Book of the Moment: Herman Hertzberger

If any architect deserves a monumental survey of their work it is the Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger. Heck, the 82-year-old architect deserves the Pritzker Architecture Prize, too. Although nothing can be done about the latter, at least for another year, April sees the release of Robert McCarter's Herman Hertzberger from nai010 publishers, a 524-page monograph with 600 full-color illustrations. For those in The Netherlands, a book launch is taking place in Amsterdam on Saturday, April 11; details are below.


[Cover and spreads courtesy of nai010 publishers]

Description from the publisher:

Herman Hertzberger (b.1932) is one of the most important and critically influential figures in international architecture of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. A constant champion of fundamentally humanist modern architecture, Hertzberger is rightly regarded as the world’s foremost designer of schools, a building type he has almost single-handedly redefined.

Hertzberger believes that architecture is above all else a shared, collective discipline. His world famous lessons in architecture involve ethics and edification, engagement of the built legacy of those who lived before us, and the fundamentally optimistic and constructive intention to make the world a better place for the people who live in it. With a foreword by Kenneth Frampton, this monograph by acclaimed international author Robert McCarter examines Hertzberger’s most important architectural works through analysis of the design process and guiding ideas, particularly as these reflect Hertzberger’s engagement with the Modernist tradition, architectural history, urban space and the way we experience it.

Book Launch:
Saturday, 11 April 2015, 15:00-17:00
De Amsterdamse Montessori School
Willem Witsenstraat 14, Amsterdam
Please register via rsvp@nai010.com

Program:
– Welcome by Eelco van Welie , director nai010 publishers
– Architect and researcher Hans Teerds interviews author Robert McCarter about his research into the oeuvre of Herman Hertzberger
– Nanne de Ru, director of The Berlage and co-founder of Powerhouse Company, will discuss the influence of Hertzberger on architectural education and the new generation of architects
– Presentation of the first copy to Herman Hertzberger
Book sales and book signing afterwards
Special discount price € 49.50 (regular price € 69.50)
The language of this afternoon is English