The acclaimed studio Miró Rivera Architects has published a 448-page monograph, entitled Miró Rivera Architects: Building a New Arcadia. Designed by the award-winning architects, the book features 20 of the firm’s most remarkable projects brought to life through 230 color photographs and 95 drawings. Featuring essays by notable thinkers and cutting-edge practitioners in the fields of architecture and urban design, Building a New Arcadia situates the firm’s diverse portfolio in a global context related to concepts of nature, sustainability, history, and urban design.
Building a New Arcadia offers a unique approach to understanding architecture and urbanism in Texas and beyond, from one of the country’s most recognized Hispanic- and Latinx-owned architecture firms. For two decades, Austin-based Miró Rivera Architects has produced an innovative, refined, and imaginative body of work that blurs the lines between art, architecture, and landscape. Miró Rivera Architects’ contribution to contemporary architecture is significant; in 2018 they were one of only 17 firms in North America to be selected by the editors of ArchDaily for their list of the World’s Best Architects.
The monograph provides critical insight into the studio’s creative process, including new projects, photographs, sketches, and drawings. Furthermore, the book reflects on several issues that have become particularly relevant in this year of seismic change: how architecture can connect people to the landscape, how different people live in cities, changing perceptions of density, how public and private spaces shape people, and how cities relate to nature. The foreword was written by revered architect and critic Michael Sorkin, who passed away from COVID-19 in March.
The entire volume is bookended with photo essays comprised of new photographs captured by Belgian photographer Sebastian Schutyser using a pinhole camera. This technique has not been used before for the presentation of a body of contemporary architectural work.
The first chapter consists of an overview of the firm’s development written by Spanish urban planner and educator Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz. The second chapter focuses on the concept of Austin as a low-density model for the “Landscape City” with an essay by Juan Miró accompanied by aerial images captured by world-renowned architectural photographer Iwan Baan. The third chapter presents 20 of the firm’s most significant designs with texts, sketches, photographs, and drawings that highlight the innovative ideas behind each project related to nature, urbanism, and history. Incorporated into this chapter is a series of large, detailed axonometric drawings created by the architects specifically for the book. The final chapter includes a conversation between Costa Rican architect and educator Carlos Jiménez and the founding partners followed by an insightful “Future Foreword” written by architectural critic, curator, and Yale publications director Nina Rappaport.
Miró Rivera Architects: Building a New Arcadia is now available wherever books are sold.
Praise for Miró Rivera Architects: Building a New Arcadia:
“The work of Miró Rivera expresses the tautness of modernism, but does so gently. It is an architecture of stability and shimmer.” — Billie Tsien / Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
“Miró Rivera Architects are design leaders in Austin’s creative ecosystem. Packed full of stunning photographs, splendid drawings, and thoughtful essays, this book illustrates how brilliant architecture contributes to the landscape mosaic of the built environment.” — Frederick R. Steiner / Dean Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
“It is through the lens of nature and the verdant landscape of Austin that the work of Miró Rivera Architects comes alive. This is a beautifully designed book...that will help readers to understand the work within the broadest frames of architecture and its history.” — Thomas Phifer / Thomas Phifer and Partners
“Miró Rivera Architects: Building a New Arcadia engages nature and the city in a remarkable conversation. This book’s attention to detail echoes the care the architects demonstrate in their projects.” — Rahul Mehrotra / Chair, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Harvard Graduate School of Design
“This monograph is as exquisitely composed and presented as the work it documents: it is an oeuvre that never fails to surprise and satisfy in its intelligence, inventiveness, and regional sensitivity.” — Michael J. Crosbie, Yale Constructs / Professor of Architecture, University of Hartford
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Foreword ("Monks and Cowboys") by Michael Sorkin
Chapter 1: Building a New Arcadia by Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz
Chapter 2: The Landscape City by Juan Miró
Chapter 3: 20 Years / 20 Projects
Chapter 4: Conversation with Carlos Jiménez, Juan Miró, and Miguel Rivera
ISBN
9781477321409Title
Miró Rivera Architects: Building a New ArcadiaAuthor
Juan Miró & Miguel RiveraPublisher
University of Texas PressPublication year
2020Binding
HardcoverLanguage
English
Afterword ("Future Foreword") by Nina Rappaport
