Light Construction

Transparency and luminescence have reemerged in the vocabulary of architecture, and light and "lightness" have become key concepts for a significant number of contemporary architects, as well as artists who create installations. Recent work by these designers recalls the use of transparent materials in early modern structures, but they have introduced new ideas and technical solutions. In so doing, they have redefined the relationship between the observer and the structure by interposing elements that both veil and illuminate. In this architecture of "lightness," buildings become intangible, structures shed their weight, and facades become unstable, dissolving into an often luminous evanescence. The thirty-three projects illustrated in this book exemplify this emerging sensibility, which is examined in a penetrating essay by Terence Riley, Chief Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, that places the new work in a broad historic and cultural perspective. More than thirty architects are represented in this international selection, and it includes a broad range of building types, scales, and technologies, from the small Leisure Studio created by a group of young Finnish architects to Renzo Piano's enormous Kansai International Airport in Japan. Also shown are the Goetz Collection in Munich by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the Cartier Foundation in Paris by Jean Nouvel, the ITM Building in Matsuyama, Japan, by Toyo Ito, and a set design by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Each project includes a description by Terence Riley or Anne Dixon, Supervisor, The Lily Auchincloss Study Center for Architecture and Design.


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