Bøker av François Charbonnet

Densification of our cities is an imperative that inevitably brings the topic of new high-rise buildings and the addition of stories to existing buildings to the foreground of discourse. Architecture and urban design must increasingly address the issues of verticality at all stages of planning, design, and composition. Social and cultural aspects must be considered in this process as well. The French-languag book De la verticalité combines two elements: a case study on high-rise buildings in Zurich and an explorative essay on the subject of verticality in philosophy, culture, and society. Together the threads form a dual commentary that highlights the challenges posed by the transformation of our cities. Illustrated with numerous spectacular montages and visualizations designed to broaden thinking, this volume, which comes from the laboratory of acclaimed Swiss architecture firm Made in, also offers concrete proposals aimed at architects and urban planners, politicians and flâneurs alike.

It may sound banal, yet it is a fundamental truth of architectural design: all ideas are based on previous ideas, on their imitation, inversion, rejection, or adaptation; or on their reinterpretation or ignoration. The same applies to our visual perception and how it influences our thinking and world of ideas. It is actually true for any kind of creation and design. Portraits: Architectural Parables traces these questions through a wealth of images from art history and everyday culture, as well as through analytical and classifying texts. With this book, François Charbonnet and Patrick Heiz, the founding partners of the highly acclaimed Swiss design firm Made In, reveal the approaches they take in their design methodology as well as in their teaching at ETH Zurich's Department of Architecture and Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio. The distinctive feature lies in the linking and collaging of mutually illuminating, yet apparently antagonistic, programs. Made In's method does not claim historical accuracy, as sources and facts are intentionally collaged to serve a reductive purpose. The focus is on the potential they see in the cross-fertilization of different images and ideas rather than on a single, all-embracing model of thought. Named one of the Most Beautiful German Books and one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2023.