David Chipperfield: Form Matters

“As architects,” writes David Chipperfield, “we must both be part of and stand apart from the culture within which we operate. To be effective we must embrace power but also distance ourselves, we must engage in dialogue and we must refuse to listen, we must explore the familiar and the unfamiliar, we must embrace history and reject it. Finally we must resolve our ideas in matter and form.” This publication was initiated and designed by the architect, who, in four sections, writes on form, language, composition and materiality. His choice of images, including architectural sketches and drawings, help to make this a personal notebook that documents the resolution and realization of formal ideas from his own viewpoint. Also featuring plans and illustrations of built and unbuilt projects, it explores the relationship between form and matter, both theoretically and practically.