Synopses & Reviews
The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture presents a global survey of the most outstanding works of contemporary architecture from around the world completed in the last five years. Organized geographically and illustrated with global, regional and sub-regional maps locating each building, the book illustrates more than 1,000 completed buildings, and includes some of the most influential projects as well as many lesser-known buildings from around the world. Sections on World Data, Building Data and Architects Biographies build up a detailed picture of the influences on contemporary architecture today. Every building type, from the largest publicly-funded art museums and airports to private houses, is covered, and each project is illustrated with colour photographs, line drawings and a descriptive text.
The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture presents a comprehensive survey of international architecture at the turn of the twenty-first century. Eminent architectural critics, curators, journalists and practitioners from all parts of the globe were asked to nominate what they considered to be the most outstanding works of contemporary architecture in their regions and beyond. The resulting c.1,050 buildings both confirm the far-reaching influence of well-known and respected international practitioners such as Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Sir Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & De Meuron, as well as introducing a host of lesser-known architects whose work provides an illuminating point of comparison with their famous counterparts.
The book provides a unique opportunity to examine contemporary architecture as a global phenomenon with all the cross-cultural influences and commonality this suggests, as well as illustrating the diversity that is generated by climate (from the Arctic circle to the African deserts), culture (from the technologically advanced secularism of western Europe to traditional rural communities) and economics (from the wealthy post-industrial mega-economies to some of the most economically challenged countries of the developing world).
The Atlas is divided into six geographical regions with detailed maps in each section providing geographical orientation and an understanding of where contemporary architecture is being commissioned, designed and built. The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture will be essential reading for all those interested in gaining a true understanding of where the best contemporary architecture is located in the world.
Review
"An encyclopaedia in one giant volume five, even ten books in one. Breathtakingly illustrated... a thrill a page... All the buildings included date from 1998 or later so it is a genuine survey of contemporary architecture... For anyone wishing to see modern wonders on his travels as well as ancient ones this book is a brilliant guide, including many places that are destinations in their own right." The Times, UK
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"The modern wonders of the building world.... Think of it as a Lonely Planet guide with more 3D elevations and less crap about taxi scams and bilharzia. Impressive..." Arena
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"For architects, students and the general enthusiast, this titanic tome is an essential source of reference." V&A, (Victoria & Albert Museum magazine
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"[A]n event of a book, so big it could be the eighth wonder of the world.... an unparalleled resource for anyone interested in the cutting edge of architecture. At £100, it is quite a bargain too. A must for every bookshelf." IDFX, April 2004 UK
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"So vast it practically needs planning permission... the perfect source book."
Wallpaper, April 2004 UK
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"[T]he new Phaidon Atlas is an amazing adventure. Never have I seen more works of architecture from around the world so extensively documented. This Atlas which covers the globe is a must-have for architecture students and professionals alike, as it documents work built from Iceland to New Zealand." Richard Meier, Architect
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"I spent part of my childhood looking at maps of the world. In my teenage years my interests turned to ethnography, a human geography. Today the maps I love the most are the ones about architecture. They provide all the information you need without bias. They leave you free to love or hate, without any interference. I love atlases." Renzo Piano, Architect
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"Move over Bannister Fletcher, there's a new book in town." Aaron Betsky, Director of Netherlands Architecture Institute
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"It's a fascinating education for those of us who build or care about making architecture." Hani Rashid, Architect and Designer, Asymptote
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"Now we need to reinforce the shelving!" Zaha Hadid, Architect
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"What a brilliant resource." David Adjaye, Architect
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"Unique, definitive and authoritative, the Atlas demonstrates that architecture is a truly global phenomenon." Deyan Sudjic, Curator and Critic
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"A wonderful resource on architecture." Bob Emmerson, Chairman Arup Group
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"A first-class ticket." Will Alsop, Architect
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"Heavy-weight champion of architecture reference books." Architect's Newspaper
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"[S]o much of what is here is so good. Literally hundreds of the buildings displayed radiate a sense of well-crafted pride. Some offer tactile joy, such as the buildings from Scandinavia that humanize their clean lines with delicate layers of wood. Others play with the extremes of new technology, such as the truly bizarre Selfridge"s department store in Birmingham, England, which is coated in 15,000 aluminum discs that make it look like a giant mound of bubble wrap." San Francisco Chronicle
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"[A] collection of architectural events that are often beautiful and that, taken together, give you a fuller sense or architectural activity around the world... the effect of seeing these thousand architectural events compressed into a single volume compels one to recognize, or to feel more strongly than before, that there is a great deal of very fine and even noble work being produced around the world, that, in spite of a lot of nonsense, there is something inspiring in the spectacle of so many minds sincerely seeking to conjure beauty out inhabitable form and to do this in so many startlingly diverse shapes and colors and moods." New York Sun
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"From an ovoid-shaped brick tunnel commissioned by Vaclav Havel in Prague to a multi-domed parliamentary library in New Delhi that looks like bubbling yeast, The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture offers a choice slice of millennially hip buildings." New York Times House & Garden Section
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"Despite the 20-pound heft and the attitude (the buildings were chosen by '150 international jurors who are all leading names in the field'), there's a lot to love about a single volume that has 5,500 photos of more than a thousand new buildings from the past five years.... Whether you want to follow the celebrity parade of the big-name architects or discover a lesser-known work, there is a lot of rewarding perusing to do here. And if you are a design professional who has been too busy trying to make a living to keep up with the journals, then The Phaidon Atlas can put you back in the picture." I.D. Magazine
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"This is a gorgeous book, one that frames our world as a seductive network of architectural plot points.... The collection captures an unprecedented volume of architectural innovation, surveying the boundless landscape and diversity of our global cultures with dignity and grace." Planet Magazine
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"Sitting down with Phaidon's latest is like getting a decade's worth of subscriptions to your favorite magazines all at once." Dwell Magazine
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"An extraordinarily thorough 'best of' exercise... What makes it different from dozens of other books offering the same thing is its ambition and its details... This is the biggest of big picture books... packed with interesting stuff. I could rifle through it for days. Full marks for having drawings that explain the pictures... the scale of this work, and the accessibility of its design, is such that is deserves a wider audience." The Sunday Times, UK
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"The only global look at cutting-edge building that's available between two covers... [a] compendium of cool." Newsweek, USA
Review
"[A]n extraordinarily thorough 'best of' exercise.... What makes it different from dozens of other books offering the same thing is its ambition and its details.... This is the biggest of big picture books.... It is packed with interesting stuff. I could rifle through it for days. Full marks for having drawings that explain the pictures.... the scale of this work, and the accessibility of its design, is such that is deserves a wider audience'"
The Sunday Times, UK
Synopsis
An oversized atlas of the best architecture of the last 5 years, worldwide, organized by location.
Synopsis
Organized geographically and illustrated with global, regional and sub-regional maps, photos, and line drawings, the book illustrates more than 1,000 of the most outstanding works of contemporary architecture that have been completed in the last five years.