Since 2008, Austria s national architecture museum Architekturzentrum Wien (Az W) has published Best of Austria, a biennial volume dedicated to the award-winning architecture developed in Austria or by Austrian architects. The latest edition once again brings together some 170 projects, from public buildings and spaces to offices, educational facilities, and single-family homes. Each entry includes full-color images and a floor plan, section, or elevation, as well as a brief description of the project. Rounding out the volume is a critical essay on contemporary Austrian architecture. All of the country s major architectural prizes are accounted for in this large and well-illustrated book, making it a valuable up-to-date survey of contemporary architecture in Austria. "
How and where is architecture created today? Where do architects find their inspiration? What design tools do they use? This book offers a behind-the-scenes look at twenty high-profile international architecture firms and provides authentic glimpses of the architects’ individual creative worlds. Rather than a collection of glossy portraits, the volume offers a step-by-step account of the design process, made vivid and three-dimensional by "snapshots" of the studios and texts with quotations from conversations with the architects. Each firm is depicted with a characteristic tool; the result is an overview of the tools used by successive generations of professional architects as they change over time, a phenomenon that has never been fully documented until now. The studios depicted are Alvar Aalto, Lina Bo Bardi, Bow-Wow, Hermann Czech, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Edge Design Institute, Yona Friedman, Antoni Gaudí, Lux Guyer, The Jerde Partnership, Steven Holl, UN Studio, Lacaton & Vassal, Rudolf Olgiati, Charlotte Perriand, R&Sie(n), Theiss-Jaksch/Schwalm-Theiss, Karl Schwanzer, SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), and Venturi Scott Brown & Associates. Wie und wo entsteht heute Architektur? Wovon lassen sich Architekten inspirieren? Welche Entwurfswerkzeuge kommen zum Einsatz? Das Buch gibt den Blick frei hinter die Kulissen von 20 international hochkarätigen Architekturbüros und vermittelt authentische Einblicke in die individuellen Kreativkosmen der ArchitektInnen. Der Fokus liegt dabei nicht auf Hochglanzportraits, sondern auf einer Schritt-für-Schritt-Erzählung des Entwurfsprozesses, der durch „Snapshots", die in den Ateliers gemacht wurden und Texten mit Zitaten aus den Gesprächen mit den Architekten plastisch wird. Da jedes Büro dabei mit einem charakteristischen Werkzeug porträtiert wird, entsteht ein Überblick über die „Tools" der Architekturprofession unterschiedlicher Generationen in ihrer Veränderung, die bisher nirgends umfassend dokumentiert worden sind. Die porträtierten Ateliers sind Alvar Aalto, Lina Bo Bardi, Bow-Wow, Hermann Czech, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Edge Design Institute, Yona Friedman, Antoni Gaudí, Lux Guyer, The Jerde Partnership, Steven Holl, UN Studio, Lacaton & Vassal, Rudolf Olgiati, Charlotte Perriand, R&Sie(n), Theiss-Jaksch/Schwalm-Theiss, Karl Schwanzer, SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, sowie Venturi Scott Brown & Associates.
