Approximations

Author: Peter Märkli
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Apartment houses
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
For more than 20 years, the Swiss architect Peter Markli has been constructing smaller buildings - mainly houses - in concrete. In his work this humble material is rendered sensuous through traces of the formboards and the seams and slight variations in colour. A companion volume to Peter Zumthor: Thermal Bath at Vals, this publication will relate Markl's approach to design.

The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture

Author: Pier Vittorio Aureli
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262515792
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description
Architectural form reconsidered in light of a unitary conception of architecture and the city. In The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture, Pier Vittorio Aureli proposes that a sharpened formal consciousness in architecture is a precondition for political, cultural, and social engagement with the city. Aureli uses the term absolute not in the conventional sense of “pure,” but to denote something that is resolutely itself after being separated from its other. In the pursuit of the possibility of an absolute architecture, the other is the space of the city, its extensive organization, and its government. Politics is agonism through separation and confrontation; the very condition of architectural form is to separate and be separated. Through its act of separation and being separated, architecture reveals at once the essence of the city and the essence of itself as political form: the city as the composition of (separate) parts. Aureli revisits the work of four architects whose projects were advanced through the making of architectural form but whose concern was the city at large: Andrea Palladio, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Étienne Louis-Boullée, and Oswald Mathias Ungers. The work of these architects, Aureli argues, addressed the transformations of the modern city and its urban implications through the elaboration of specific and strategic architectural forms. Their projects for the city do not take the form of an overall plan but are expressed as an “archipelago” of site-specific interventions.

Four Walls and a Roof

Author: Reinier de Graaf
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674982762
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 529

Book Description
A Financial Times Best Book of the Year A Guardian Best Architecture Book of the Year “Sharp, revealing, funny.” —The Guardian “An original and even occasionally hilarious book about losing ideals and finding them again... [De Graaf] deftly shows that architecture cannot be better or more pure than the flawed humans who make it.” —The Economist Architecture, we like to believe, is an elevated art form that shapes the world as it pleases. Four Walls and a Roof turns this fiction on its head, offering a candid account of what it’s really like to work as an architect. Drawing on his own tragicomic experiences in the field, Reinier de Graaf reveals the world of contemporary architecture in vivid snapshots: from the corridors of wealth in London, Moscow, and Dubai to the demolished hopes of postwar social housing in New York and St. Louis. We meet ambitious oligarchs, developers for whom architecture is nothing more than an investment, and layers of bureaucrats, consultants, and mysterious hangers-on who lie between any architect’s idea and the chance of its execution. “This is a book about power, money and influence, and architecture’s complete lack of any of them... Witty, insightful and funny, it is a (sometimes painful) dissection of a profession that thinks it is still in control.” —Financial Times “This is the most stimulating book on architecture and its practice that I have read for years.” —Architects’ Journal

Birkhäuser Architectural Guide Switzerland

Author: Mercedes Daguerre
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 9783764357139
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Whether it be Calatrava's elegant bridges in Seville or Barcelona, Peter Zumthor's beautiful thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland, Dominique Perrault's Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, or Tadao Ando's museum building on the island Naoshima, these are just a few structures which have been celebrated around the world, making their architects household names. In the 20th century, we have seen striking buildings scatter our town-scapes, awe-inspiring skyscrapers shape our skylines, and beautiful bridges span our rivers. Growing numbers of people are becoming aware of the architectural environment around them and are taking an interest in the issues which are at the heart of our built surroundings. The Birkhauser Architectural Guides provide a handy overview to the greatest - and latest - buildings in the 20th century. Each volume is devoted to one country or group of countries, and the contents are organised by provinces and towns. Full addresses and information on the architect, the building itself, in addition to a general overview of the architectural scene in the given country are presented. Available are guides to Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Benelux, France, Japan, and Spain at the special low price of $18.

Constructing Architecture

Author: Andrea Deplazes
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3764371900
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 499

Book Description
Now in its second edition: the trailblazing introduction and textbook on construction includes a new section on translucent materials and an article on the use of glass.

Märkli 2002-2015

Author: Chantal Imoberdorf
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783856763527
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The void and limits have always been central themes in Peter Märkli's teaching as professor for architecture and construction at ETH Zurich. The design tasks he has developed encourage students to formulate a notion of life depicted in architectural structures. The articulation of the void, the external space, plays a role that is as essential as the expression of the façade, the design of the limit separating outside and inside. With this publication and an exhibition, the architecture department says farewell to Peter Märkli, who will be ending his teaching at ETH in 2015. A selection of around 110 student projects created during his professorship, documents from his teaching, and a conversation illustrate some of Märkli's interests and views. Exhibition: Haupthalle ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (03-20.12.2015).

Urban Figures

Author:
Publisher: Architecture Research Unit London Metropolitan University
ISBN: 9780954448486
Category : Architectural design
Languages : en
Pages : 118

Book Description
2nd editions are now available of an ongoing series of design research studies of historical and contemporary architectural projects made by diploma students of architecture at the London Metropolitan University during the past 3 years, tutored by Florian Beigel and Philip Christou and published by the Architecture Research Unit, London. A limited number of copies have been printed and can be purchased from online booksellers.

Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand

Author: Simon Unwin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136955054
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
Have you ever wondered how the ideas behind the world’s greatest architectural designs came about? What process does an architect go through to design buildings which become world-renowned for their excellence? This book reveals the secrets behind these buildings. He asks you to ‘read’ the building and understand its starting point by analyzing its final form. Through the gradual revelations made by an understanding of the thinking behind the form, you learn a unique methodology which can be used every time you look at any building.

Swiss Made

Author: Steven Spier
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500287798
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
When it comes to architecture, Switzerland wields an international influence that belies its small geographic size. Such prominent figures as Herzog & de Meuron and Peter Zumthor lead a chorus of innovative new voices emanating from this mountainous nation where craftsmanship, simple beauty, and environmental sensitivity have always been prized values. "Swiss Made" presents the work of the celebrated studios and architects at the forefront of Swiss design, much of which has never been seen before in the United States. In his introduction, historian Steven Spier provides an overview of Swiss architecture and considers the cultural attitudes that have fostered such refined buildings. Critic Martin Tschantz assesses the Swiss tradition of integrating progressive design, indigenous building techniques, and advanced engineering systems. The cleareyed images of architectural photographer Christian Richters are supplemented by drawings and plans of the many projects included in this handsome volume. Swiss Made features the work of: Burkhalter & Sumi, Diener & Diener, Gigon & Guyer, Herzog & de Meuron, Peter Markli, Peter Zumthor, and many others. "Swiss Made" is the companion volume to "SuperDutch."

Postscript on Insignificance

Author: Cornelius Castoriadis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441111107
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
Cornelius Castoriadis (1922-1997) was a philosopher, social critic, political activist, practicing psychoanalyst and professional economist. His work is widely recognized as one of the most singular and important contributions to twentieth-century thought. In this collection of interviews, Castoriadis discusses some of his most important ideas with leading figures in the disciplines that play such a crucial part in his philosophical work: poetry, psychoanalysis, biology and mathematics. Available in English for the first time, these interviews provide a concise and accessible introduction to his work as a whole, allowing him to draw on the astounding breadth of his knowledge (ranging from political theory and sociology to ontology and the philosophy of science). They also render Castoriadis' cutting, polemical and entertaining style while displaying the originality and clarity of his primary concepts. Intellectually provoking, this timely collection shows how Castoriadis' polemics are sharp and riveting, his conceptual manoeuvres rigorous and original, and his passion inspiring. This is an excellent introduction to one of Europe's most important intellectuals.