Architecture Stuff
is about a way of looking at architecture. It examines 7 seminal
projects and shows how they might have been conceived with or without
the design architect's awareness. More a working method than a theory,
the book deals with questions pertinent to designers as well as to
critics of buildings. More Stuff then
illustrates how the same sensibility and working method can be used in
the design of buildings as a tool for creating architecture.


The 7
buildings featured are chosen for their breadth of styles and
approaches to architecture, demonstrating that this approach to
architecture can be applied to any building. Presented in reverse
chronological order, the first project, Grace Farms, is a building by
SANAA. Noted for its meandering river form and minimalist detailing, it
is seen to be - among other things - a juxtaposition of orthogonal and
sinuous forms. The second project is Villa Dall Ava by Rem Koolhaas/OMA.
Located in the suburbs, the house is a transition from city to country.
The third project is the Neue Staatsgalerie by James Stirling. The
analysis shows how the 'bad boy' of architecture subverts conventional
architectural tropes. Robert Venturi's Mother's House is shown to be a
compressed stately manor and an architect's conceit. The Kimbell Art
Museum by Louis Kahn can be understood as simple repetitive forms with
elaborated elements that organize a diverse collection of spaces. Pierre
Chareau's Maison de Verre is much more than types of transparency and
mechanisation. One of its major themes is the use of 'L' shaped spaces.
Finally, St George's Bloomsbury by Nicholas Hawksmoor is a parish church
swallowed by a classical temple. The critique exposes how the architect
used that idea to juxtapose the clerical and the civic to develop all
of the details in the building.


These are not singular idea
buildings and, as a way of seeing architecture, there are overlapping
themes in this collection. The history of architecture of specific
periods is a common theme, as is architecture's stasis with spaces
expanding or contracting. A dry sense of humour is always appreciated.
What separates these buildings from any other building is the density of
ideas presented.


More Stuff accounts
for the same working methods as a way to make architecture. Here the
author illustrates eleven projects across the span of his career. Though
often done in collaboration with others, in all cases the author
generated the design ideas. One of the key aspects of architecture stuff
is that it is unpretentious and accessible and these projects are meant
to illustrate that quality. Architecture can be serious and playful at
the same time.