Typology+. Innovative Residential Architecture
Ebner, P., Herrmann, E., Höllbacher, R., Kuntscher, M., Wietzorrek, U.
Typology+ documents and analyzes roughly one hundred international housing structures. It uses diagrammatic drawings to elaborate a broad and varied range of residential types and present them systematically. In the process, it examines variants under the categories of access, space (ground plan and open space), and morphology, supplemented by detailed typological descriptions and the elaboration of the special qualities of each individual type. More general essays draw connections between the housing types and twentieth-century reference projects. All of the projects are newly drawn to uniform standards; every project is presented with its ground plan drawn to a scale of 1:200. Site maps, sections, elevations, and photographs illuminate the urban setting, the building structure and design, and the spatial and functional qualities of each residential structure. Thus, Typology+ not only offers a broad range of sustainable approaches to apartment block construction, but also possibilities for using and transforming them in a practical planning context.

Hardcover / 432 pages / text English / November 2009

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Grand Urban Rules
Alex Lehnerer
Grand Urban Rules is a tribute to the city’s will to form, manifest in its vast number of steering regimes. The book contains a total of 115 significant ingredients for the Grand Projet of our contemporary metropolis. Not always positive but always powerful, these rules are the inverted, abstracted and extracted image of a city’s actual situation. Setting standards is first and foremost a cultural act. We read cities by their rules! Rules link the physical with the social city, connecting quality with quantity and latent characteristics to manifest ones. Thereby and almost unnoticed, they have become design instruments. In fact, regarding rules as tools offers a valuable (urban) design attitude – departing from an approach that wants to control everything, and moving towards a non–fatalistic form of control between freedom and coercion.

Hardcover / 272 pages / text English / November 2009

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Claus en Kaan Architecten. Ideal Standard. Buildings 1988-2009
Felix Claus, Kees Kaan
Working in acceptance of the distance between the general idea of architecture and its specific elaboration in indivudual projects, Claus en Kaan Architecten produce buildings in which an ideal standard is always at least visible in the background. It is an architecture in which arbitrariness is kept in check as much as possible without lapsing into schematism.
The selection of work presented here, designed between 1988 and 2009, makes clear that the practice has developed an increasingly explicit and recognisable signature over the years, based on the conviction that the best they can make consists of buildings in which the layers that expressly make them architecture are stripped off as much as possible.
By doing this, Claus en Kaan are able to position their projects between the mas of buldings and exceptional architecture: their architecture is neither ordinary nor extraordinary, but is situated in an area in between, free of the conventions of the commonplace, unhindered by the urge to be original. Their architecture acquires its distiction by a far-reaching reduction of specificity, and by a unique condensation of ordinary forms and compositions.

Paperback / 360 pages / text English / October 2009

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The Polder Atlas of the Netherlands
Clemens Steenbergen, Wouter Reh, Steffen Nijhuis, Michiel Pouderoijen
An impressive and authoritative investigation, the Polderatlas advances research in the polder landscape of the Netherlands and has been produced in co-operation with the Technical University in Delft. With some 300 maps, drawings and aerial photographs, the atlas systematically documents the richness and diversity of the 4,000 polders throughout the country. Through the use of examples the atlas traces the different typological aspects of their different designs in depth, while a digitalised map provides the locations of all polders..

Hardcover / 512 pages / text Dutch / December 2009
Also available in Dutch edition

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Atlas of the New Dutch Water Defence Line
Rita Brons, Bernard Colenbrander
This atlas addresses the New Dutch Water Defence Line (Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie) on a themed basis. Its position in the landscape, the forts, the inundation system, the geomorphology, the strategic system and recent developments can be read off in maps rendered so as to give an understanding of all aspects of the defence line landscape. The defence line reveals itself as a many-tentacled military defensive system of forts, group shelters and polders which can be flooded at the threat of war. The maps show the cohesion of the defence line as a landscape-strategic structure as well as the topographic composition of this structure in layers and components. The more detailed maps of the forts display the wealth of historic places, insertions in the landscape and defining elements. The atlas offers administrators something to lean on and designers a sense of freedom - a solid stepping-off point for getting this unique national landscape literally back on the map. Essays place the New Dutch Water Defence Line in a historical perspective. The atlas was commissioned by The Netherlands Architecture Fund and the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie Project Office.

Hardcover / 208 pages / text Dutch / December 2009
Also available in Dutch edition

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Tangible Traces. Dutch Architecture and Design in the making
Linda Vlassenrood, Mirjam van der Linden, Louise Schouwenberg, Joost Grootens, Roemer van Toorn
How do architecture and design take on meaning in a world that has become uniform as a result of globalisation, standardisation and commercialisation? By embracing unmodern notions such as craftsmanship, tradition and context. These notions are the links between the work of spatial designer Frank Havermans, industrial designer Hella Jongerius, textile designer Claudy Jongstra, the architecture office Onix and fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe.
For years they have been working on an oeuvre which shows a new attention to detail, context and the local, the rediscovery of forgotten handicraft techniques, and a fascination with ordinary materials and archetypes.
Although an air of nostalgia clings to the projects, through the incorporation of state of the art technologies and an unmistakable Dutch conceptual approach they are clearly projects of today. The result: buildings, installations, fabrics, clothing, and pieces of furniture that stimulate all the senses.

Paperback / 248 pages / text English / Augustus 2009

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Never Use White Type on a Black Background
And 50 other Ridiculous Design Rules
Anneloes van Gaalen
The world of fashion and design is inundated with a seemingly endless list of rules. Think of “Less is More,” “Form Follows Function,” “Keep it Simple,” “Dress Your Age,” and the list goes on and on. They’re familiar sayings that some designers consider to be valuable words of wisdom, which serve as a guiding line and source of inspiration. To others, these rules are mere restrictions: design dogmas and fashion formulae that need to be bended, twisted or broken altogether.
Rules tend to have a life of their own: over time their meaning changes or the rule is adopted by a whole new group of followers. Take, for instance, the classic “Form Follows Function.” It started out life as an architecture guideline but has crept its way into other creative fields. This evolution is reflected in this book by the chronologically placed quotes that accompany each rule and that are courtesy of designers, architects, fashion designers, typographers and other creatives. All rules are also accompanied by an image that either negates or supports the rule. Our aim is not to list all the rules that you need to adhere to. Nor do we take sides in the whole rules debate. Granted, creativity knows no bounds and therefore it seems rather ridiculous to restrict that creativity by sticking to a couple of age-old rules. However, in some cases the rules seems more like the basic principles that every designer should love, honor and obey.
Whichever side of the fence you yourself are sitting on in the rules debate, you’re bound to find this book a source of inspiration, comfort, joy or just good old fun. Enjoy.

Hardcover / 160 pages / text in English / July 2009

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Kazuyo Sejima in Gifu. Metropolitan Housing Studies
Albert Ferré , Tomoko Sakamoto
Located in Gifu, sits a building that constitutes the first material expression of Kazuyo Sejima's studies on metropolitan housing. This investigation proceeded from the conclusion that not all subsidized housing needs to be the same. Starting from a generic public housing program, Sejima's housing block in Gifu departs from convention and occupies the conceptual and physical space created between oppositional design concerns: where a strictly modulated structure confronts a random arrangement of different spaces; between the length of the building and the reduction of its built depth; between inhabitable space and the surrounding landscape; between the individual and the family unit.

Hardcover / 224 pages / text English / 2005

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Metropolitan World Atlas
Arjen van Susteren
DWith its wealth of facts and clean, abstract design, the Metropolitan World Atlas is a must-buy.
Despite the burgeoning interest in metropolitan growth and globalization there has been no way of directly comparing metropolises - until now, that is. This atlas offers a unique survey of global trade networks and their impact on metropolitan space. It documents a total of 101 metropolises, analysing them in easy-to-read ground plans. It also includes index numbers and tables regarding such aspects as population, density, pollution, travel time, data traffic, air and water travel and the size of Central Business Districts. Its unexpected combination of ground plans and statistics makes this atlas a unique work of reference where for the first time metropolitan areas like Beijing, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo can be compared with one another and in terms of their position in the global urban network.

Hardcover / 312 pages / text English / 2007

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David Chipperfield. Form Matters
David Chipperfield
This publication was initiated by David Chipperfield who also is responsible for concept and design. In four chapters he refers to topics he also writes on: "On Form", "Language", "Composition", and "Materiality". He did id also choose for the images and architectural sketches and drawings. "As architects we must both be part of and stand apart from the culture within which we operate. To be effective we must embrace power but also distance ourselves, we must engage in dialogue and we must refuse to listen, we must explore the familiar and the unfamiliar, we must embrace history and reject it. Finally we must resolve our ideas in matter and form". (David Chipperfield) David Chipperfield presents a very personal "notebook" that follows no fixed system, but rather documents the realisation of formal ideas from his own viewpoint, using sketches, plans and illustrations of built and unbuilt projects - a personal statement on his work to date. He explores the relationship between form and matter, both conceptually and in its concrete realisation in architecture.

Paperback / 160 pages / text English / November 2009

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Agenda. JDS Architects Can We Sustain our Ability to Crisis?
Jesse Seegers, Benedict Clouette, Julien De Smedt, Ryan Neiheiser
AGENDA is a catalog of 365 days, like a diary or journal: a collective narrative, personal and subjective. It documents the work and thinking of JDS Architects over a specific year marked by crisis, beginning on September 15th, 2008, the day that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The form of the book exploits the double meaning of its title, presenting the absurdities of day-to-day architectural practice while also staking our intent. Rather than a definitive direction, our agenda is a definitive attitude - of eagerness, enthusiasm, and optimism, of criticality and concern, of fun and inquiry. It is a directive, a motivation to act, at times without clear knowledge of where our agenda will lead. “Change,” the buzzword of the last U.S. presidential campaign, is the order of the day, and the task of AGENDA is to explore what kind of change will be needed if architects are to assume a political and social agency in this new landscape. Bringing together diverse forms of content, AGENDA is a product of vigilant observation, introspection, and engagement with outside thinkers and collaborators - artists, curators, politicians, authors, economists, journalists, developers, educators, and architects.

Paperback / 554 pages / text English / December 2009

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Architectural Guide to the Netherlands (1980-Present)
Paul Groenendijk, Piet Vollaard
This Architectural Guide to the Netherlands (1980-Present) charts developments in Dutch architecture since the mid-1980s. With over 500 entries, it is an up-to-date companion to the Architectural Guide to the Netherlands 1900-2000. Its pages contain a representative selection of recent work by de Architekten Cie., Benthem Crouwel, Claus & Kaan, Erick van Egeraat, Atelier Kempe Thill, KCAP, Mecanoo, Meyer & Van Schooten, MVRDV, Neutelings Riedijk, OMA, Onix, UN Studio and Soeters Van Eldonk as well as by the many foreign architects working in the Netherlands. Its compact shape, practical layout and extensive indexes make this guide as indispensable as its predecessors, whether as a source of inspiration or as a reference work on the practice of Dutch architecture today.

Paperback / 352 pages / text Dutch, English / April 2009

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Volume 22 The Guide + Beyroutes. A guide to Beirut
Don’t be confused by the title – guiding is not entirely the issue here, rather creating realisable alternatives and a new reality. Volume takes the reader on a ‘guided’ tour around the world to explore different cities, their possibilities and new discoveries. Respective projects visited in different cities include those found in Melbourne, Istanbul and different locations in Russia, while other highlights include; Atelier Bow-Wow’s guide to the 13th Arrondissement of Paris; an atlas of love and hate – a visit to the Detroit unreal estate agency, and an essay on the relevance of Jane Jacobs. Included in a separate edition is an invaluable guidebook to Beirut which presents an exploded view of a city with its multiple truths, myths and historical falsifications that in turn acts as a field manual for the 21st century urban explorer.

Paperback / 170 + 54 pages / text English / January 2010

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> Overview other available issues

a+t 33-34 Hybrids III. Residential Mixed-Use Buildings
Following in the footsteps of the successful Hybrids series, this double issue of a+t introduces a new line of investigation, presenting a collection of 20 new projects that are also accompanied by a compilation of classic hybrid buildings. These structures encourage the interaction of a variety of urban uses while also successfully combining private residential activities within the public realm. In particular, this hybridisation goes beyond mix-use programmes, as it reflects the combination of public and private interests in housing, public space and civic facilities. In so doing, it also provides a suitable response to concerns about land scarcity, high-costs, sustainable development and urban revitalisation. Offices with works featured include: MRVDV, VMX, Steven Holl Architects, OMA, Ito AA – b720 Arquitectos, OMA, Block Architects, Neutelings Riedijk Architects, FAA+XDGA, Gehry Partners and Gigon /Guyer.

Paperback / 320 pages / text English, Spanish / November 2009

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Radical Games. Popping the Bubble of 1960s Architecture
Lara Schrijver
Radical Games offers a new understanding of the 1960s in architecture. It helps to reveal some of the pitfalls in con¬ temporary architectural thinking and questions a number of preconceptions that are held as a result of the 1960s discourse.
In architecture of the 1960s revolutionary ideals were paramount and dreams became drawings. The book explores three radical critiques of modernist architecture through the work of the Situationist International, Venturi and Scott Brown, and Archigram. Situated on the cusp of an era of post-modernity and global capitalism, these critical reactions to their forebears demonstrate a perceptively critical understanding of modernism while also anticipating contemporary conditions such as an increasingly image-oriented society. At the same time, however, their dreams were so entwined with the modern project that they drove the architectural debate of the 1960s into an impasse, which the contemporary debate has not yet been able to escape. The ensuing disillusionment as well as a contemporary revival of this period are contained within their very premises.
Radical Games offers an illuminating overview of the problems that the 1960s discourse continues to pose for today.

Paperback / 240 pages / text English / August 2009

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First Works. Emerging Architectural Experimentation of the 1960s & 1970s
Brett Steele Francisco Gonzalez de Canales
During a tumultuous period in the 1960s and 70s, a new generation of architects began their careers amidst a period of profound social change, new conditions for architecture and the city and lasting changes to popular and critical forms of cultural production. First Works tells the story of this period and reassesses the conditions of architecture and the beginnings of architectural careers through a selection of projects undertaken during the 60s and 70s.
The book, accompanying a major travelling exhibition, presents a single key early project, in the form of models, sketches, photographs and drawings, by 20 young architectural practices: Archigram, Archizoom, Aldo Rossi, Alvaro Siza, Cedric Price, Robert Venturi, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, Paul Virilio and Claude Parent, Rafael Moneo, Renzo Piano, Peter Eisenman, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Toyo Ito, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Tom Mayne and Michael Rotondi, Morphosis, Bernard Tschumi, Herzog & de Meuron and Zaha Hadid. Alongside these ‘first works’, 20 invited critics, including Kenneth Frampton, Sylvia Lavin and Pier Vittorio Aureli, offer contemporary commentaries on these projects and their place within the architects’ subsequent careers.

Hardcover / 284 pages / text in English / November 2009

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