by John McPhee
First published 2019
Diana Agrest transforms how architects study the natural world. Drawing from environmental sciences, history of science, philosophy and art, she shifts focus from using nature as architectural inspiration to making it the central object of investigation. Her eight-year Advanced Research graduate studio at Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture generated this collection of research. Students examined extreme natural phenomena including glaciers, volcanoes, permafrost, and clouds through architectural methods of observation and representation. They created distinctive drawings and models that capture complex processes of natural generation and transformation. The work operates across scales of space and time that push beyond traditional architectural boundaries. Agrest presents nature's materiality and the forces shaping Earth's history through the architect's analytical lens and representational tools.
Genres: nature, art, environment, art-history, design, architecture
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, analytical, interdisciplinary
Setting: Cooper Union, Earth
Period: 21st-century
280 pages · Hardcover · ORO Editions/Applied Research & Design