I must say, I just received this as a birthday gift and it is very impressive. Not sure how their 'panel' chose the projects, but they have included a pretty diverse mix of buildings from around the world.
I have to question the inclusion of a 'treehouse' from Africa... As if to infer that architects in Africa are from the bush and still do treehouses. I find it pretty offensive actually. The omission of anything from the Carribbean is also questionable as 'minority' races are sparesely represented.
You could also make the argument that the GDP per capita list at the beginning of the book is akin to the projects represented. Poor countries have fewer contemporary buildings, rich countries have more..... but then that infers that the US at number 2 or 3 on the list is strikingly absent of contemporary architecture as the section for the US less than half the size of Europe.
so this is where it pays to have a librarian girlfriend, Add All is a database of all book resellers, and believe it or not, Walmart sells the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture for $100.
Phaidon did it
I must say, I just received this as a birthday gift and it is very impressive. Not sure how their 'panel' chose the projects, but they have included a pretty diverse mix of buildings from around the world.
I have to question the inclusion of a 'treehouse' from Africa... As if to infer that architects in Africa are from the bush and still do treehouses. I find it pretty offensive actually. The omission of anything from the Carribbean is also questionable as 'minority' races are sparesely represented.
You could also make the argument that the GDP per capita list at the beginning of the book is akin to the projects represented. Poor countries have fewer contemporary buildings, rich countries have more..... but then that infers that the US at number 2 or 3 on the list is strikingly absent of contemporary architecture as the section for the US less than half the size of Europe.
I'm looking forward to digging in deeper..
More comments here.
i'd like to see a book of equally unnecessary dimensions, but full of classic archinect discussion threads!
so this is where it pays to have a librarian girlfriend,
Add All is a database of all book resellers, and believe it or not, Walmart sells the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture for $100.
Amazon has it for 108
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714843121/...
That's a great review, Paul.
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