Archinect - Features

Brother-Sister Cofounders of Messner Architects Discuss their Quest for Professional Independence

2018-02-26T09:12:00-05:00

Messner Architects is a small practice based in Bozen, Italy, combining innovative, digital technology with traditional artisanship for projects defined by a strong regional context. Founded by the brother-and-sister duo, David and Verena Messner, they work across fields and scales, leading projects ranging from furniture to landscaping to housing.

In this edition of Small Studio Snapshots, the duo discuss working as a family team and their quest for professional independence.

The visionary workaholic: an intimate, luscious documentary portrait of Eero Saarinen

2016-09-20T12:19:00-04:00

In the way that the Star Wars film franchise was modeled on Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero’s journey, architectural documentaries might seem to be modeled on the theory of the visionary workaholic. Certainly this is the case with Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future, which stays true to its form with majestic drone footage, voice-over narration, a soundtrack by Moby and interviews with famous co-workers, architects, and family members.

Archinect's Summer Reading List: recommendations from Oana Stanescu of Family, Elaine Molinar and Craig Dykers of Snøhetta, and Jorge Otero-Pailos

2016-07-07T08:39:00-04:00

With temperatures climbing and vacations on the horizon, it’s time to stock up on summer reads. When talking to architects over the past few months, we’ve been asking for their book recommendations—to bring to the beach, to distract from the sweltering heat of the subway, or just to edify. Here’s a few of them.

Screen/Print #41: "Family Planning" from Harvard Design Magazine

2016-04-22T09:45:00-04:00

It’s among the worst clichés of architectural writing: towers are phallic; stadiums (or just any project by a certain recently-deceased icon) are vulval. But what about when the architects themselves describe their project in genital terms? And, in particular, when they take inspiration not from some heroic idea of rigidity, but rather acceptance of a more prosaic state of flaccidity?