Foreign Office Architects
Biography
Foreign Office Architects (FOA) is based in London and is recognised as one of the United Kingdom's leading design practices. FOA’s work is sculptural and evocative as they explore contemporary urban conditions and construction technologies. Their aim is to produce designs that reference place, landscape and history. In projects such as the Yokohama Port Terminal in Japan, the architects have used a reduced number of materials and details in order to explore the local topography. Their philosophy is to bring an innovative approach to the integration of landscape and buildings - a sense of identity to a place in an increasingly globalised world. Other recently completed projects include a coastal park in Barcelona.
Websites
http://www.f-o-a.net/
http://www.arcspace.com/architects/foreign_office/yokohama/yokohama_index.htm
http://www.designmuseum.org/design/index.php?id=109
http://www.danda.be/gallery/98/
http://www.basilisk.com/Y/YOKOHAMA_607.html
Books*
Critical regionalism: architecture and identity in a globalised world – L. Le Lefaivre & A.Tzonis (L)
Moshe Safdie
Biography
Moshe Safdie is an Israeli born Canadian landscape architect who considers that architecture should be a natural extension of its surroundings, whether the surroundings are urban or rural, ancient or entirely new. He explains that architecture “has a responsibility to contribute richly to its setting and enduringly to its community”. Safdie’s designs embrace the qualities of ritual, ceremony and symbolic practices that have historically been fundamental to civic, cultural, and religious life. With offices in Toronto, Boston and Jerusalem, Moshe Safdie & Associates have designed a variety of international projects including Vancouver Library Square, British Columbia, Canada and the Khalsa Heritage Memorial complex in Punjab, India.
Websites
http://www.msafdie.com/
http://www.archnewsnow.com/features/Feature162.htm
http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/paper244/news/2003/03/12/News/The-New.City.Library.Is.Salt.Lakes.Literary.Corner-391260.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailyutahchronicle.com
Books*
Landscrapers: building with the land by Aaron Betsky (C & L)
DVDs*
My Architect (2003) – (A & L) Architectures 1 - (2001) (A)
Architectures 2 - (2001) (A) Architectures 3 - (2002) (A)
* Key to availability in Canterbury:
A = Alice in Videoland (Christchurch)
C = Canterbury Public Library
L = Lincoln University Library