10 X 10: 10 Critics Book

Phaidon's 10 x 10 showcases the present and future of architecture in a dazzling, optimistic light. From its hologram cover to the multimedia representations within, this panoramic survey explores the fresh innovation, experimentalism, wit and intellectual ambitions of the discipline worldwide (with the possible exception of Africa, which seems under-represented). After decades of insular vision, unable to connect the drawing-board with the plot, so to speak, the Young Turks of modern architecture are finally designing the "global village" along the lines of national concerns expressed internationally, an emphasis on sustainable resources, and contextual awareness. Whether in an urban, rural or cyberspace setting, these selections of photographs, plans and virtual representations are crammed with inter-disciplinary ideas which, as one writer puts it, seek to unite the dreams of architects with those of the rest of the world. Some of the dwellings (both private and social housing), churches, colleges and many museums may be familiar, but in abstraction they acquire new focus, while some designs will remain purely that, never to progress beyond a virtual reality. From the artisan sculpture of Shin Egashira's pavilions, to the barbed, aggressive fins of Hitoshi Abe's Shirasagi Bridge, the eternal struggle to harmonise Utility and Philosophy, Expressionism and Functionalism, is brilliantly laid bare. To this end, the reproductive images are varied and to Phaidon's consistently faultless standard, and the critical comment, rationed to a paragraph, is supplemented in each case with a helpful tag line of specific comment on the exemplary structure. On balance, the comments of Terence Riley, Aaron Betsky and their co-contributors are enlightening, though not without the customary surfeit of compound-nouns and, well, just nouns. The day is still some way off when architects consider sentence construction sensitively. One of the 10 critics lists Ridley Scott's Bladerunner as one of her 10 influences; viewing that 1982 classic in the context of this exhilarating book shows how far architecture has come in under 20 years, but also the battle it still has to fight with its "horrorvision" commercial sibling. --David VincentRead More