Diener & Diener

by Joseph Abram, Sarah Robertson (Translator), Michael Robinson (Translator)

This will be the only available monograph on the remarkable architecture of the Swiss practice of Diener & Diener. Known for their subtle, sophisticated Modernist buildings and town plans, Diener & Diener have recently begun to design buildings that add a new lightness and liveliness to the geometric rigor and intellectual clarity that have always characterized their deigns. This book will cover the more than 30 years that the firm has practiced with a selection of over 40 key buildings illustrated with a wealth of material from the firm’s archives, as well as Roger Diener’s own writings and essays by prominent architectural historians Martin Steinmann and Joseph Abrams.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2011

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, a great monograph on the Swiss architectural firm and the only one approved by the firm itself, which took an active role in the authorship and planning of this book. Probably because of that role, a great wealth of plans are included which is a boon to those who are serious about understanding these buildings and the process the architects used in their designs: too often, monographs lack enough plans and favor photos instead which in many cases cannot give a good overview of the space and workings of the building concerned. Not here: both the photography and plans offer a very nuanced view of how Diener & Diener buildings are designed and their programmatic fuctionality in real life. The only thing I'd complain about—and I supposed it's rather small—is that while the overall graphic design is awesome, the dust-jacket is of flimsy, glossy, paper and thus the book doesn't have that feeling of immediate fine design and gravitas one expects from Phaidon. Any other publisher, and I'd have not even noticed, but Phaidon's design quality is always so high that I tend to note any, even small, issue with one of their books. Still, this is a fine monograph and much-deserved for Diener & Diener.