Talking Architecture: Interviews with Architects

by Hanno Rauterberg

Now available in a revised and updated paperback edition, this revealing volume features interviews with twenty of the world's most influential living architects in which they discuss their accomplishments, challenges, inspriations, and dreams. What makes an architect tick? What is the state of architecture today? How do architects view each other's work? No one can answer these questions bettern than the practitioners themselves. Here such distinguished figures as Cecil Balmond, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Philip Johnson, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, I. M. Pei, and others offer a wide-ranging assortment of persepctives on contemporary architecture and the architects' roles in shaping the state of art today. Each interview focuses on the unique contributions of its subject, and is accompanied by images of their most important works. With a no-holds-barred approach the author obtains interesting details about their ideas on architecture in general, from where they get their inspirations to what formative experiences led them to become architects in the first place. Updated with new images, this informative, accessible, and endlessly fascinating collection offers a chance to compare, contrast, and get to know the architects that are shaping the world we live in.

Genres: Architecture

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2008

Reviews

[Katie Ferrari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever seen a new crazy-looking building in your city and ask yourself, "what were they thinking?" Ever want to get into the mind of today's famous contemporary architects? Or just want to try to understand contemporary architecture better? Then this is the book for you.

Although it doesn't give an in-depth analysis of specific different contemporary buildings (scholars beware), and the intro to the book is a bit too specific to this exact moment in time, it does give the reader (and architecture fan) a better understanding of how today's "star-architects" view the role of architecture and their buildings in society. It's filled with short interviews conducted by the author and the questions asked are not the typical ones that one expects. Instead, the questions flow beautifully from each response the architect gives, as if the author and architect are having a simple conversation. It gives the reader a taste of what problems and issues these architects are really trying to investigate with their work. It's also set up so that you don't have to read the book from cover to cover, but instead can read about each architect as you please and you don't need to know typical architecture lingo. Truly a great read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very stimulating, as I went to Architecture school and this reminds me how much I love thinking about Architecture. Larger-than-life global architects, some pompous, but always big thinking, creative. Invigorating

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to talk about architecture:

Step 1: make a grandiose claim
Step 2: contradict yourself

[Zhang Stanley]

It's very nice that we can get the ideas of so many architects in one book.
Through comparison, we see architects share similar attitudes in many subjects.
At the same time, they also have their disagreement on certain things.
A very good read. Because overall, one gets a better picture of architecture world and how it really relates to us.

[Auriza Salim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hanno Rauterberg, menyajikan dimensi tersendiri dari kritik arsitektur. Sangat menarik memperhatikan bagaimana dia mengupas alam pemikiran seorang Arsitek lewat pertanyaan demi pertanyaan yang diajukannya. Terkadang dia bisa sangat bersahabat terkadang bisa sangat provokatif.

[Anindita Saraswati · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book very good,so I need this book so badly