Situated Objects: Buildings and Projects by Stan Allen, Photographs by Scott Benedict

Stan Allen is an architect and educator who has won global acclaim, primarily for his work in town planning and his influential 1996 essay “Field Conditions.” His new book Situated Objects shows a unique facet of his creative process: a selection of small buildings and projects on rural sites, most of them situated within the landscape of the Hudson Valley, New York. They demonstrate an approach to architecture that engages in a dialogue with this partly wild and wholly non-urban environment that lies just outside the gates of New York City.
 
The projects are presented in drawings and a rich array of images by celebrated photographer Scott Benedict. They are arranged in three thematic categories: Outbuildings, Material Histories, and New Natures, supplemented by the architect’s writings and essays contributed by Helen Thomas and Jesús Vassallo. The first book on Stan Allen’s buildings, Situated Objects highlights Allen’s personal engagement with American material traditions, the conventions of architectural drawing, and the challenge of building with nature.
 

Stan Allen is an American architect and educator. He is currently the George Dutton ’27 Professor of Architecture at Princeton University, where he served as Dean of the School of Architecture from 2002 to 2012. His practice, Stan Allen Architect, is located in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
 

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

Jesús Vassallo is a Houston-based architect and writer. He is associate professor at Rice School of Architecture.