10 X 10: 10 Critics (Architecture) (Hardcover)

Some of the dwellings (both private and social housing), churches, colleges and many museums may be familiar, but in abstraction they acquire new focus, while some designs will remain purely that, never to progress beyond a virtual reality. From the artisan sculpture of Shin Egashira's pavilions, to the barbed, aggressive fins of Hitoshi Abe's Shirasagi Bridge, the eternal struggle to harmonise Utility and Philosophy, Expressionism and Functionalism, is brilliantly laid bare. To this end, the reproductive images are varied and to Phaidon's consistently faultless standard, and the critical comment, rationed to a paragraph, is supplemented in each case with a helpful tag line of specific comment on the exemplary structure. On balance, the comments of Terence Riley, Aaron Betsky and their co-contributors are enlightening, though not without the customary surfeit of compound-nouns and, well, just nouns. The day is still some way off when architects consider sentence construction sensitively. One of the 10 critics lists Ridley Scott's Bladerunner as one of her 10 influences; viewing that 1982 classic in the context of this exhilarating book shows how far architecture has come in under 20 years, but also the battle it still has to fight with its "horrorvision" commercial sibling. --David Vincent

Product Description
This is a comprehensive view of contemporary architecture, presenting the work of 100 exceptional international architects. It provides an opportunity to see a diverse, inspirational collection of recent work, selected by 10 of the world's best informed architectural critics. The architects are presented in A-Z order, with four pages allocated to each practice, including an accompanying text by one of the ten critics. It is intended to be a global selection. Some of the architects have yet to gain recognition worldwide, but among the names are those who have achieved international publicity and acclaim for their work during the mid-1990s. The work shown here features over 250 buildings and projects, including recent built work as well as projects currently under construction, due for completion in the 21st century. The work also features 10 essays written by the critics specially for this publication, which give their view of current architectural issues. In addition, they have chosen 10 cultural references, from designed objects to film, theory and literature, which show the range of influences in today's rapidly changing design environment. Works reproduced in this volume include writings by Italo Calvino, David Mamet and Peter Weibel, among others.

• Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Architects
• Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Criticism & Theory
• Books > Biography > Artists, Architects & Photographers > Architects

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