Construction Matters is a book that discusses the way that architects understand and respond to technological innovation through the creation of new types of spaces, and the materials through which an architectural idea finds its physical realization.

Organized into four chapters on the major methods of construction–masonry, concrete, steel, and wood– Construction Matters examines specific technologies that experienced major transformations in the last century, or were newly invented: for example, a new material, jointing technique, or fabrication procedure. The architectural application of this invention is then analyzed with building case studies that are selected based on an obvious formal relationship between the building’s form and the new type of construction that it incorporates–ranging from prewar designs in the United States and Europe to recent projects in Asia and including built projects as well as significant design proposals.

Construction Matters develops a way of thinking about architecture in relation to technology that transcends a particular building method or design task. The book is based on Georg Windeck’s independent architectural research that ranges from scientific advancements to philosophical contemplations. The multi-facetted discussion that emerges from this work is developed in close collaboration with artist and journalist Lisa Larson Walker, with mathematician and architect Will Shapiro, and with artist and architect Sean Gaffney.

Type: Writing
Place: New York
Year: 2016
Author: Georg Windeck
Team: Lisa Larson-Walker, Sean Gaffney and Will Shapiro (co-editors), Leah Beeferman (design)
Publisher: powerhouse books
ISBN: 9781576877784

powerhouse books
Cooper Union