Informal (Architecture) (Architecture S.) [Hardcover]

Cecil Balmond (Author), Jannuzzi Smith (Author), Christian Brensing (Author), Charles Jencks (Author), Rem Koolhaas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002 | Series: Architecture S.

The innovative structural designs of Cecil Balmond underpin architectural forms and give them their own integrity. Balmond's collaborative work with architects such as Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas and James Stirling demonstrates the process of fusion between architecture and his engineering. His structural thinking differs from that of other engineers in his field in its completely new conception of the engineer's contribution to architecture. The plasticity of architectural plans is enhanced through a decisive development of its structural design. The border line between structure and architecture thus becomes increasingly blurred. In this book, the process is explained by reference to eight projects through which the author makes the theoretical basis of his engineering solutions understandable for the reader.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Balmond's structural thinking differs from that of other engineers in his field in its completely new conception of the engineer's contribution to architecture. The plasticity of architeectural plans is enhanced through a decisive development of its structural design. The borderline between structure and architecture thus becomes increasingly blurred. This process is explained in detail in "Informal" by reference to 8 exemplary projects. The author makes the theoretical basis of his engineering solutions understandable to the reader and his sketches are more than just purely techincal illustrations - they are the key o his approach. After reading "Informal", architects will have to rethink their understanding of many well-known buildings.

About the Author

The Author: Cecil Balmond was born in Sri Lanka in 1943 and studied civil engineering at Imperial College, London, specializing in advanced structures. He is a member of the Arup main board. He has collaborated with many famous architects including Rem Koolhaus, Enrique Miralles, and Daniel Liebeskind. He is the author of "Number 9", also published by Prestel.

The Editor: Christian Brensing studied literature at the Royal College of Art in London and has worked for Ove Arup & Partners since 1993.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Prestel USA (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791324004
• ISBN-13: 978-3791324005
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,403,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not necessarily for engineers..., January 30, 2003

By 

young at heart (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Informal (Architecture) (Architecture S.) (Hardcover)

Peruse this book it extensively before you buy it. As an engineer, I feel it is long on graphics and musings but short on insight. I think his intended audience is architects more than fellow engineers. I think he wants to show them how engineers are also innovative and multidimensional designers, that we aren't just number-crunchers. A worthy goal, to be sure. But I was hoping to be wowed with project-specific responses to architectural challenges. I wasn't, but I don't consider basic overturning resistance and load transfer to be sheer brilliance. On major backflips of his designs, he holds his cards close. Also, Balmond correlates his work extensively to nature, frontier conceptual science and the arts in the tradition of great thinkers. But the correlations are rarely logical, nor do they show a consistent consciousness or developing method across his oeuvre. Were this not the case, I would be more inclined to believe these epiphanies occurred during actual design as opposed to monograph-writing. Also, it sure is a tiny book for $....

In his defense and perhaps my own, a disclaimer: in no way is this review intended to diminish Balmond's significance to the world of architectural structures. We as engineers aren't known for writing flourishes. And has anyone ever read a design monograph free of ego?

I would recommend What is a Bridge? by Pollalis or An Engineer Imagines by Peter Rice over this book. Both clearly convey the real experience and potential brilliance of the modern structural designer.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dialogue, April 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Informal (Architecture) (Architecture S.) (Hardcover)

Informal is a terrific read; it places me right at the table as the author engages with his architect collaborators pursuing innovative building designs. The range is fascinating, from a box shape in the Villa Bordeaux to a curvilinear form in the Arnhem Interchange to the serene and effortless canopy in Lisbon. In each project the author establishes simple initial moves which lead ultimately to new configurations and importantly develops throughout the book a rigorous basis for exploring the non linear. This is welcome in an age when so much architectural form making is whimsical. As an architect I was fascinated how this book also brings out the lyrical and poetic inherent in structure. Best of all perhaps is the 27 sectioned speculation at the end on the anatomy of form, and an insight into the structure of organisation itself. In conjunction with his intriguing earlier book Number 9 Balmond sets out a new agenda for designers everywhere, including architects and engineers.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow !, June 16, 2006

By 

Joong Won Lee "Joongwon" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Informal (Architecture) (Architecture S.) (Hardcover)

Informal is an extraordinary work. I guess the reason why it's so shocking is that the content of the book is not like those static structural forms or solutions that we see in structural class. The case studies that Balmond brings to the table are very recent and genuine by star architects. I guess I was shocked by the fact that all these architects are not structurally oriented architects such as Foster/ Piano/ Calatrava/ Hopkins. Rather, they are theoretically approaching architects such as Koolhaas/ Liebskind; or, tectonically approaching architects such as Siza. I never thought projects by them had anything to do with structural or mathmatical innovation. Reading Informal, one can easily detect where the originality lie in each project. Sometimes it's in the irregularity of geometry or sometimes it's in mathmatical mystery. Balmond contends that they are all in mother nature. Unlike a formal structural engineering (e.g. Peter Rice) Balmond's originality comes from the informal networks. In High-tech, the ingenuity of structural entity was condensed into joinery. Informal networks is much more diverse and complex than that. It is against the conventional formal structural idea of hierarchy/center/symmetry. Balmond argues, formal approach is defining a problem in a "fixed" or "contained" manner; hence, leading to a same old idea of solution/ detailing. In Informal, Balmond redefines it in a more active/dynamic geometry, to bring about unexpected realities. Sometimes through structural innovation and sometimes through special surface treatment, Balmond promoted and realized the ideas of star architects. Overall, he has freed architecture from the "Cartesian Cage".