Art Invention House

Art/Invention/House is an authoritative and handsomely illustrated presentation of forty new houses-many published here for the first time-exploring the creativity of top architects around the world, ranging from firms that specialize in residential work to those for whom a house is a rare indulgence. The houses shown here are understated or audacious, but never conventional. Each of these cutting-edge projects, whether built in town or country, represents a world apart from its surroundings. Some have only trees for neighbors; others are shoehorned into tight urban sites, perch on precipitous slopes, or cling like limpets to the coastline. But every house is one of a kind, the product of dialogue between demanding clients and creative designers around the globe.The book includes the world-renowned firms of Archi-Tectonics/Winka Dubbeldam, Will Bruder, Wallace Cunningham, Gwathmey Siegel, Steven Holl, Rick Joy, Thomas Phifer, and Richard Meier in the US; TEN Arquitectos, Alberto Kalach, and Michel Rojkind in Mexico; Marcos Acayaba and Marcio Kogan in Brazil; Seth Stein in the UK; Alberto Campo Baeza in Spain; Herzog and de Meuron in Switzerland; Georg Driendl and Hugo Dworzak in Austria; Jyrki Tasa in Finland; Alvaro Siza in Portugal; Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, Hitoshi Abe, and Kengo Kuma in Japan; and Glenn Murcutt and Harry Seidler in Australia.

In a lavish, oversize format (12.25x12.25"), this book features 40 extraordinary houses on five continents selected by veteran architecture writer Webb for their courageous and innovative design and their site integration. Plans, drawings, and full page color photos take center stage; the text supports the visuals, describing the houses in terms of their distinctive features and architectural challenges.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In a lavish, oversize format (12.25x12.25"), this book features 40 extraordinary houses on five continents selected by veteran architecture writer Webb for their courageous and innovative design and their site integration. Plans, drawings, and full page color photos take center stage; the text supports the visuals, describing the houses in terms of their distinctive features and architectural challenges. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Michael Webb began writing about architecture and design in London in the 1960s and now does so in Los Angeles, working out of a classic Richard Neutra apartment that Charles and Ray Eames once called home. He is the author of twenty books, including Brave New Houses: Adventures in Southern California Living (Rizzoli) and Modernism Reborn: Mid-Century American Houses (Universe). He travels the world, gathering material for articles in Architectural Review, Architectural Record, and Domus, Frame.