Begin Again. Fail Better. Preliminary Drawings In Architecture.

An exploration of the architecture design process through the persistent spirit of beginning.

Begin Again. Fail Better: Preliminary Drawings in Architecture engages with one of the principal activities of the architect in the process of design: drawing by hand, and more specifically, the act of beginning those drawings. Architects try, fail, try again, fail better until they start to move in the direction that ultimately becomes a building . . . or not.

This book brings together some 180 preliminary architecture drawings. More than fifty contemporary Swiss architecture firms each contributed two pieces that reveal something of their individual approach and understanding of architecture. This selection is enhanced by historical works from four significant British and Swiss archival collections dating back to the sixteenth century and up to the twentieth. The illustrations are complemented by essays providing a critical and historical framework, as well as a conversation engaging with the conditions and importance of failure within the design process. Brief interludes by international architects, archivists, and teachers, introducing a range of perspectives, round out this beautiful volume.

Helen Thomas is a London- and Swiss-based architect, curator, and publicist.

Dorothee Messmer is director of Kunstmuseum Olten.

Katja Herlach serves as a curator and deputy director of Kunstmuseum Olten.