Beyond the Minimal

Author: Otto Kapfinger Beyond the Minimal presents four of the most interesting practices in Austria today: Artec, Adolf Krischanitz, PauHof and Riegler-Riewe. Certain qualities of formal reduction are evident in the work of all four architects, but none of them equates minimalism with negation or absence, in the sense that the term has been used in writings on architecture. They have been brought together because of the affinities in their approach –their common interest in materials, structure and the contribution of the building to the larger environment. Each practice is represented by a survey of around a dozen projects, including houses, schools, offices and exhibition pavilions. The survey is complemented by texts that link the work to broader developments in European (particularly Swiss) architecture.

Beyond Entropy

When Energy Becomes Form Stefano Rabolli Pansera This book marks the conclusion of the AA School's Beyond Entropy research cluster, and is produced in tandem with an exhibition on show at the AA in May 2011.The theme of the book derives from the urgency with which the idea of energy has been raised in recent years in political, economic and scientific debates. The book charts the efforts of architects to reappropriate this theme and to address the debate in a wider cultural sphere.

Berlin Free University

Gabriel Feld Transgressing the distinct boundaries of architecture and urbanism, Berlin Free University is a unique imagination of what a building might be –a building designed to function as a piece of the city, adapting to the needs of its users while generating opportunities for social interaction. The university offers a window into the politicized and optimistic discourse of the 1960s and 1970s, but it also illuminates contemporary debates around large projects of infrastructure and public space. It is, in the words of Peter Smithson, 'one of the two critical building-events of the second half of this century'. The publication contains specially commissioned photographs, archive material, construction details and plans. The visual survey is completed by essays that describe the building's conception and system of construction, and analyse the reasons for its enduring importance.

Architecture on Display

On the History of the Venice Biennale of Architecture Aaron Levy and William Menking Architecture on Display is a research initiative by Aaron Levy and William Menking that consists of interviews with each of the living directors of the Venice Biennale for Architecture. The origins of the architecture biennale are generally traced to the 1970s, when it emerged from under the umbrella of the larger Venice Biennale, which was itself established in 1895. Since then it has become one of the most prestigious forums for architectural discourse today, and has served as a model for a range of international exhibitions. The book explores the biennale through the directors who established its particular discourse, including Vittorio Gregotti, Paolo Portoghesi, Francesco Dal Co, Kurt W Forster, Massimiliano Fuksas, Hans Hollein, Richard Burdett, Deyan Sudjic, Aaron Betsky and Kazuyo Sejima, as well as the current president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Barrata. These conversations do not seek to recapitulate the exhibitions themselves but rather explore the questions that these exhibitions raise, with the hope of offering a model for future curatorial endeavours.

Any Part, Any Form

Radim Peško Any Part, Any Form is a follow-up to London-based graphic designer Radim Peško's Informal Meetings (2010), a collection of photographs made during travels and wanderings to different places. This volume brings back found compositions and situations where seemingly unremarkable encounters between space, architecture and water suggest their own stories.

Alejandro de la Sota

An Architecture of Imperfection Alejandro de la Sota Alejandro de la Sota was born in 1913, and so belongs to the same generation as Jorn Utzon, Denys Lasdun, Aldo van Eyck and Jose Maria Coderch. But it is only in recent years that his work has become known outside Spain. It is an oeuvre of impressive consistency, combining a naked abstraction with a rigorous interest in the character of materials. While Sota clearly drew many lessons from the modern masters –from Mies in particular– he also defined a language with an internal momentum of its own. This publication traces de la Sota's influence on Spain's contemporary culture of architecture through essays and a visual presentation of his most significant projects, including the Maravillas Gymnasium in Madrid and the Civil Government building in Tarragona.

Ahali: An Anthology for Setting a Setting

Can Altay (ed.) Ahali: An Anthology for Setting a Setting is a collection of selected articles from current and previous contributions to Ahali, a journal by artist Can Altay. 'Ahali' in Turkish refers to a community defined through contingency without a defined or expressed commonality other than being together. The contents of each issue of the journal are composed of invited contributions. Titles include: Support, Control and Letting Go; Model making for the Socio-spatio-economic-political/On Propositions and Implementation; Co-habitation and Parasitical Practice; Locatedness (and Education?); Recycling and Reconfiguration/Sustainable Excess; Community and Contingency; Forecasting Broken Pasts; and Becoming Globe. With contributions of: Agency, Bik Van der Pol, Celine Condorelli, Claire Doherty, Chris Evans, Luca Frei, Nils Norman, Paul O'Neill and others.

AA Files 75

Tom Weaver (ed.) AA Files 75 features essays by Freya Wigzell, Kristina Jaspers, Claire Zimmerman, Laila Seewang, Roberta Marcaccio, Rebecca Siefert, Shantel Blakely, Francesco Zuddas, Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, Victor Plahte Tschudi, Francisco González de Canales, Ross Anderson, Salomon Frausto, Theo Crosby, Marco Biraghi and Zoë Slutzky, together with a personal reminiscence by Nigel Coates and a conversation between Thomas Daniell and Shin Takamatsu.

AA Files 74

Tom Weaver (ed.) AA Files 74 features essays by Peter Wilson, William Firebrace, Michael Hill, Dietrich Neumann, Dagmar Motycka Weston, Simona Ferrari & Wataru Sawada, Christophe Van Gerrewey, Charles Rice & Kenny Cupers, Tim Benton, Andrew Crompton, Davide Spina, Nicholas de Monchaux and Cynthia Davidson, a personal reminiscence by Joseph Rykwert, a recipe by Chris Behr, and two conversations, the first with Kate Macintosh, the second with Peter Eisenman.

AA Files 73

Tom Weaver (ed.) AA Files 73 features contributions on Patrick Hodgkinson and essays and conversations by Matthew Mullane, Mariana Siracusa, Eva Branscome, Nicholas Olsberg, Mike Dempsey, Helen Thomas, Thomas Weaver, Jonathan Sergison, Alberto Ponis, Timothy Brittain-Catlin, Fabrizio Ballabio & Alessandro Conti, Marrikka Trotter, Hans Frei, Gabriela García de Cortázar, Ida Jager, Alex Schweder & Ward Shelley

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