In this exciting, large-format volume, hundreds of photographs and illustrations document a major shift from the building as structure to the building as image.
This exploration of the use and significance of two-dimensional images in contemporary architecture looks at the works of major designers such as Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, MVRDV, and Sauerbruch & Hutton. It shows how certain architectural principles such as color and ornament––which nearly disappeared in modern twentieth century architecture––are making a strong comeback. Drawing connections to the rise of globalization and current media trends, this examination uses an abundance of thematically arranged photographs to illustrate what is unmistakably a major contemporary development in architecture.
Ilka Ruby is an architect who works as a graphic designer, editor, and writer. Andreas Ruby is an architectural critic and consultant, who teaches architectural theory and design at Kassel University. Philip Ursprung is a professor of Contemporary Art History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.