Tracing Eisenman

Perhaps more than any other architect practicing today, Peter Eisenman has made a career out of devising a dialectic of oppositions in architecture. With references to societal alienation and existing architectural forms, his work derives much from Friedrich Nietzsche, Noam Chomsky, and Jacques Derrida. He led the loosely knit group of architects known as "The New York Five" (which included John Hejduk, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, and Richard Meier), who made an effort to introduce a theory and artistry of modernist architecture as rigorous as that of the European avant-garde. This is the first comprehensive single-volume overview ever published on Eisenman's buildings and projects, from his first work, House I (1960), to his most recent projects, currently under construction in Spain and Germany. The book includes all the projects Eisenman has created, with essays from international architects and critics, including Greg Lynn, Sanford Kwinter, and Stan Allen.Eisenman currently teaches at New York's Cooper Union and at Princeton University. He has designed a wide range of projects, including the Wexner Center at Ohio State University, which received a 1993 National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, which opened in spring 2005.

Cynthia Davidson is the founder and director of The Any Foundation and editor of its book and magazine publications. She has recently launched log, a periodical that presents issues in architectural theory and criticism.