Icons of World Architecture (English and German Edition)

As architect, designer and especially author, Swiss master Werner Blaser has always asked, ''What is good architecture?'' In this copiously illustrated, comprehensive book, Blaser - author of books on Mies Van Der Rohe, Aalto, Meier, Piano, Jahn and Ando, among many others - offers his answer. Drawing on photographs from his impressive archive, which he accompanies with short explanatory texts, Werner Blaser vividly demonstrates the basic foundations of architecture and perception. In a few fascinating sections, for example, he describes the relation between the Finnish landscape and the works of Aalto; shows how Calatravas uses natural principles in his architecture; reveals how Piano works with light. He also considers traditional Chinese and Indian architecture, and the relation between archetype and image and the element of silence. A brilliant summing-up by archtecture's geat thinkers.