ATLAS OF NOVEL TECTONICS - REISER & UMEMOTOArchitects Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto have been generating some of
the most provocative thinking in the field for nearly twenty years. With
Atlas of Novel Tectonics, Reiser+Umemoto hone in on the many
facets of architecture and illuminate their theories with great thought
and simplicity. The Atlas is organized as an accumulation of
short chapters that address the workings of matter and force, material
science, the lessons of art and architectural history, and the influence
of architecture on culture (and vice versa). Reiser+Umemoto see
architectural design as a series of problem situations, and each chapter
is an argument devoted to a specific condition or case. Influenced by a wide range of fields and phenomena Brillat-Savarin's classic The Physiology of Taste
is one of their primary models the authors provide a cross-section of
thinking and inspiration. The result is both an elucidation of the
concepts that guide Reiser+Umemoto through their own design process and a
series of meditations on topics that have formed their own sense as
architects. Atlas of Novel Tectonics offers an entirely fresh
perspective on subjects that are generally taken for granted, and does
so with a welcome punch and energy. |
