Perfect Acts of Architecture

Description

Perfect Acts of Architecture presents six sets of highly inventive drawings by the contemporary avant-garde architects Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, Daniel Libeskind and Thom Mayne. Created between 1972 and 1988, when many architects turned to teaching because economic conditions had drastically curtailed building commissions, these works reflect the period's intellectual debates and demonstrate graphic experimentation as a proactive mode of research. Each suite of drawings, fully illustrated with superb reproductions, offers great insight into the creative processes of six young designers, who went on to establish major international reputations. To put this 'paper architecture' into a broader historical context, Kipnis and Riley provide introductory texts as well as concise commentaries on each of the projects.

Terence Riley is chief curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Jeffrey Kipnis is curator of architecture and design at the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, and associate professor in the School of Architecture at Ohio State.