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New graphic novel is set in Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals in Switzerland

2019-10-31T18:27:00-04:00

Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals, the hotel and spa in Switzerland, was designed intentionally devoid of clocks so that visitor's sense of time would be suspended and immeasurable. Completed in 1996, there is a legend about a mountain in the village of Vals that is said to have a mountain that periodically swallows people.

In his debut graphic novel, Swimming in Darkness, cartoonist Lucas Harari builds on this modern mythology. The new publication centers around an architecture school dropout named Pierre, who, after a breakdown, travels to Vals to visit Zumthor's baths, which were the subject of his unfinished thesis. Upon his arrival, Pierre discovers secret rooms within the Therme Vals and attempts to uncover their hidden truths.

This psychological thriller drops the reader into Zumthor's work and uses it as a vehicle to explore this young protagonist's existential predicament. Concerning the work, Lucas Harari said:

I visited the thermal baths of Vals as a teenager and the place str...

Mies van der Rohe's life has been turned into a graphic novel

2019-09-10T14:15:00-04:00

Agustín Ferrer Casas, a Spanish illustrator and writer began working on the graphic novel in 2015, in an endeavor to tell the story of Mies' life and career. Now in 2019, the book is ready for release.

Image by Agustín Ferrer Casas

Casas did his homework for the 4-year project, working from a robust body of material. "It is a fictional biography of his life, based on numerous writings by many other authors and Mies himself," he says in a blog post. "And I say fiction because in this book, I try to show not only part of his work but life, the personality of the architect. What made him a great architect and what he left behind in his ambition to build."

Image by Agustín Ferrer Casas

Norman Foster has also written the prologue for the artistic work, in which he reflects on his appreciation for Mies' projects. The book can be previewed on Issuu and purchased here.

No Small Plans, a graphic novel illustrating urban planning of the past, the present and the future Chicago

2017-07-21T13:27:00-04:00

No Small Plans is a graphic novel that follows the neighborhood adventures of teens in Chicago's past, present and future as they wrestle with designing the city they want, need and deserve.

Inspired by the 1911 Wacker’s Manual, which was once used in classrooms to explain Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, the book is filled with beautiful illustrations and divided into three chapters set in the years 1928, 2017 and 2211. Each chapter ends with a map and a short interlude about Burnham, to give readers insight into the creation of the 1909 Plan and other urban planning challenges.

No Small Plans was launched in conjunction with CAF’s 50th anniversary and our new “Meet Your City” initiative, which aims to foster civic engagement. In partnership with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Public Library, CAF aspires to distribute 30,000 copies of No Small Plans for free to Chicago teens over the next three years.

Chapter 2: The Present, pg. 33-34

A copy of the book can be pre-ordered here.