Shop Architect: Out of practice

Here is the superbly illustrated survey of one of the foremost architecture firms at work in the world today. SHoP, a prominent New York-based architecture firm, is currently at work on numerous projects across the globe; its clients include the United Colours of Benetton, Virgin Atlantic, Google, Goldman Sachs and the City of New York; its work has won numerous awards – including the American National Design Award for Architecture in 2009 – and is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. This book reveals how SHoP did not achieve such success by kow-towing to tradition. The partners look outside the profession for inspiration and ideas, in both their buildings and their business model, keeping in line with their mission to create real-world architecture that considers how design, finance and technology can work together. This volume explores six of the firms ideologies practice, typology, politics, finances, sustainability and technology based on six major projects as well as thirty smaller ones. This books organization will allow readers both to see and better understand the firms work and business strategies, as well as provide ideas to improve their own building projects.