Architects Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto have been generating some of the most provocative thinking in the field for nearly twenty years. With Atlas of Novel Tectonics, Reiser+Umemoto hone in on the many facets of architecture and illuminate their theories with great thought and simplicity. The Atlas is organized as an accumulation of short chapters that address the workings of matter and force, material science, the lessons of art and architectural history, and the influence of architecture on culture (and vice versa). Reiser+Umemoto see architectural design as a series of problem situations, and each chapter is an argument devoted to a specific condition or case.
Influenced by a wide range of fields and phenomena?Brillat-Savarin's classic The Physiology of Taste is one of their primary models?the authors provide a cross-section of thinking and inspiration. The result is both an elucidation of the concepts that guide Reiser+Umemoto through their own design process and a series of meditations on topics that have formed their own sense as architects. Atlas of Novel Tectonics offers an entirely fresh perspective on subjects that are generally taken for granted, and does so with a welcome punch and energy.

Reiser and Umemoto have created a read-think-work book that explains their complex and innovative theories clearly and simply in a series of short chapters bristling with illustrations. Often inspired by Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste, the authors guide readers through their own design process in terms of geometry, matter, operating, and the world, with a particularly helpful chapter on common errors to avoid, such as abuse of the accident, abuse of data, abuse of history, abuse of the diagram, abuse of logic, and the typologist's error. Their many illustrations include hand-tipped colored plates, and the treatment lends itself to reflection and experimentation at the master as well as the student levels. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Architects Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto have been generating some of the most provocative thinking in the field for nearly twenty years. With