ABSTRACT

Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand is an essential companion to Simon Unwin’s Analysing Architecture, and part of the trilogy which also includes his Exercises in Architecture: Learning to Think as an Architect. Together the three books offer an introduction to the workings of architecture providing for the three aspects of learning: theory, examples and practice. Twenty-Five Buildings focusses on analysing examples using the methodology offered by Analysing Architecture, which operates primarily through the medium of drawing.

In this second edition five further buildings have been added to the original twenty from an even wider geographical area, which now includes the USA, France, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, Germany, Australia, Norway, Sweden, India and Japan. 

The underlying theme of Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand is the relationship of architecture to the human being, how it frames our lives and orchestrates our experiences; how it can help us make sense of the world and contribute to our senses of identity and place. Exploring these dimensions through a wide range of case studies that illustrate the rich diversity of twentieth and twenty-first century architecture, this book is essential reading for every architect.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter |8 pages

Casa del Ojo de Agua

10A house in the Mexican jungle

chapter |8 pages

Neuendorf House

18a holiday home on the island of Mallorca

chapter |18 pages

Barcelona Pavilion

26Built as the German Pavilion at the Barcelona Universal Exposition

chapter |8 pages

Truss Wall House

44A house in the Tsurukawa suburb of Machida-City, Japan

chapter |12 pages

Endless House

52An Unbuilt Project for a House Based in Infinity

chapter |16 pages

Farnsworth House

64On the banks of Fox River near Plano, Illinois, USA

chapter |8 pages

La Congiunta

80A gallery for the sculpture of Hans Josephsohn, Giornico, Switzerland

chapter |10 pages

UN Cabanon

88An architect's vacation cabin at Cap Martin, on the south coast of France

chapter |8 pages

Esherick House

98A house in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

chapter |10 pages

Maison Á Bordeaux

106A House for a Man Confined to a Wheelchair

chapter |8 pages

Danteum

116An unbuilt memorial to Dante Alighieri, intended for Mussolini's Rome

chapter |12 pages

Fallingwater

124The house over a waterfall in Rural Pennsylvania

chapter |12 pages

Villa Savoye

136A house in the Poissy Suburb of Paris, France

chapter |6 pages

Kempsey Guest Studio

148A converted shed in New South Wales, Australia

chapter |10 pages

Condominium One, the Sea Ranch

154A settlement of ten residential units on California's north coast

chapter |12 pages

Villa E. 1027

164An architect's vacation house at Cap Martin, on the south coast of France

chapter |12 pages

Church of St Petri

176A Lutheran church in the southern Swedish town of Klippan

chapter |10 pages

Villa Busk

188A musician's house south of Oslo, Norway

chapter |8 pages

Villa Mairea

198A house in the woods of western Finland

chapter |8 pages

Thermal Baths, Vals

206A bathing complex attached to a hotel in a Swiss valley

chapter |10 pages

Ramesh House

214An environmentally responsive house in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

chapter |10 pages

Bardi House

224A house in its own patch of rainforest on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil

chapter |10 pages

Vitra Fire Station

234A fire station for a furniture factory estate in north Switzerland

chapter |12 pages

Mohrmann House

244A family house in the Lichtenrade suburb of Berlin, designed to subvert political restrictions

chapter |10 pages

Bioscleave House

256A house extension in East Hampton, New York, designed to subvert relationships with setting to counter mortal degeneration

chapter |5 pages

Endword