Reading the Wind and Weather: The Meteorological Architecture of Studio Mumbai

Architectural writer and educator Kazi Ashraf likens the work of Studio Mumbai to that of a tree, in which landscape and architecture converge. As he explains, such a position is realised by a profound commitment to the act of building in which native materials are condensed into temporary structures. This requires due attention to the process of making, reflected in a workshop practice that incorporates craftsmen and artisans, and by necessity has to stand outside the conventional expectations for construction and economies of time.     

Practices Abroad: Today's Diaspora,Tomorrow's Architecture

A surprising number of architects of Iranian origin, working outside of Iran, have come to international attention in recent years. Guest-Editor Michael Hensel looks at the work of US-based Hariri & Hariri and NADAAA&; and London-located Farjadi Architects and studio INTEGRATE. Chosen for the variety of their approaches, Hensel attempts to trace whether there are indeed shared connections and traits in their work that can be characterised as uniquely Iranian.     

Concrete Constructs: The Limits of Rationalism in Swiss Architecture

Ákos Moravánszky explains why for him ‘the traces of Mediterranean Rationalism in the new Swiss-German architecture are like the imitation stitching on the moulded plastic dashboard of a new car’. It is an influence which, despite the undeniable impact of Aldo Rossi and the Ticino School at ETH Zurich in the 1970s, remains skin-deep, sharing little with the present in terms of ideology or the interpretation of the historic past. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Defining Distinction,or Four Good Reasons for Success: The Extraordinary Career of Renzo Piano

For 30 years, Renzo Piano has been producing distinguished buildings and delighting the world with his innovation and sensitivity. Here, Livio Sacchi attempts to tease out some of the reasons behind Piano's sustained success. Having gained an almost unparalleled international profile during the last couple of decades, a period that has been notoriously difficult for Italian architects, Piano's career has an almost mythic quality. It boasts one of the most unlikely competition wins of all time that ceded one of the most prestigious sites in the world, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to two completely unknown architects in their late 20s. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.