Transparency and luminescence have reemerged in the vocabulary of architecture, and light and "lightness" have become key concepts for a significant number of contemporary architects, as well as artists who create installations. Recent work by these designers recalls the use of transparent materials in early modern structures, but they have introduced new ideas and technical solutions In so doing, they have redefined the relationship between the observer and the structure by interposing elements that both veil and illuminate. In this architecture of "lightness" buildings become intangible, structures shed their weight, and facades become unstable, dissolving into an often luminous evanescence.

Transparency and luminescence have reemerged in the vocabulary of architecture, and light and "lightness" have become key concepts for a significant number of contemporary architects, as well as artists who create installations. Recent work by these designers recalls the use of transparent materials in early modern structures, but they have introduced new ideas and technical solutions In so doing, they have redefined the relationship between the observer and the structure by interposing elements that both veil and illuminate. In this architecture of "lightness" buildings become intangible, structures shed their weight, and facades become unstable, dissolving into an often luminous evanescence.

The thirty-three projects illustrated in this book exemplify this emerging sensibility, which is examined in a penetrating essay by Terence Riley, Chief Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, that places the new work in a broad historic and cultural perspective. More than thirty architects are represented in this international selection, and it includes a broad range of building types, scales, and technologies, from the small Leisure Studio created by a group of young Finnish architects to Renzo Piano’s enormous Kansaj International Airport in Japan. Also shown are the Goetz Collection in Munich by JacquesHerzog and Pierre de Meuron, the Cartier Foun-dation in Paris by Jean Nouvel, the ITM Building in Matsuyama, Japan, by Toyo lto, and a set design by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Each project includes a description by Terence Riley or Anne Dixon, Supervisor, The Lily Auchincloss Study Center for Architecture and Design.

Glenn D. Lowry Foreword

Terence Riley introduction

Terence Riley Light Construction

Anne Dixon and Terence Riley Projects

Project information

Van Valkenburgh: Radcliffe Ice Walls

Johnson: Ghost House

Sejima: Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory

Maki: Congress Center

Thanhauser and Esterson: Definitions Fitness Center 2

Herzog and de Meuron: Goetz Collection

Nouvel: Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art

Ito: ITM Building

Van Berkel: ACOM Office Building

Holl: D. E. Shaw and Company Offices

Herzog and de Meuron: Signal Box auf dem Wolf

Zumthor: Kunsthaus Bregenz

Wolf: ABN-AMRO Head Office Building

Kaakko, Laine, Liimatainen, Tirkkonen: Leisure Studio

Graham: Two-Way Mirror Cylinder inside Cube

Tschumi: Glass Video Gallery

Grimshaw: Waterloo International Terminal

Abalos and Herreros: Municipal Gymnasium

Yazdani: CineMania Theatre

Williams and Tsien: The World Upside Down

Gehry: Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum

Piano: Kansai International Airport

lto: Shimosuwa Municipal Museum

Sanders: Kyle Residence

Gigon and Guyer: Kirchner Museum Davos

Williams and Tsien: Phoenix Art Museum Sculpture Pavilion

Ito: Tower of the Winds

Adams: Bus Shelter IV

Gould: Floor Plan

Holl: Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art

Foster: Business Promotion Center

Ortner and Ortner: Museum of Modern Art

Koolhaas: Two Patio Villas