Details in Contemporary Architecture
Christine Killory , René Davids

Curious about how Alsop Architects managed to construct that flying, translucent rectangle at the Ontario College of Art and Design? Wonder about the sustainability of the Genzyme Building? The saying "the truth is in the details" reveals an essential quality of architectural design. How a staircase curves, a roof seemingly floats, or a concrete wall illuminates are critical questions for architects looking at or creating new work. You might forgive designers for closely guarding their signature techniques. Fortunately, editors Christine Killory and René Davids culled an amazing collection of the best trade secrets in Details in Contemporary Architecture.

By looking at the best work of the past two years, the book demonstrates how complicated design problems have been handled by architects to achieve beautiful, functional, innovative, sustainable, and, where necessary, economical results. Including work by David Chipperfield, Herzog and de Meuron, Morphosis, ShoP, and many other well-known firms, Details in Contemporary Architecture extensively explores the common as well as more exotic architectural detailing (screens and walls, doors and windows, roofs, bridges, and stairs) that so often gets lost in the pages and photographs of the design media.

Details in Contemporary Architecture is the first volume of a new series entitled AsBuilt. AsBuilt features details from a representative range of building types and materials of recent built work in America. The series seeks to ground both practice and theory more deeply while fostering a better understanding of the relationships between architectural form and technology.


Christine Killory is a principal of Davids Killory Architecture.

René Carlos Davids an associate professor at the School of Architecture in the College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley and a principal of Davids Killory Architecture.
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Editorial Reviews

Architectural Record:
"What gives this book its heft is its introduction of unusual materials and collaborative efforts with manufacturers." — William Morgan (June, 2008)

RibaBookShops.com:
"Details in Contemporary Architecture extensively explores the common as well as more exotic architectural detailing that so often gets lost in the pages and photographs of the design media. "

Metropolis:
"For architects trying to figure out how Morphosis rigged the pneumatic facade system on the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, or how Alsop Architects got its 80,000-square-foot addition to the Ontario College of Art and Design to float eight stories above the ground, this is the place to look." (May 2007)

Choice:
""Details in Contemporary Architecture is the first in the 'AsBuilt' series. . . Killory and Davids provide a visual companion to some of the most difficult and somewhat enigmatic construction commitments in contemporary building. Form and function have grown up, manipulating renegade shapes and material that transcend conventional space. . . . Detailed projects supply cross, longitudinal, tabletop section, floor, and framing plans, models, interior and exterior, and street-level views. The 190 sumptuous color photographs and capacious illustrations help one to understand each unique project. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals."" (9/07)

Metropolis :
"For architects trying to figure out how Morphosis rigged the pneumatic facade system on the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, or how Alsop Architects got its 80,000-square-foot addition to the Ontario College of Art and Design to float eight stories above the ground, this is the place to look." — Mason Currey (May, 2007)

RIBA:
"By looking at the best work from the past two years, the book demonstrates how complicated design problems have been handled by architects to achieve functional, innovative, sustainable, and where necessary, economical results. Including work by David Chipperfield, Herzog and deMeuron, Morphosis and ShoP, Details in Contemporary Architecture extensively explores the common as well as more exotic architectural detailing that so often gets lost in the pages and photographs of the design media." (Nov. 2006)

Architect Magazine:
"Twenty-five projects demonstrate the evolving relationship of architectural form to technology. Detailed drawings make this book more than a fashion show." (July 2007)

Devil in the Details,
"By entering into an area of architectural publication so brilliantly established by the Detail series of periodicals and books, and thhe Ed Ford volumes on the details of modern and contemperary architecture, Princeton Architectural Press has set itself a big task." — Bobby Open (2007)

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