Alejandro de la Sota
Publisher: Moisés Puente Rodríguez
Gustavo Gili
ISBN 84–252–1880–2
Alejandro de la Sota (1913–1996) ranks among the masters of Spanish architecture of the 20th Century. However, despite the fact that his buildings were well publicised, his written works are still largely unknown. De la Sota’s texts from 1951–1996 have been compiled for the first time in Moisés Puente Rodríguez’s volume, which also contains a lot of until now unpublished material. One section of the book is dedicated to the essays of the architect, a second recounts several discussions with de la Sota and a third contains transcriptions of a number of lectures that he gave throughout his long career.
Pensar la arquitectura (Thinking Architecture)
Author: Peter Zumthor
Gustavo Gili
ISBN 84–252–1992–2
Peter Zumthor is one of the prominent heads in contemporary Swiss architecture. Even in times of globalisation the architect, who was born in 1943 and is a qualified cabinetmaker, has proven his down-to-earth attitude. His work is based on the use of material and construction, not on formal trends, as well as respect for our cultural inheritance. Gustavo Gili has now released a collection of texts, which Zumthor composed during the last 10 years, in the ‘Arquitectura con Textos’ series. They form a rare and valuable testimonial to the architectural thinking of the headstrong Swiss, who has been teaching at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (Switzerland) since 1996.
18 años con al arquitecto
Louis I. Kahn (18 Years with Architect Louis I. Kahn)
Author: August Komendant
COAGalicia (purchase from
publiarq@buildnet.es)
(English edition: Aloray Publishers,
ISBN 0–913690–06–6)
In this book, the engineer August Komendant allowed the revue of his 18 year work, which he carried out together with Louis Kahn, and of the numerous buildings that emerged during this time. In so doing, the Salk Institute, the Olivetti Underwood Factory, the seat of government in Dacca/Bangladesh and the Kimbell Art Museum make new ways of doing things accessible to the readership. The Galician architectural association, the publishers of the Spanish licensed edition, consider the book to be of ‘cultural value’ as it contains valuable insider knowledge into the work of one of the major architects of the 20th century.
Inquietud Teórica y Estrategia Proyectual (Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies)
Author: Rafael Moneo
Actar
ISBN 84–94941–68–1
(English edition: The MIT Press,
ISBN 0–262–13443–8)
Rafael Moneo has dedicated a large amount of his time as an architect to teaching and architectural criticism. In this book, which developed from a lecture course at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Moneo analyses the works of eight contemporary architects and their theoretical positions: Herzog & de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, Frank O. Gehry, Alvaro Siza, Peter Eisenman, Aldo Rossi, Venturi Scott & Brown and James Stirling. The book, which incorporates 600 illustrations, does not only give the reader a great insight into the work of eight prominent architects, but also provides just as much information about a ninth – the author himself.