This comprehensive catalogue of contemporary work examines the renewed investment in the relationship between representation, materiality, and architecture. It assembles a range of diverse voices across various institutions, practices, generations, and geographies, through specific case studies that collectively present a broader theoretical intention.

This book examines the interrelationship of representational methods and material systems as fundamental drivers of the design process. Identifying four primary categories of representational logics - point, line, surface, mass - each category is illustrated through four precedent projects that deploy iterative material sensibilities. As a collection, this text provides a comprehensive categorization of the architectural design process. Through the comprehensive definition of categorical typologies, it illustrates the collective capability of this conceptual methodology. By unpacking projects through their specific design devices, the collective analysis reveals the impact of material techniques and methods of representation as a generative tool. Broad in scope, it identifies and uniformly analyses some of the most significant projects from the last century, including: UK Pavilion Shanghai - Heatherwick Studio, Shanghai,China Gatehouse - Office dA, Beijing, China Maison Colonial - Jean Prouve, France/Africa de Young Museum - Herzog and de Meuron, California USA Montreal Expo 67 - Buckminster Fuller, Montreal, Canada Jean Marie Tjibou Cultural Center - RPBW, Noumea, Indonesia House III - Peter Eisenman, New York, USA Barcelona Pavilion - Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Spain Tel Aviv - Scott Cohen, Tel Aviv, Israel Los Manantiales - Felix Candella, Mexico City, Mexico Yokahama Terminal - FOA, Yokahama, Japan Pantheon, Rome, Italy Tres Grand Bibliotheque - Rem Koolhaas, OMA, Paris, France Brother Claus Field Chapel - Peter Zumthor, Switzerland Embryonic House- Greg Lynn Richly illustrated with consistent, clear and precise line drawings, the book presents a series of iconic precedents through a unique analytical and graphic sensibility.

Beginning with material, this book revolves around physical material making and design decisions that emerge from material interaction.

Combining essays from both practice and academia, this book presents some of the most significant projects and thoughts on materiality from the last decade. Beautifully illustrated with a great deal of technical information throughout, it shows work, technical technique and process, and positions it within a broader theoretical intention.

By assembling a range of voices, here is a multifaceted portrait of material design today. Students and design professionals alike should find in this book an essential resource for understanding this increasingly important aspect of design.

This book examines the interrelationship of representational methods and material systems as fundamental drivers of the design process. Identifying four primary categories of representational logics - point, line, surface, mass - each category is illustrated through four precedent projects that deploy iterative material sensibilities. As a collection, this text provides a comprehensive categorization of the architectural design process. Through the comprehensive definition of categorical typologies, it illustrates the collective capability of this conceptual methodology. By unpacking projects through their specific design devices, the collective analysis reveals the impact of material techniques and methods of representation as a generative tool. Broad in scope, it identifies and uniformly analyses some of the most significant projects from the last century, including: UK Pavilion Shanghai - Heatherwick Studio, Shanghai,China Gatehouse - Office dA, Beijing, China Maison Colonial - Jean Prouve, France/Africa de Young Museum - Herzog and de Meuron, California USA Montreal Expo 67 - Buckminster Fuller, Montreal, Canada Jean Marie Tjibou Cultural Center - RPBW, Noumea, Indonesia House III - Peter Eisenman, New York, USA Barcelona Pavilion - Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Spain Tel Aviv - Scott Cohen, Tel Aviv, Israel Los Manantiales - Felix Candella, Mexico City, Mexico Yokahama Terminal - FOA, Yokahama, Japan Pantheon, Rome, Italy Tres Grand Bibliotheque - Rem Koolhaas, OMA, Paris, France Brother Claus Field Chapel - Peter Zumthor, Switzerland Embryonic House- Greg Lynn Richly illustrated with consistent, clear and precise line drawings, the book presents a series of iconic precedents through a unique analytical and graphic sensibility.

This comprehensive catalogue of contemporary work examines the renewed investment in the relationship between representation, materiality, and architecture. It assembles a range of diverse voices across various institutions, practices, generations, and geographies, through specific case studies that collectively present a broader theoretical intention.

Where should they go? 70 million displaced refugees and asylum seekers with no passport, no money, and no worldly goods. In 380 BCE Plato wrote about the 'Ideal City,' but it wasn't until 1516 CE that Sir Thomas More invented the word, 'Utopia,' translated from Greek as 'good place,' that is in need of a new, contemporary interpretation. It is within the framework of utopia that the City of Refugees represents a place that transcends the fate of the refugee and the reason they were torn from their homeland and not given safe haven fleeing their country. It is a concept for a new city that welcomes these optimistic people looking for a place to be free from oppression. The University of Houston College of Architecture + Design with 135 students is proposing 4 cities on 4 continents as prototypes that represent a real utopia for housing the unprecedented migration of people moving across borders. This UN-sponsored, free economic zone for the 4 cities can be funded by small fractions of the defense budgets appropriated by the UN. The innovative cities create a platform for a new, multi-ethnic society based upon justice, tolerance, and economically viable with a net zero energy consumption within a sustainable environment. The new three-dimensional cities redefine the concept of streets by no longer needing cars creating a real utopia for those with no voice. The City of Refugees is a soft place to land that believes in the future.

New Essentialism: Material Architecture examines how architecture engages material to create effect. It approaches this complex topic through five critical historical thresholds, represented by analytical precedents and coupled with projective experimental design projects. Unpacking the fundamental methodologies of their geometric, material, spatial, and effectual sensibilities, each threshold builds an examination that reveals the essential methods and processes of design. In turn, this illustrates the basis of the argument for a New Essentialism: its characteristics, methods and the sensibilities that mark its definition.