This book deconstructs two widespread prejudices: one, that architects nowadays are no longer important for the overall construction process, and the other, that design is a linear process that comprises a fully-formed architectonic vision right from the outset. The renowned architect and Harvard professor Farshid Moussavi shows how the specific character of contemporary architecture involves enriching the pragmatic everyday task of creating architecture with random elements and subjective factors, in order to achieve our potential for changing our circumstances and the architecture that surrounds us. Thus, the micro-politics of our everyday lives becomes the basis for our built architecture. Farshid Moussavi illustrates this process with the help of four of her buildings from the last decade. They are presented through hundreds of photos, drawings, and sketches, and discussed in an essay, in which Moussavi develops her thesis. New photos of the four buildings have been taken by the celebrated British photographer Stephen Gill, whose creative work combines documentary, experimental and conceptual approaches. An astonishing book for all those who are interested in the interaction between architecture and society.
