100 Contemporary Houses (Bibliotheca Universalis)

by Philip Jodidio

Designing private residences has its own very special challenges and nuances for the architect. The scale may be more modest than public projects, the technical fittings less complex than an industrial site, but the preferences, requirements and vision of particular personalities becomes priority. The delicate task is to translate all the emotive associations and practical requirements of “home” into a workable, constructed reality. This publication rounds up 100 of the world’s most interesting and pioneering homes designed in the past two decades, featuring a host of talents both new and established, including John Pawson, Richard Meier, Shigeru Ban, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Daniel Libeskind, Alvaro Siza, and Peter Zumthor. Accommodating daily routines of eating, sleeping, and shelter, as well as offering the space for personal experience and relationships, this is architecture at its most elementary and its most intimate. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis — Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!

Genres: Architecture, Design, Art, Nonfiction, Photography

684 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2011

Reviews

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little thick book with many photos of houses, most out of my price range, but I was pleased to see a sand bag house also, for those of us who are not a part of the wealthy 1%. These houses are all around the world and exhibit a lot of creativity and originality from their architects. Now it would be great to see a comparable volume exclusively with houses affordable to the masses.

Checked again in July, 2021.

[Hannah Fryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful coffee table books. An inspiring read for any lovers of architecture and a good way of making you think about you really need and want from a home. However, they only briefly touch on each house leaving you with a lot of unanswered questions. It has a beautiful variety of homes and I love that it focuses on homes not just large commercial buildings.