David Chipperfield Architects 1985

"Architecture has to explain itself. It has got to be very clear, what you might call simple."

Born in 1953, David Chipperfield worked for both Norman Foster and Richard Rogers before establishing a reputation for himself in Japan in the early 80s, and setting up David Chipperfield Architects in 1984. The practice, which now operates out of London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai has gone on to win over 50 national and international competitions.

Suspicious of "starchitecture", Chipperfield adheres instead to a meticulously crafted minimalism in whichvolumes and light come together in masterful harmony. Less concerned with an immediately recognizable, individual style, he rather aspires to an architecture founded oncollaboration, ideas, and excellence. His buildings are intended as physically immediate spaces in which "a sort of ordinariness" becomes special, and the individual structure co-exists with broader concepts of city building.

Chipperfield's vision has driven major projects around the globe, from the Des Moines Public Library in Iowa, USA to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, UK and the famed reconstruction of the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany. Recent work includes the Museo Jumex in Mexico City and the expansion of theSaint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, USA.

This monograph features twenty four of Chipperfield's most significant projects, with a thorough introduction, detailed descriptions, and anextensive interview covering his major influences, and guiding principles onstructure, space, and urban experience.