Product Description

In recent architecture theory and practise there has been a tendency to refer to exteriors as a skin concealing an interior, as opposed to the traditional and more physical concepts of surface, flatness, and depth. The computer now enables the architect to call his design into life, free from the rigid material form, and view it as a flexible and interactive creation. In this book, the concepts of flatness and surface tension are examined in the light of virtual design and built reality. A selection of projects are presented to show how the architects regard space and surfaces in modern architectural practice in a digital age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1140370 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From the Publisher
In recent architecture theory and practice there has been a tendency to refer to exteriors as a skin concealing an interior, as opposed to the traditional and more physical concepts of surface, flatness, and depth. The computer now enables the architect to call his design into life and view it as a flexible and interactive creation. In this book,the concepts of flatness and surface tension are examined in the light of virtual design and built reality. A selection of exciting projects from various architects are presented to show how they regard space and surfaces in modern architectural practice in a digital age.

Customer Reviews

Depth is brought to the surface
After the Moderne with its dominating theme of transparency andthe postmodern with its absolute flatness of façades to whichImperiale assigns a "lack of depth", depth is brought to thesurface. The interaction between shell and contents corresponds to thecontemporary idea of our own body. Our skin being the largest organ wepossess is experienced as a mirror of the inside and is increasinglybeing regarded as a filtering membrane between the inside and theoutside. In this small book, six chapters mention and introduce allrelevant theses. After comparisons with examples from art, the secondchapter is dedicated to architectural surfaces as successors to mediawalls. Folds, theories of Deleuze and the consequences of animationsoftware have led to topological surfaces such as the Klein bottle orthe Moebius strip. The digital technologies are explained briefly butclearly, from NURBS and hybrids to liquid-crystal surfaces. The fourthchapter is dedicated to the interface between the virtual and the realworld. The concluding remarks and outlook are brief and ask questionsconcerning representation in today's architecture...