Scanning: The Aberrant Architectures of Diller + Scofidio

by Aaron Betsky, Laurie Anderson, K. Michael Hays

Among the most talked-about names in contemporary architecture, the firm of Diller + Scofidio has for the last two decades redefined what architecture can be. Through site-specific, highly conceptual works such as the acclaimed redesign of the famed Brasserie restaurant in New York City's Seagram Building, to the "Blur" building, created for the Swiss Expo 2002 and composed entirely of mist, the firm has consistently challenged and expanded the role of architecture and design in our technology-oriented environment. In this first-ever comprehensive survey of the work of this internationally recognized firm, published to accompany a traveling exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, 10 of Diller + Scofidio's most important site-specific pieces are examined, along with several of the artifacts they have created in order to examine issues of gender, surveillance, place, and travel. With essays by respected scholars and a contribution by contemporary artist Laurie Anderson, this fully illustrated volume offers a compelling look at the work of Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio.

Genres: Architecture

244 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Aaron Betsky is an American critic on art, architecture and design. He was the director of Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design until early 2022.
Trained as an architect and in the humanities at Yale University, he is the author of over a dozen books, including Architecture Matters, Making It Modern, Landscrapers: Building With the Land, Scanning: The Aberrant Architectures of Diller + Scofidio, Queer Space, Revelatory Landscapes, and Architecture Must Burn. Internationally known as a lecturer, curator, reviewer and commentator, he writes the blog "Beyond Buildings" for Architect Magazine. Director of the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale, he has also been president and Dean of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (originally the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture), director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (2001-2006) the Cincinnati Art Museum (2006-2014), and was founding Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995-2001). As an unlicensed architect, he worked for Frank O. Gehry and Associates and Hodgetts + Fung. In 2003, he co-curated "Scanning: The Aberrant Architectures of Diller + Scofidio" at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I LOVE Diller + Scofidio but, the reason why I got this book is because it is just so sexy. The cover, with its 3D image that shows off an oscillating syringe cocktail combo is a wonderful adult update to the dinosaur ruler I had as a child. The folded shut pages that are perforated at the edges and are begging you to rip them open are too much! I peek through the openings and can see that there are more images... Ah, I just don't know what to do. I'm sure many owners have opened them but I fetishize this book to much to damage its value in any way.