Building Community is an in-depth, wide-ranging survey of contemporary apartment buildings, not as raw canvases for interior decoration but as a building type of growing significance. An introduction presents the history of multiple-occupancy housing through its most innovative 20th-century exemplars, from the urbane blocks of Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage in Paris to the landscaped housing estates of Weimar Germany and the visionary schemes of Le Corbusier. The heart of the book features 39 recent or ongoing projects, designed by leading international studios and rising talents. Buildings range from social housing and micro apartments to urban villages, megastructures, and innovative high-rises. Each project is considered for the way in which it enriches the lives of residents and the city and is shown through drawings and photographs, taken from the street and within. The book also includes interviews with such contemporary masters of apartment design as Michael Maltzan, Lorcan OHerlihy, Edouard Franois, and Bjarke Ingels. As our cities grow more crowded, it is critical that we produce creative buildings that enhance the lives of their inhabitants, their surroundings, and the urban environment as a whole.
About the Authors
Michael Webb is the author of more than 25 books on modern architecture and design, and has edited and contributed essays to many more. He grew up in London, where he worked at The Times and Country Life magazine, before moving to the U.S. in 1969 to become Programming Director of the American Film Institute. He then curated a major traveling exhibition for the Smithsonian, Hollywood: Legend and Reality, before resuming his writing career. He now lives in Los Angeles when he is not traveling the world to gather material for books and articles.
Michael is a regular contributor to leading journals in the US, Europe, and Asia. His travel memoir, Moving Around: A Lifetime of Wandering, was published in 2018, and he diverted himself during the Covid lockdown by composing an essay, Voyage Around My Apartment, which was privately printed.
About the Publisher
Thames & Hudson, established by Walter Neurath, is the world’s great publisher of illustrated books on art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, lifestyle, music, and history.
