Review: O'Donnell + Tuomey: Selected Works

O'Donnell + Tuomey: Selected Works -- spread.

Fittingly, New York based craft-practitioners Tod Williams and Billie Tsien write an evocative foreword to summarise the specific metaphysical and experiential qualities within the work of O'Donnell + Toumey, while critics Hugh Campbell and David Leatherbarrow provide further insights and interpretations. The book possesses remarkable production values, with a simple layout and clear representation.

The projects are arranged chronologically, with ample drawings, sketches and photographs to explain each. The accompanying text is precise, to say the least, and earnest. Rather than a pompous lecture, the book feels more like a conversation on a walk through the park. A sense of sheer humility is conveyed through the book, and an important lesson is learnt: that the resolution of a cultural and contextual complexity can indeed result in buildings with a simple (not to be misunderstood as reductive) formalisation that revels in the power of the detail.

The work takes centre stage here, bolstered by its rich and complex Irish setting. This is undoubtedly one of the best monographs in recent years. And for those looking out for an architecture that revels in poetry, meaning and restraint, you need not go any further.

This is the book you must have.

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Book Details

Title

O'Donnell + Tuomey: Selected Works

Authors

Sheila O'Donnell (Author), John Tuomey (Author), Hugh Campbell (Author), David Leatherbarrow (Author), Tod Williams (Foreword), Billie Tsien (Foreword)

Publisher

Princeton Architectural Press

Year

2006

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

9.4 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches

Content pages

200+

Language

English

ISBN-10

1568986017

ISBN-13

978-1568986012