1st Edition

Architecture, Technology and Process

By Chris Abel Copyright 2004

    This new selection of essays follows Chris Abel's previous best selling collection, Architecture and Identity. Drawing upon a wide range of knowledge and disciplines, the author argues that, underlying technological changes in the process of architectural production are fundamental changes in the way we think about machines and the world we live in.

    Key topics include: new patterns of urbanism in the fast growing cities of asia pacific; metaphorical extensions of mind and body in cyberspace; the divergent European and North American values shaping Sir Norman Foster's and Frank Gehry's work, and the collaborative work methods and technologies creating the adaptable design pratices of today.

    Foreword by Ken Yeang; Preface; Architecture in the Pacific Century; Cyberspace in mind; Technology and process; Foster and Gehry: one technology, two cultures; Harry Seidler and the Great Australian Dream; Mediterranean mix and match; Appendix I. Biotech Architecutre: A Manifesto. Appendix II. Birth of a Cybernetic Factory.; References; Index.

    Biography

    Chris Abel

    'No one in my many years of work has ever written anything even remotely so erudite and penetratingly rational as Chris Abel's text. It is brilliant!' Harry Seidler

    The (various) themes come together in what Abel calls Biotech Architecture, a shining vision of an integrated, collaborative, computerized building
    design method, more like an organic process than a production line'.
    Architectural Review, May 2005