A major overview of Japanese residential architecture of the past five years by big names, including three Pritzker prize-winners, and emerging architects

Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats. These challenges encourage their architects to explore alternating ideas of stability and ephemerality in various ways, resulting in spaces that are as fascinating as they are idiosyncratic. Their formal innovation and attention to materials, technology and measures to coax in light and air while maintaining domestic privacy make them cutting-edge residences that suggest new ways of being at home. Contemporary Japanese architecture has emerged as a substantial force on the international scene ever since Kenzo Tange won the Pritzker Prize in 1987. This overview of 50 recent houses powerfully demonstrates Japan’s enduring commitment to design innovation.

Contents List:

Introduction • 50 Houses, including projects all over Japan by architects including ALX, Tadao Ando, ARtechnic, Atelier Bow-Wow, Atelier Tekuto, Shigeru Ban, C+A Coelacanth, Double Negatives, Eastern Design, Shuhei Endo, Masaki Endoh, Terunobu Fujimori, Sou Fujimoto, Fujiwara + Muro, Masahira Harada + MAO, Go Hasegawa, Naoko Horibe, Takeshi Hosaka, Jun Igarashi, Junya Isigami, Keiko + Manabu, Daisuke Maeda, UID/Keisuke Maeda, Norisada Maeda, Keiko Aita, Yuji Nakae, Koji Nakawatase, Satoshi Okada, Kazuyo Sejima, Hiroyuki Shinozaki, Suppose Design Office, TNA, Makiko Tsukada, Tsukano Architects and Koji Tsutsui

About the Author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over twenty years. He is the author of numerous books, including monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel and Zaha Hadid as well as The New Pavilions and Casa Moderna: Latin American Living.

A career-spanning, slipcased monograph in two volumes presenting the work of one of Asia's most thoughtful and innovative architects

This career-spanning monograph in two volumes presents the work of Vo Trong Nghia, one of Asia’s most thoughtful and innovative architects. His two main themes – green architecture and bamboo as a building material – form the basis of this celebration of his designs, which make clear reference to Vietnam’s troubled past and to the architect’s own adherence to the Five Precepts of Buddhism. From the Wind and Water Bar, his first foray into building with bamboo, to resorts, art installations and the pioneering residential series House for Trees, Vo Trong Nghia: Building Nature is a timely exploration of what it means to build green.

Contents List:

Volume 1

Introduction: Paths to Enlightenment / Philip Jodidio
01.1 / Binh Thanh House / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.2 / Farming Kindergarten / Dong Nai, Vietnam
01.3 / House for Trees / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.4 / A House in Nha Trang / Nha Trang, Vietnam
01.5 / The Babylon / Da Nang, Vietnam
01.6 / Binh House / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.7 / Atlas Hotel Hoian / Hoi An, Vietnam
01.8 / Stepping Park House / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.9 / Ha House / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.10 / Chicland Hotel / Da Nang, Vietnam
01.11 / Breathing House / Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
01.12 / Thang House / Da Nang, Vietnam
01.13 / Viettel Academy Educational Centre / Hanoi, Vietnam
01.14 / Viettel Offsite Studio / Hanoi, Vietnam
01.15 / Ha Long Villa / Ha Long, Vietnam
01.16 / Bat Trang House / Bat Trang, Vietnam

Volume 2

Introduction: Connecting People with Nature / Philip Jodidio
02.1 / Wind and Water Bar / Binh Duong, Vietnam
02.2 / Bamboo Wing / Vinh Phuc, Vietnam
02.3 / Dai Lai Conference Hall / Vinh Phuc, Vietnam
02.4 / Kontum Indochine Café / Kon Tum, Vietnam
02.5 / Son La Restaurant / Son La, Vietnam
02.6 / Son La Ceremony Dome / Son La, Vietnam
02.7 / Nocenco Café / Vinh, Vietnam
02.8 / Bamboo Stalactite / Venice, Italy
02.9 / Castaway Island Resort / Cat Ba Archipelago, Vietnam
02.10 / Naman Retreat / Da Nang, Vietnam
02.11 / Huong An Vien Welcoming House / Hue, Vietnam

About the Authors:

Vo Trong Nghia (b. 1976) studied architecture at the Nagoya Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo, before founding Vo Trong Nghia Architects in 2006 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. His designs are at the foregront of ‘green’ architecture and sustainable practices, and have received numerous accolades, including multiple World Architecture Community Awards and a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2021. Philip Jodidio is the author of numerous books, including monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel and Zaha Hadid as well as The New Pavilions, Casa Moderna: Latin American Living and Casa Tropical: Houses by Jacobsen Arquitetura.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has been rehabilitating existing parks and creating new ones for more than 20 years in the Muslim world, but also in the West. Discover how these brilliantly designed green spaces have helped improve the lives of urban dwellers in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, and even in England and Canada.

For centuries the garden has served as a central element in Muslim culture. The new or restored gardens created by AKTC, seen in this fascinating book, show how these urban oases are catalysts for positive economic, social and cultural change. They encourage ethical ideals of stewardship, ecology, and beauty in the built environment. Numerous authors first trace the history of Islamic gardens and help clarify the environmental and design ethos of Islam. Texts also explain the beneficial sociological and economic impact of urban gardens and parks. Succeeding chapters identify thirteen specific projects that illustrate these principles. There are historic sites, such as Humayun’s Tomb Garden in Delhi and Timur Shah Mausoleum in Kabul; contemporary locations, including the National Park of Mali, and Al Azhar Park in Cairo; and settings that celebrate cultural and multi-cultural identities, such as Aga Khan Garden in Alberta, Canada and a city park Khorog, Tajikistan.

Each chapter offers color photographs, plans, and texts about the sites and their environment, and each project demonstrates how green spaces bring people of different backgrounds together to provide places for reflection, spirituality, education and leisure. Together these achievements demonstrate how parks and gardens can enhance economic, cultural, and general well-being.

About the Author:

Philip Jodidio has published numerous books on contemporary architecture, art and the cultural activities of the Aga Khan. They include Architecture: Art, Architecture: Nature and Under the Eaves of Architecture (all published by Prestel). He lives in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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Пролистать книгу A Sustainable Future: Urban Parks and Gardens: Urban Parks & Gardens

The first monograph on the Japanese-born, Sydney-based architect, celebrated for his innovative holistic approach to design, nature, and urbanism.

Koichi Takada is part of a new generation of architects striving to bring nature back into the urban environment — an approach he developed after living in Tokyo, New York, and London. His architecture reconnects people to the natural environment, drawing inspiration from organic forms and local contexts.

This elegant volume showcases a series of Takada’s recent projects, illustrating the unique way his talent connects the natural and the designed, and how it has evolved over the last ten years. Beautiful photographs of buildings and interiors juxtapose against sketches and images of nature — illustrating the aesthetic inspirations behind the designs and the way they embody light, air, and even sound. Philip Jodidio’s texts guide readers through the range of spaces that span from the interiors of the award-winning National Museum of Qatar in Doha and Urban Forest in Brisbane, the “greenest residential building in Australia,” to striking buildings in Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, China, and the construction of a new space in Tokyo. This unique architectural journey will inspire readers to see architecture with a new mindset.

About the Authors:

Koichi Takada graduated from AA School of Architecture, London, and established his own practice, Koichi Takada Architects, in 2008. 

Philip Jodidio is a specialist in contemporary architecture. As well as having been the editor in chief of the French art magazine Connaissance des Arts for more than twenty years, he is the author of over 100 books on architecture and art.

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Пролистать книгу Koichi Takada: Architecture, Nature, and Design

A seductive vision of the future from the most promising firm in China led by Ma Yansong, an important voice in the new generation of architects.

Conceived and designed by Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architects, MAD Rhapsody documents the buildings of this avant-garde architecture firm and traces the development of their ideas through associated practice including art, research, and exhibition projects. With photographs, drawings, and models, the book highlights 23 projects from the past six years, both built and in process. Known for their “organic and dreamlike architecture” that creates a dialogue with nature, earth, and sky, MAD projects reach all over the globe.

At age 46, Ma Yansong is one of China’s best-known architects. His curvilinear, free-form, and futuristic designs are often compared to those of his mentor, Zaha Hadid. Ma’s greatest inspiration is nature; his opera house in the northern Chinese city of Harbin resembles a snow-capped mountain, while his master plan for the city of Nanjing calls for sloping buildings covered with vertical louvers that resemble waterfalls. Other projects include the Ordos Museum in the wilderness of Inner Mongolia, the Absolute Towers in Canada, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.

About the Authors:

Ma Yansong is founder and principal partner of MAD Architects. Paul Goldberger is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Philip Jodidio has written more than 100 books about contemporary architecture.

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Пролистать книгу MAD Rhapsody: Past, Present, and Future

Timberland. The wooden structures of the 21st century

Not so very long ago, some might have considered wood a material of the past, long since replaced by more modern components such as concrete and steel. The truth is radically different. Bolstered by new manufacturing techniques and ecological benefits, wood has seen a fabulous resurgence in contemporary construction.

This book explores how architects around the world have created and invented with this elementary material. Featuring follies, very large buildings, and ambitious urban renewal schemes, it celebrates the diverse deployment of wood by architects around the world. We see how wood can at once transform urban spaces, as in the Metropol Parasol in Seville by Jürgen Mayer H., and allow for sensitive interventions in natural environments, such as at the Termas Geométricas Hot Springs Complex in Pucón, Chile, by Germán del Sol.

True to all TASCHEN architecture titles, the book pays tribute to many emerging international talents as well as to such renowned figures as Tadao Ando and Renzo Piano. It celebrates each architect’s vision and innovation, as well as investigating the techniques, trends, and principles that have informed their work with wood. It examines the computer-guided milling that has allowed for novel new forms, the responsible harvesting that allows wood to align with our environmental concerns, and, above all, wood’s enduring appeal to our senses and psyche, comforting hectic modern lives with a sense of Arcadian simplicity.

The author

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, Zaha Hadid, and soon Norman Foster.

Piano, Virtuoso. The Italian master’s complete oeuvre

Renzo Piano rose to international prominence with his co-design of the Pompidou Center in Paris, described by The New York Times as a building that “turned the architecture world upside down.” Since then, he has continued to craft such iconic cultural spaces as the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago and, more recently, the Whitney Museum of American Art, an asymmetric nine-story structure in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District with both indoor and outdoor galleries. In London, the Piano touch has also transformed the skyline with the Shard.

At the age of 84, the Italian maestro retains all of his enthusiasm and kindness—and his recent roster is more impressive than ever. As he confided to the author, “I think at a certain age, one can discover that there is what the French call the ‘fil rouge,’ a kind of red thread that relates one building to another over time. In my case, I believe it is about lightness and the art of building.” From freshly built museums in Athens and Santander; ongoing works in Lisbon, London, Toronto, and Geneva; to such humanitarian projects as the Emergency Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, Uganda, and the Children’s Hospice in Bologna, Italy, Piano’s career is a thrilling journey through the beauty and very essence of architecture.

Based on the massive XXL monograph, this widely updated edition brings the architect’s definitive career overview to an accessible format and is illustrated by photographs, sketches, and plans.

The artist:

Renzo Piano (born in 1937) studied at the University of Florence and at Milan’s Polytechnic Institute. A recipient of the RIBA Gold Medal in 1989 and the 1998 Pritzker Prize, Piano’s most iconic projects include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Shard in London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He has his main offices in his native Genoa and in Paris.

The editor:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, Zaha Hadid, and soon Norman Foster.

Modern by Tradition. A survey of Japan’s contemporary architecture scene

The contemporary architecture of Japan has long been among the most inventive in the world, recognized for sustainability and infinite creativity. No fewer than seven Japanese architects have won the Pritzker Prize.

Since Osaka World Expo ’70 brought contemporary forms center stage, Japan has been a key player in global architecture. With his intentionally limited vocabulary of geometric forms, Tadao Ando has since then put Japanese building on the world’s cultural map, establishing a bridge between East and West. In the wake of Ando’s mostly concrete buildings, figures like Kengo Kuma (Japan National Stadium intended for the Olympic Games, originally planned for 2020), Shigeru Ban (Mount Fuji World Heritage Center), and Kazuyo Sejima (Kanazawa Museum of 21st Century Art of Contemporary Art) pioneered a more sustainable approach. Younger generations have successfully developed new directions in Japanese architecture that are in harmony with nature and connected to traditional building. Rather than planning on the drawing board, the architects presented in this collection stand out for their endless search for forms, truly reacting on their environment.

Presenting the latest in Japanese building, this book reveals how this unique creativity is a fruit of Japan’s very particular situation that includes high population density, a modern, efficient economy, a long history, and the continual presence of disasters in the form of earthquakes. Accepting ambiguity, as seen in the evanescent reflections of Sejima’s Kanazawa Museum, or constant change and the threat of catastrophe is a key to understanding what makes Japanese architecture different from that of Europe or America.

This XL-sized book highlights 39 architects and 55 exceptional projects by Japanese masters — from Tadao Ando’s Shanghai Poly Theater, Shigeru Ban’s concert hall La Seine Musical, SANAA’S Grace Farms, Fumihiko Maki’s 4 World Trade Center, to Takashi Suo’s much smaller sustainable dental clinic. Each project is introduced with photos, original floor plans and technical drawings, as well as insightful descriptions and brief biographies. An elaborate essay traces the country’s building scene from the Metabolists to today and shows how the interaction of past, present, and future has earned contemporary Japanese architecture worldwide recognition.

The editor:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, Zaha Hadid, and soon Norman Foster.

For those who crave the tranquillity of nature, fifty houses selected from around the world with the most ecologically sustainable and innovative breakthroughs in architecture and design.

Seeking the perfect escape from city life and congestion? This book is filled with environmentally low-impact homes and retreats using eco-friendly materials and technology that reduce the carbon footprint and lower its energy needs, all built within the past ten years. The broadening interest in back to nature and homesteading plays a role, and many new structures are examples of sustainability that are in touch with nature, far from the madding crowd but not only for the select few.

International in scope, the book is an A to Z of ideas for the twenty-first century, from a pavilion in Argentina to a forest house in New Zealand, all designed to have minimal architectural traces--made with local materials that harmonize with the surrounding environment. An outdoor care retreat outside Oslo provides space where visitors can benefit from the therapeutic qualities of nature; a residence in Tottori, Japan, adapts with the changing seasons; a treehouse in Cape Town uses cylindrical towers that are elevated on stilts, offering views among the trees; and in Quebec, three geodesic domes were designed as part of an eco-tourism project to highlight the area's natural beauty. Each house is paired with photographs and plans.

About the Author:

Philip Jodidio has written over 100 books about contemporary architecture and art, including Tadao Ando: Venice, Tadao Ando at Naoshima, Tadao Ando: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and I. M. Pei: The Complete Works for Rizzoli.

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Пролистать книгу Into the Woods: Retreats and Dream Houses

Paper palaces. Beauty meets basic human needs

Updated with over a dozen recent projects, including the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch and the Aspen Art Museum, the Shigeru Ban monograph celebrates the innovative, elegant, and altruistic practice of the Pritzker-prize winning architect, lauded for his “total curiosity and commitment; endless innovation; infallible eye; acute sensibility.”

From a house without walls to exhibition spaces in shipping containers, Shigeru Ban has constantly challenged architectural rule and expectation. In the age of the “starchitect,” he has also demonstrated a commitment to humanitarian practice: Over the course of his esteemed career, his inventive, elegant designs have been applied as much to private commissions as to emergency relief work at the sites of natural and man-made disasters around the world, from Kobe to New Orleans.

For the Pritzker Prize jury, which chose Ban as its 2014 winner, the architect manifests “total curiosity and commitment; endless innovation; an infallible eye; an acute sensibility.” This updated monograph, compiled with the architect’s collaboration, brings together every one of Ban's built works, including such recent projects as the Tamedia headquarters in Zurich, the Aspen Art Museum, and the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch.

The author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Oscar Niemeyer, and Zaha Hadid.

Feats of design and engineering: The work of an unparalleled architectural engineer Santiago Calatrava is not only one of the world s most prominent architects, but is also an engineer, sculptor, and painter. His reputation as an unparalleled architectural engineer was cemented with his numerous bridges for cities around the world. With more recent projects such as the stadium for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the railway station in Liege, Belgium, he has unarguably made his name in Europe and continues to look further ahead.

Calatrava s work is closely related to his own drawings of the human body, and to his sculptures of geometric forms, inspired by the dynamics of movement and tension. Winner of the 2005 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the only architect ever to have his work exhibited at both the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Calatrava is one of today s greatest and most innovative architects. This book provides an introduction to and overview of his work to date.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Architecture series features:

- an introduction to the life and work of the architect 
- the major works in chronological order
- information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions
- a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings
- approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)

While some architects have a signature style, Renzo Piano seeks to apply coherent ideas to extraordinarily different projects. His buildings impress as much for their individual impact as for their diversity of scale, material, and form. Piano rose to international prominence with his codesign of the Pompidou Center in Paris, described by The New York Times as a building that "turned the architecture world upside down." Since then, he has continued to craft many high-profile cultural spaces, including the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Morgan Library Renovation and Expansion in New York; and, most recently, the Whitney Museum of American Art, an asymmetric nine-story structure in Manhattan's Meatpacking District with both indoor and outdoor galleries. 

In New York and London, the Renzo touch has also transformed the skyline with the towers of the New York Times Building and the Shard, the tallest building in the European Union. This essential introduction travels from Osaka, Japan, to Bern, Switzerland, and through many cities, structures, and islands in between, to explore the staggering scope of the Renzo Piano repertoire. 

From the "inside-out" Pompidou to the airy shells of the Tjibaou Cultural Center in Noumea, New Caledonia, this is a thrilling journey through the beauty of architecture, where, in Piano's own words, "each time, it is like life starting all over again."

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Architecture series features:

- an introduction to the life and work of the architect 
- the major works in chronological order
- information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions
- a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings
- approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)

The most effective and appealing breakthroughs in houses built within the past five years — to make the most of every foot of space.

Forget the McMansions; budgets aren’t what they used to be, houses are smaller, and lifestyles are changing rapidly. Clients today want to create a home that is easy to maintain, environmentally responsible, and inexpensive to operate. Own less, live more.

Ranging from glass cabins to copper-clad tree houses, Small Innovative Houses features an international collection of more than fifty residences in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Discover how to use flexible space and make the most of a narrow lot, how to use every square foot of living space, while also responding to rising ecological concerns and skyrocketing energy bills. Examples include a mountain barn converted into a modern vacation home in Switzerland; a mobile home built on a flatbed trailer chassis that can be transported on U.S. highways; a Japanese sunken house with movable partitions that creates as many as nine rooms; a summer cabin in Norway that appears to float above the ground; and a spectacular glass cabin in the wilds of Alberta, Canada.

From world-famous architects (Steven Holl, Todd Saunders, Snøhetta, and Tadao Ando) to the freshest new talent, this book reveals architectural invention on a whole new small scale.

About the Author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and was editor-in-chief of the leading French art journal Connaissance des Arts for over two decades. He has published numerous articles and more than 100 books, including Rizzoli’s Tadao Ando Houses and I. M. Pei: The Complete Works.

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Пролистать книгу Small Innovative Houses на сайте издательства.

Radical Space. How Zaha Hadid created 21st-century architecture

Discover the audacious futurism of Zaha Hadid. As the first woman to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, Hadid broke the rules and re-defined the game, despite some saying her designs were unbuildable. At the time of her unexpected death in 2016, she was firmly established as the first great architect of the noughties.

Zaha Hadid was a revolutionary architect, who for many years built almost nothing, despite winning critical acclaim. Some even said her audacious, futuristic designs were unbuildable.

During the latter years of her life, Hadid’s daring visions became a reality, bringing a unique new architectural language to cities and structures as varied as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, hailed by The New York Times as “the most important new building in America since the Cold War”; the MAXXI Museum in Rome; the Guangzhou Opera House in China; and the London 2012 Olympics Aquatics Centre.

At the time of her unexpected death in 2016, Hadid was firmly established among the elite of world architecture, recognized as the first woman to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, but above all as a giver of new forms, the first great architect of the noughties.

From her early sharply angled buildings to later more fluid architecture that made floors, ceilings, walls, and furniture part of an overall design, this essential introduction presents key examples of Hadid’s pioneering practice. She was an artist, as much as an architect, who fought to break the old rules and crafted her own 21st-century universe.

About the author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Oscar Niemeyer, and Zaha Hadid.

About the series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Architecture series features:

- an introduction to the life and work of the architect 
- the major works in chronological order
- information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions
- a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings
- approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts, and plans)

Life in the Woods. Creative cabin architecture, from California to Sapporo

Yearning for rustic simplicity? Open the door to Cabins, a gorgeous showcase of minimal, low-impact, peaceful abodes around the world. From contemplative bliss in an English coastal studio to eco-home huts in the Western Ghats of India, each of these minimal homes exude innovative, eco-friendly, mindful living.

Ever since Henry David Thoreau’s described his two years, two months, and two days of refuge existence at Walden Pond, Massachusetts, in Walden, or, Life in the Woods (1854), the idea of a cabin dwelling has seduced the modern psyche. In the past decade, as our material existence and environmental footprint has grown exponentially, architects around the globe have become particularly interested in the possibilities of the minimal, low-impact, and isolated abode.

This Bibliotheca Universalis edition of Cabins combines insightful text, rich photography, and bright, contemporary illustrations by Marie-Laure Cruschi to show how this particular architectural type presents special opportunities for creative thinking. In eschewing excess, the cabin limits actual spatial intrusion to the bare essentials of living requirements, while in responding to its typically rustic setting, it foregrounds eco-friendly solutions. The cabin comes to showcase some of the most inventive and forward-looking practices of contemporary architecture, with Renzo Piano, Terunobu Fujimori, Tom Kundig, and many fresh young professionals all embracing such distilled sanctuary spaces.

The book showcases the variety of cabins in use and geography. From an artist studio on the Suffolk coast in England to eco-home huts in the Western Ghats region of India, this collection is as exciting in its international reach as it is in its array of briefs, clients, and situations. Constant throughout, however, is architectural innovation, and an inspiring sense of contemplation and coexistence as people return to nature and to a less destructive model of being in the world.

About the author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Oscar Niemeyer, and Zaha Hadid.

About the series:

Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!

Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together more than 100 of our all-time favourite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.

Bookworm’s delight — never bore, always excite!