Contemporary World Architects: Office dA [Paperback]

Rodolphe El-Khoury (Editor), Oscar Riera Ojeda (Editor), Dan Bibb (Photographer), Graham Owen (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Oscar Riera Ojeda is an editor and designer who practices in the United States, South America, and Europe from his office in Boston. he is vice-director of the Spanish-Argentinian magazine Casa Internacional and is the creator of several series of architecture publications for Rockport Publishers, including Contemporary World Architects, Ten Houses, Single Building, and Art and Architecture. Other architectural publications include the new American series for the Whitney Library of Design, as well as several monographs on the work of renowned architects.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564965465
• ISBN-13: 978-1564965462
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wondeful and inspiring, December 3, 2003

By 

Nicholas M. Kothari "Nicholas Kothari" (NYC, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Contemporary World Architects: Office dA (Paperback)

I saw Nader T. speak at a lecture here in Detroit. The reviewer that said that the book does not capture the degree of thoughtfulness that is involved in their design process is absolutely correct. Perhaps it is because the text is not their own words? who knows. Even so, this book has some of the most intriguing manipulations to seemingly standard materials and construction. This book shows how Office dA take their hand to urban planning, furniture design, and architecture. Each of the physical models shown are a feat of craftsmanship, almost comparable to the complexity of Morphosis models, yet I tend to side with office dA for SUBSTANCE and technology (no offense, Thomas Mayne.) Office dA is one of the most sophisticated thinkers in small/medium scale architecture in the United States right now. According to their last lecture here in Detroit, we will be seeing larger projects in the near future.

The fact that most of their work in this book is unbuilt makes little difference. The models are so meticulously detailed that it might as well be built.

-Nicholas Kothari

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars something to sink your teeth into, July 3, 2002

By 

Matthew O. Nugent "chaglang" (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Contemporary World Architects: Office dA (Paperback)

I've never understood architecture monographs that rely almost solely on text and photos. Design is about drawing, and without sketches, details, section and plans, the resulting building exists in a vacuum. For that reason, I really enjoyed this book. The use of working drawings gives you an understanding of the thought and technique that results in some very creative and beautiful designs. The photographs (and there are quite a few of them) do a great job of bringing out the subtle details of Office dA's work. Granted, it's not all architecture (there are furniture and sculpture pieces) and not much of it is built (8 out of 11 projects are in model form), but it's engaging and inspiring nonetheless. It was also nice (and, as a student, instructive) to see scale models of such a high quality, instead of the usual computer-generated renderings. It's a great book for anyone interested in current design, and a must-have for architecture students.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative monograph, March 29, 2000

By 

D. Stuart "DCS" (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Contemporary World Architects: Office dA (Paperback)

While most monographs are unfortunately stuffed with photos of built work, Office dA has very little built work, this one is is pleasantly filled with many sketches and working drawings. There are two completed projects (as seen in Architecture) and many uncompleted projects. I heard Nader Tehrani speak at the Wexner Center and unfortunately the book cannot begin to describe the thoughtful manner of their designs. Otherwise, it is an excellent book that shows the process of their design. For a monograph this is an excellent book.