Atlas of Novel Tectonics - Softcover

Reiser + Umemoto

4.08

262 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568985541 ISBN 13: 9781568985541

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006

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Architects 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 phenomenaBrillat-Savarin's classic The Physiology of Taste is one of their primary modelsthe 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.

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About the Author:

Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto are the founding partners of Reiser+Umemoto RUR Architecture PC, an internationally recognized architectural firm based in New York City. Their work encompasses a wide range of scales, from furniture design to landscape and infrastructure.

Review:

Any book that starts with an essay on 'The Judo of Cold Combustion' deserves a place on our summer reading list. The authors offer reflections on matter and force, material science, art and architectural history, and the interrelationship of architecture and culture. -- Architect Magazine, July 2007

Reiser and Umemoto are deep and original thinkers and I look forward to a renaissance in their work that fully reflects the wealth of clear ideas that populate this text. -- The Architectural Review, October 2006

This cerebral little manual probes some of the more esoteric aspects of architecture in pursuit of novel approaches to design -- Metropolis, June 2006

This is a book that swims courageously against the tide... it reclaims the autonomy of theoretical discourse in relation to built architecture. That alone makes it an event... Atlas of Novel Tectonics is nothing if not a fascinating collection of finely wrought conceptual miniatures. Most are of Borgesian brevity (or shorter), and there are gems among them. My favourite is the tale of the 'devolved' glass nose of the Heinkel III bomber. -- AA Files, July 2007

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