Description:
This book calls for an attentive examination of the uncommon that inspires creativity, prompting a re-examination of common and marginalised precedents. It offers an alternative to the compulsion to normalise, universalise, repeat, and re-enact, transforming the documentation of far-removed precedents through first-person experiences.
Review Quotes:
"Inclusive and playful, meticulous and thoughtful, the essays of this long-needed book liberate designers in their pursuit of architectural inspiration. Gems lurking in unexpected places--dismissed for years--are brought brilliantly to the fore by an impressive group of contributing authors. (Un)common Precedents will fast become a classic."
Dr. ir. Angeliki Sioli, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft.
"Architectural imagination is an open search. This collection navigates new paths of inquiry, leading architects to an expanded repertoire of knowledge and inspiration. From fields of music, literature, gastronomy and Indigenous engagement, uncommon precedents appear as cunning protagonists in an architectural story ever unfolding. Be prepared to rethink the exemplary."
Lisa Landrum, Professor and Chair, Department of Architectural Science, TMU. Co-editor, Theatres of Architectural Imagination.
"What inspires architectural ideas and designs? This resourceful book provides many ingenious answers, valuable for students, practitioners, and scholars alike. Reaching far beyond traditional typology like J.N.L. Durand's imposition of a grid to regularize all architectural history, (Un)common Precedents explores alternative contemporary and historical approaches that open and examine possibilities in media, materials, spatial justice, environmentalism and much more across the arts to inform the architectural imagination."
Paul Emmons, Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor of Architecture, Virginia Tech.