Safdie's own experiences how an architect thinks and works - from the spark of imagination through the design process, the model-making, the politics, the engineering, the materials. Relating memorable stories about what has inspired him - from childhoods in Israel and Montreal to the projects and personalities worldwide that have captured his imagination - Safdie reveals the complex interplay that underpins every project and his vision for the role architecture can and should play in society at large. Illustrated throughout with drawings, sketches, photographs, and documents from his firm's voluminous archives, If Walls Could Speak is a book like no other, and will forever change the way you look at and appreciate any built structure.Trade ReviewWhat are the deep personal sources of creativity? How is it possible for someone to take the conventional built environment and make it new? A visionary book, If Walls Could Speak triumphantly answers these questions by giving us intimate access to the life and mind of one of the greatest architects of our time. -- Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE SWERVEThe world knows Moshe Safdie as an international architect of the greatest modern buildings. With this compelling memoir Moshe Safdie will now be known as a beautiful writer who conveys - with elegance and understanding - what it takes to create a building while telling the story of a long and fascinating life the reader is privileged to share. -- Ruth RogersIf Walls Could Speak is not just about architecture; it is about a man in search of beauty, truth, and service to people through examining "nature, the nature of the universe, and the nature of man." In his autobiography, Moshe Safdie succeeds in making the walls speak, revealing not only the depth, curiosity and drive of a man with a mission, but also the challenges he faced creating extraordinary work for over six decades. Perhaps he says it best: "If we seek truth, we shall find beauty." I was profoundly moved reading this book. -- Yo Yo MaMoshe Safdie makes beautiful and important buildings. He makes buildings that infuse into your day and life a sense that bigger things might suddenly be possible. He makes buildings that you will never, ever forget. What is remarkable about If Walls Could Speak is that Safdie's memoir is as unforgettable as anything he has produced out of stone, cement and steel. Because of his storytelling gifts, it is also a coming-of-age story in which one man developed a vision for how he could do his part to improve the experience of living -- Samantha Power, former United Nations ambassador and bestselling author of THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST[A] marvelous look at his life and career...In prose unburdened by pretension, Safdie articulates his artistic philosophy against the backdrop of a changing world...A brilliant defense of architecture as an expression of truth and beauty. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Table of Contents1: One A House on a Hill 2: Ideas and Mentors 3: The World of Habitat 4: Old City, New City 5: Private Jokes in Public Places 6: "Does God Live There?" 7: Cutting through the Mountain 8: The Power of Place 9: Megascale 10: What If? 11: Faith and Peace

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Book SynopsisThe sequel to Bernard Tschumi's best-selling Event-Cities, documenting his recent architectural projects and updating his thoughts on architectures and cities.In Event-Cities (MIT Press, 1994), Bernard Tschumi expanded his architectural concerns to address the issue of cities and their making. Event-Cities 2 continues this project through new selections from his recent architectural projects. The book includes the first comprehensive documentation of the drawings for the award-winning Parc de la Villette (including many previously unpublished drawings), his project for the expansion of the Museum of Modern Art, two architectural schools, a concert and exhibition hall, a student center, a railway station, a department store, and other urban projects. Tschumi suggests that architecture can accelerate the events of everyday life through new forms of organization. Using various modes of notation ranging from rough models to sophisticated computer-generated images, h

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