Nicolas Grospierre

At once a reference work and a personal exploration of modernist architecture, this fascinating collection of Nicolas Grospierre's photography covers structures built between 1920 and 1989 in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. These images range from iconic buildings, such as the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis and the Ukrainian Institute of Scientific Research and Development in Kiev, to little-known structures such as the Balneological Hospital in Druskininkai, Lithuania or Oscar Niemeyer's unfinished International Fair Grounds in Tripoli. Derived from his popular blog, A Subjective Atlas of Modern Architecture, and organised by architectural form, this book reveals how modernist architecture is the embodiment of political and social ideologies, especially in public institutions such as banks, churches, libraries and government buildings. Following the series of full-page images, an index details the location, date, architect and purpose of each building. While many of the buildings in this archive often go unrecognised, their forms are prominent in the landscape of modern civilization. Grospierre's keen eye and enthusiasm for the mundane as well as the sublime will motivate readers to look at the buildings around them in new and exciting ways.

Both a reference work and a personal exploration of modernist architecture, this fascinating collection of Nicolas Grospierre's photography covers structures built between 1920 and 1989 in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. These images range from iconic buildings, such as the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis and the Ukrainian Institute of Scientific Research and Development in Kiev, to little-known structures such as the Balneological Hospital in Druskininkai, Lithuania or Oscar Niemeyer's unfinished International Fair Grounds in Tripoli, Lebanon. Derived from his popular blog, A Subjective Atlas of Modern Architecture, and organized by architectural form, this book reveals how modernist architecture is the embodiment of political and social ideologies, especially in public institutions such as banks, churches, libraries and government buildings. Following the series of full-page images, an index details the location, date, architect, and purpose of each building. While many of the buildings in this archive often go unrecognized, their forms are prominent in the landscape of modern civilization. Grospierre's keen eye and enthusiasm for the mundane as well as the sublime will motivate readers to look at the buildings around them in new and exciting ways.

In Modern Forms, Nicolas Grospierre traveled the globe to sample the best modernist buildings from the 20th century. Now, he takes his camera indoors to show how modernist ideas are manifested within the walls of buildings both famous and obscure. Rather than a chronological or geographical tour, these photographs are organized in a visual flow, that allows readers to appreciate similar characteristics in interiors that would normally never be grouped together. Shot in the same distinctive and striking manner as his previous book, these images reveal the forms that define modernism. Built with forward-looking, Utopian ideals, decades later, they exist in a startling range of conditions, from dazzling to downtrodden. Through the visual flow of the book, readers can make connections between a private residence in Sri Lanka, a stair- way at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia, a cinema in Bangkok, a bus station waiting room in Odessa, and the vaults of a bank on Wall Street, New York. Responding to our desires to categorize and catalog, this photographic journey crosses spatial and cultural borders to tell the story of modern architecture.