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  Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects

Rafael Moneo

The MIT Press in association with Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Rafael Moneo is known to be a courageous architect. His major works include the headquarters of Bankinter in Madrid, the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, the Davis Art Museum at Wellesley College, the Museums of Modern Art and Architecture in Stockholm, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Now Moneo will be known as a daring critic as well. In this book, he looks at eight of his contemporaries—all architects of international stature—and discusses the theoretical positions, technical innovations, and design contributions of each. Moneo's discussion of these eight architects—James Stirling, Robert Venturi with Denise Scott Brown, Aldo Rossi, Peter Eisenman, Álvaro Siza, Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, and the partnership of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron—has the colloquial, engaging tone of a series of lectures on modern architecture by a master architect; the reader hears not only the dispassionate theorizing of an academic, but Moneo's own deeply held convictions as he considers the work of his contemporaries. More than 600 illustrations accompany the text.

Discussing each of the architects in turn, Moneo first gives an introductory profile, emphasizing intentions, theoretical concerns, and construction procedures. He then turns to the work, offering detailed critical analyses of the works he considers to be crucial for an informed understanding of this architect's work. The many images he uses to illustrate his points resemble the rapid-fire flash of slides in a lecture, but Moneo's perspective is unique among lecturers. These profiles are not what Moneo calls the "tacit treatises" that can be found on th shelves of a university library, but lively encounters of architectural equals. José Rafael Moneo is an internationally acclaimed architect, in practice since 1965. He has taught both in Spain and America, and from 1985 to 1990 he was chairman of the Architecture Department at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He has received numerous distinctions including the Pritzker Prize in 1996 and the RIBA Gold Medal in 2003.

Contents

Preface

James Stirling

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown

Aldo Rossi

Peter Eisenman

Álvaro Siza

Frank O. Gehry

Rem Koolhaas

Herzog & de Meuron

Index

Photo Credits

 

Publication Title:
Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects

Year Published:
2004, The MIT Press in association with Harvard University Graduate School of Design, produced by ACTAR Pro, Barcelona

Author:
Rafael Moneo

Format:

404 pages, softcover.

In the Frances Loeb Library:
NA2500 .M65 2005 [c.1-5]
Special Collections Rare NA2500 .M65 2005


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