Neil Leach Knihy

An exploration of the urge in human beings to feel at home in the world, and the role that architecture plays in this process

Computational Design offers an informed overview of the impact of computational techniques on architectural design today, providing a snapshot of the latest developments in the field, drawing upon the leading experts in architectural practice and education from across the world.

Digital Fabrication offers an informed overview of the impact of digital technologies on architectural fabrication today, providing a snapshot of the latest developments in the field, drawing upon the leading experts in architectural practice and education from across the world.

This book is a documentation of the joint workshop of MIT, ETH and Tongji University, which integrates COMPAS and FURobotic to explore the advances in additive manufacturing and robotic fabrication

The book explores the computational mechanisms and diagrammatic grammar within these craft-based aggregation systems, paying close attention to geometrical configurations, material effects and fabrication details and take advantage of these qualities to produce a unique spatiality.

The antinomian forces of the mundane and the bizarre find a delicate balance in "Surface Tension", photographer Katharina Bosse's first monograph. This New York-based, German-born artist's work is a striking meditation on public space, private speculation, identity, and desire. Her cleverly surreal work consists of individual portraits as well as images of vacant interiors. In her portraits, Bosse's unwavering attention to her subjects' exterior presentation renders irrelevant traditional distinctions between documentary, art, and fashion photography. Her subjects present themselves voluntarily, addressing themselves to the camera while at the same time keeping certain things concealed. With the beginning and ending points of their outward surface so exactly demarcated, a strange melancholy settles over them--they seem to be dreaming themselves into existence. A different sort of ''dream life'' presents itself in Bosse's in spaces ranging from train compartments to casinos to a dominatrix's chambers, the artist presents public spaces as a refraction of mass desire, and evokes the secret histories and memories that become embedded in any space through which human beings pass. These remarkable compositions possess a strange seductive force, beckoning with their lavish color and detail, yet disturbing the viewer by obscuring distinctions between inside and out.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere – from the apps on our phones to the algorithms of search engines. Without us noticing, the AI revolution has arrived. But what does this mean for the world of design? The first volume in a two-book series, Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence introduces AI for designers and considers its positive potential for the future of architecture and design. Explaining what AI is and how it works, the book examines how different manifestations of AI will impact the discipline and profession of architecture. Highlighting current case-studies as well as near-future applications, it shows how AI is already being used as a powerful design tool, and how AI-driven information systems will soon transform the design of buildings and cities. Far-sighted, provocative and challenging, yet rooted in careful research and cautious speculation, this book, written by architect and theorist Neil Leach, is a must-read for all architects and designers – including students of architecture and all design professionals interested in keeping their practice at the cutting edge of technology.

The collection features essential writings from influential philosophers and cultural theorists of the twentieth century, exploring the foundational ideas that have shaped urban environments and architectural experiences. It delves into the theoretical frameworks that underpin contemporary architecture, offering insights into the cultural and philosophical contexts that inform our understanding of space and design. This compilation serves as a critical resource for those interested in the intersection of architecture, philosophy, and urban theory.

De Re Aedificatoria, by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), was the first modern treatise on the theory and practice of architecture. Its importance for the subsequent history of architecture is incalculable, yet this is the first English translation based on the original, exceptionally eloquent Latin text on which Alberti's reputation as a theorist is founded.

In this short, intentionally polemical book, Neil Leach draws on theideas of philosophers and cultural theorists such as Walter Benjaminand Jean Baudrillard to develop a novel and highly incisive critiqueof the consequences of the growing preoccupation with images andimage-making in contemporary architectural culture.