Ferré Léo

2002 · réf. 006544 — Barcelona: Actar 2002. Book. Virtually as New. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 9 3/4" x 6 3/4". 320 pages profusely illustrated in black and white and colour with architectural drawings photographs diagrams tables data. An interesting building usually has an equally interesting tale to tell an epic embedded in the organization of the massive complex amount of matter used to create the structure. This book recounts the story of the Yokokama Project an inventive undulating grass-covered ferry terminal that was never meant to be built. Asked to produce some material for an architectural journal London-based architects Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo of FOA Foreign Office Architects set themselves a program of entering three competitions through which to explore design ideas they had become interested in. When they actually won the second competition for the Yokohama International Port Terminal in Yokohama Japan their plans suddenly changed. The Yokohama Project presents a textual and visual replica of the way their winning building was developed over eight years by FOA and a huge team of engineers and researchers in Tokyo and Yokohama. Unlike the typical architectural book this one offers no critical texts and no theoretical analyses of the structure; instead it aims to rediscover the linearity of the building's creation. The reader is thus moved linearly through the following chapters: Design Evolution Building Permits Structure Services Finishes Circulation and Final Documents. Peppered throughout with detailed plans elevations diagrams and sketches as well as candid snapshots of the design team at work sometimes asleep at and under their desks! The Yokohama Project is not only an homage to a building but to the many people who worked on making it real. Foreign Office Architects is a pioneering architectural practice founded in London in 1992. It has since expanded to include an office in Japan. The principal partners are Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera Polo both of whom are graduates of Harvard University's Masters in Architecture program and former employees of Rem Koolhaus's OMA Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Current projects include a publishing headquarters in Paju City Korea and a park and open-air auditorium in Barcelona Spain. Completed projects include New Belgo restaurant and Bermondsey Antiques Market in London. This past year FOA were among the short-listed winners for the competition to design Porto Antico in Genova Italy. Hb bound in matt black vinyl titles in white and red virtually as new. Actar Hardcover