Some may call it the first manifesto of the twenty-first century, for it lays down a new way to think about architecture. Others may think of it as the last architectural treatise, for it provides a discursive container for ideas that would otherwise be lost. Whatever genre it belongs to, SITELESS is a new kind of architecture book that seems to have come out of nowhere. Its author, a young French architect practicing in Tokyo, admits he "didn't do this out of reverence toward architecture, but rather out of a profound boredom with the discipline, as a sort of compulsive reaction." What would happen if architects liberated their minds from the constraints of site, program, and budget? he asks. The result is a book that is saturated with forms, and as free of words as any architecture book the MIT Press has ever published.The 1001 building forms in SITELESS include structural parasites, chain link towers, ball bearing floors, corrugated corners, exponential balconies, radial facades, crawling frames, forensic housing--and other architectural ideas that may require construction techniques not yet developed and a relation to gravity not yet achieved. SITELESS presents an open-ended compendium of visual ideas for the architectural imagination to draw from. The forms, drawn freehand (to avoid software-specific shapes) but from a constant viewing angle, are presented twelve to a page, with no scale, order, or end to the series. After setting down 1001 forms in siteless conditions and embryonic stages, Blanciak takes one of the forms and performs a "scale test," showing what happens when one of these fantastic ideas is subjected to the actual constraints of a site in central Tokyo. The book ends by illustrating the potential of these shapes to morph into actual building proportions. François Blanciak is an architect and Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo. He has worked for architectural firms in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, and New York, with architects including Frank Gehry and Peter Eisenman.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Imagine Learning from Las Vegas as illustrated by Chris Ware, and you'll get a sense of François Blanciak's marvelously inventive new book." Metropolis
"In Siteless: 1001 Building Forms, French architect François Blanciak surrenders the usual anchors of function and site for an exercise in pure form. His astoundingly imaginative 1,001 designs could challenge architects and engineers for decades." Santa Fe New Mexican
About the Author
François Blanciak is an architect and Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo. He has worked for architectural firms in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, and New York, with such architects as Frank Gehry and Peter Eisenman.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By NZarch
Format:Paperback
I would recommend this book to anybody who sometimes struggles with coming up with new ideas or often gets stuck in the design process.. I often flick through this book for inspiration or ideas. The forms inside do not necessarily need to be replicated, but can often lead to developments in your own ideas.
A really helpful, small book that should be kept in any architecture students backpack
A really helpful, small book that should be kept in any architecture students backpack
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To claim this book just adds to the general tendency of contemporary architecture seeking the immediately shocking, superficial and easily publishable is perhaps a sign of precisely this tendency: people losing the ability to dwell on things long enough for their imagination to come out.
Once applied on actual architecture these concepts would need to be closely linked to program, scale and site to be interesting. However in the initial program-, scale- and siteless condition they are presented in this book, they evoke intense imagination in me. The sketches being hand drawn also adds to this.
You can be impatient and flip through it in five minutes, or you can focus your attention and find the potential and depth these forms have.
Anyway, diverging criticism and provocation is usually a sign of quality.
Once applied on actual architecture these concepts would need to be closely linked to program, scale and site to be interesting. However in the initial program-, scale- and siteless condition they are presented in this book, they evoke intense imagination in me. The sketches being hand drawn also adds to this.
You can be impatient and flip through it in five minutes, or you can focus your attention and find the potential and depth these forms have.
Anyway, diverging criticism and provocation is usually a sign of quality.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am not an architect but I am fascinated by the multiple varieties of shapes in this book. I can literally dive into this imaginative world.
The architectural context seems to give the work some kind of
justification, which is not needed. It is a fine piece of art all by
itself.
It makes a good present as well, as the price is very reasonable, and can be a source of inspiration not only for architects but also for artists (I personally intend to offer it to a friend who is a wood sculptor). I think this book is an appealing work for all kinds of creative people.
The architectural context seems to give the work some kind of
justification, which is not needed. It is a fine piece of art all by
itself.
It makes a good present as well, as the price is very reasonable, and can be a source of inspiration not only for architects but also for artists (I personally intend to offer it to a friend who is a wood sculptor). I think this book is an appealing work for all kinds of creative people.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A genuine 'book of forms'
An architecture professor recommended this book years ago, but said that the author's love of Japan should be 'taken with a grain of salt'. Read more
Published 4 days ago by N. Coppedge
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Just for Architects
I received this book less than an hour ago and it blew my mind. I am an artist not an architect. Each little drawing is a wonderful perspective study. Read more
Published 5 months ago by LAS
5.0 out of 5 stars
Break the box!
I wrote a novel based on this book, spanning 11 dimensions and many timelines, from Ancient Egypt to 1800s Paris to present day. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dogson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Introduction to 3D rendering
Buy this book, a good ballpoint pen, and a blank notebook and get to work. Draw each one in order, and don't skip the hard ones! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dan Bergevin
5.0 out of 5 stars
siteless 1001 building forms
El libro es muy bueno, en cuanto a diseño es una buena herramienta de creatividad.
Published on October 7, 2010 by willian obando
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hard for even a formalist like me to love
I happened across this book in Amazon and bought it without much research because of the cost. That will teach me. Read more
Published on May 20, 2009 by Damon Caldwell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally something new in architecture books
I bought this book out of curiosity after reading few contrasting reviews and I was quite surprised by the density of its content. Read more
Published on March 12, 2009 by Eric Perrier
1.0 out of 5 stars
Low point in architectural design
This is a book that reflects the disease that afflicts modern architecture these days. Out of "boredom" with the field we are given a bunch of random meaningless forms which... Read more
Published on June 9, 2008 by Diogenes
3.0 out of 5 stars
Siteless: don't let your professors see this
It's a very interesting little pamphlet, and amusing to flip to any page and see what's there.
That being said, the forms don't communicate that much, and it requires an iron... Read more
That being said, the forms don't communicate that much, and it requires an iron... Read more
Published on May 17, 2008 by kyleseyz
2.0 out of 5 stars
Siteless and mindless
The book filled with hundreds of small sketches, the title of each sketch is pretty mindless..
It did not have the depth and sophistication one would like to explore when... Read more
It did not have the depth and sophistication one would like to explore when... Read more
Published on May 5, 2008 by F. Rahardjo
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