University of Chicago Press: New Titles from 'Park Books'

Louis I. Kahn - Silence and Light

Alessandro Vassella — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Louis I. Kahn (1901–74) was one of the foremost architects in America during the twentieth century. His notable buildings include the Yale Study Center; the Salk Institute in Pasadena, California; and the Exeter Library in Exeter, New Hampshire. On February 12, 1969, Kahn gave a lecture at the School of Architecture at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. Entitled Silence and Light, the lecture explains Kah's spiritual understanding of architecture, which goes far deeper than simply constructing buildings. He also gives a remarkably prescient account of a belief in sustainable architecture that prefigures the twenty-first century’s focus on green technology. The lecture is represented in transcripts into five different languages (German, Italian, English, French, and Spanish), as well as an audio recording of Kahn giving the lecture in English included on CD. To complement the original text, the editor has included a preface written by Kahn’s close friend and fellow architect Balkrishna V. Doshi, as well as many of Kahn’s own images and drawings, some of which have never been published before.

Digital Turn

Zane Berzina; Barbara Junge; Wim Westerveld; Carola Zwick; Walter Scheiffele — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

The ways of representing information and content are increasingly dominated by the interactive technologies of digital media. Today design professionals must navigate the constantly changing world of digital technology in order to give consumers a positive aesthetic experience. The editors of this wide-ranging volume work in four different disciplines—conceptual development, interactive design, visual communication, and digital media—and they provide a uniquely multifaceted and profound overview of how designers can respond to the challenges posed by interactive digital technology. Looking at both the obstacles that the digital world creates for designers, and also the opportunities to do new and boundary-pushing work that it provides, Real Digital is a complete account of designing with interactive technologies.Hundreds of images are included to supplement essays by a wide variety of international professionals, teachers, and students, all of whom deal with designing in the age of digital interaction every day.

Best of Austria

Vienna Centre of Architecture — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Since the nineteenth century, Austrian architecture has been regarded on of the most interesting national building cultures. Over the past forty years Austrian firms such as Coop Himmelb(l)au and Delugan Meissl have gained great international recognition for their work.

In its biennially published collection Best of Austria, the Vienna Centre of Architecture presents award-winning buildings by Austrian architects and projects by foreign architects constructed in Austria. Each book in the Best of Austria series provides an up-to-date survey of contemporary architecture and building culture in Austria, as well as showing overarching global trends in the field from a unique perspective. All the architecture prizes awarded by public or public institutions in Austria are represented, and each of the 160 projects is presented in color images, alongside a floor plan and concise description of the building itself. An essay discussing the state of architecture in Austria from an outside perspective rounds out the volume.

Barents Lessons

Harry Gugger; Nancy Couling; Aurélie Blanchard — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Part of a series that explores the role of teaching and research in progressive architecture, Barents Sea Lessons looks at the work done by architecture students from laba, also known as Laboratory Basel and part of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Starting with the thesis that the ocean is an urbanized territory, students completed a one-year investigation of the remote yet resource-rich area. The book is divided into three sections that each reflect laba’s methodology. The first section presents a detailed, interdisciplinary analysis of the Barents Sea. The second part documents a ten-day workshop in the region that the laba students attended. The book concludes with the thirteen architectural projects that synthesize the needs of the region, the information gathered during the workshop, and specific architectural propositions put forth in the introductory analysis. This volume displays the new, comprehensive approach to architectural education that laba embraces.

Central Switzerland. A Metropolis

Bund Schweizer Architekten — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

The region surrounding Lake Lucerne is not only the geographical center of Switzerland, but also the core of its national identity. The lake itself is picturesque, and the mountainous countryside around it is famous for its pristine beauty. But central Switzerland’s architecture has often been overshadowed by the artistic hubs of Zürich and Basel. To correct this oversight, the Swiss photographer Guido Baselgia has created a vast series of photographs focusing on twentieth-century architecture in central Switzerland. He has included images of single buildings and entire streetscapes, as well as private homes, public works, and industrial parks, all built by the regional section of Bund Schweizer Architekten BSA.

Metropolis Central Switzerland seeks to bring the stunning architecture of central Switzerland to a wider audience through 160 of Baselgia’s images, presented here in stunning duotone. Four experts, each from a different field, offer their insights into regional architecture and the history, politics, and cultural climate of the area around Lake Lucerne.

Expression

Chair of Josep Lluís Mateo ETH Zürich; Florian Sauter — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Architectural Papers is a series of books published by Josep Lluís Mateo of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich. Established in 2005, the series covers a wide range of topics related to teaching architecture and architectural culture in general. One of two new volumes in the series, Expression is an investigation into the influence of other media such as film, literature, and the visual arts on architectural thought and design. Three specific case studies are included, which look at the Giacometti museum in Stampa, a Cinémathèque in Locarno, and the Elias Canetti library in Zürich. A richly illustrated volume, Expression includes essays and interviews on the importance of the artistic impulse in architecture by the German architect and sculptor Gottfried Böhm, the Spanish film director Josep Luis Guerin, and the Italian architect and theoretician Pier Vittorio Aureli. A testament to the dynamism of artistic influence in architecture, Expression provides insight from a unique perspective for architects, artists, filmmakers, and writers.

Knapkiewicz & Fickert. Housing

Axel Simon — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Two of the foremost architects in Switzerland, Kaschka Knapkiewicz and Axel Fickert have gained great recognition since establishing their studio in 1992. Their work on residential projects has influenced a generation of younger architects and created important new trends in housing. Knapkiewicz and Fickert have produced work that embraces opposites equally; their buildings are at once austere and luxurious, frugal and lavish.

This volume examines twenty of their residential buildings, including ones that have been realized as well as those that never made it off the page. Each work is presented with a short description and extensive images, from blueprints and renderings to drawings and color photographs. An interview with both architects begins the book and lays the foundation for understanding their oeuvre. Knapkiewicz & Fickert. Housing is published to coincide with Knapkiewicz & Fickert’s work being featured in the exhibition at the Swiss pavilion at the Thirteenth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennial 2012.

Soviet Modernism 1955-1991

Vienna Centre of Architecture — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:00 GMT

To nonspecialists outside Eastern Europe, Soviet architecture conjures up vast, gray cityscapes of monotonous Brutalistbuildings, all created with utility rather than style in mind. This widely held impression glosses over the many stunning works created during the Soviet era and the diversity of architecture throughout the Soviet region.

Soviet Modernism 1955–1991 seeks to correct pervasive opinions on Soviet architecture by exploring and documenting buildings throughout the former Eastern Bloc. Poor construction techniques and a lack of funding for conservation mean that these buildings are rapidly decaying. The Vienna Centre of Architecture (Az W)is creating a comprehensive inventory of the notable architecture from fourteen different former Soviet republics. The volume begins with an introduction to the period and an overview of the relationship between Moscow and the other city centers found in the region. The book is then organized geographically into four chapters: the Baltic States, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Each country is represented by a factsheet, which gives a brief account of its national history, a research and travel report by a member of Az W, and a scholarly essay by a local expert.

More than four hundred buildings are represented in over eight hundred images, making Soviet Modernism 1955–1991 impressively complete and stunningly illustrated. Essays outside the country profiles cover topics such as Soviet urban planning and typologies found throughout these regions.