Tower and Office ― From Modernist Theory to Contemporary Practice

In Tower and Office, Spanish architects Inaki Abalos and Juan Herreros look at therole and impact of advanced building technologies in American architecture since World War II. Thewar, they claim, marked the end of the first cycle of modernism, challenging the belief thattechnological progress alone could produce a perpetually better future. At the same time, the warwas the source of powerful new structural models and construction methods. The authors examine theways these technologies have been inflected over the last half century by more subjective andintegrated processes of spatial organization.In the first part of the book, Abalos and Herrerosfocus on the work of Le Corbusier, revealing the degree of complexity achieved in his interpretationof the modern skyscraper. In the second part, they look at the intersection of technical andcultural determinants in the design of high-rise structures since World War II. Among the issuesthey consider are the evolution of the load-bearing frame, the impact of high-tech systems on tallbuildings, and the transparent building skin. In the third part, they address developments in officedesign and planning, tracing an evolution from the repetitive and homogeneous office skyscraper tothe present-day mixed-use structure. Overall they demonstrate how the objective technical analysisassociated with modernist architectural theory has given way in recent building practice to avariety of flexible, pragmatic, and environmental approaches. These, they suggest, have opened theway to new urban and architectural forms.

Madrid-based architect Inaki Abalos was, along with Juan Herreros, the recipient of Columbia University's Buell Book Fellowship.