Approximations: The Architecture of Peter Markli (Current Practices) - Hardcover

Moshen (ed.) Mostafavi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 190290205X ISBN 13: 9781902902050

Publisher: Architectural Association Publications, 2002

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Mohsen Mostafavi is Dean of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

From Library Journal

Swiss Minimalism, a trendy but imprecise term, encompasses a divergent group of Swiss architects whose uncompromisingly pared-down modernism has captured the attention of the rest of the architectural world. Peter Merkli, until recently an obscure architect who has produced only a few houses and apartments and one small museum, exemplifies this movement by denying that he works in any style whatsoever. This elegantly produced monograph confronts the viewer with drawings, plans, and meticulously composed photos of Merkli's stark, painstakingly proportioned structures. Mute, self-effacing, and devoid of extraneous elements, his designs are particularly compelling when contrasted to the self-promoting signature styles of today's big-name architects. Mostafavi, director of London's Architectural Association School, where Merkli was featured in an exhibition this year, provides a text that delves deeply into the architect's thought processes but leaves readers without a clear understanding of his place in the wider context of modernist architecture at the turn of the 20th century. A worthy addition to academic and special libraries attempting to keep up with architecture's rising stars.
David Soltesz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Architectural Association Publications
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 190290205X
• ISBN 13: 9781902902050
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1