Architecture Isn't Just for Special Occasions

Urban and suburban living at the outset of the twenty-first century is characterized by myriad interlocking images and experiences. Large-scale social and economic forces lead to a fragmentary daily existence. How can architecture work with these trends -- rather than against them -- to improve the activities of everyday life? Such issues are a constant and ongoing preoccupation in the work of the Los Angeles firm Koning Eizenberg Architecture. This inventive and in-depth monograph presents fourteen projects with familiar uses -- museums, schools, houses and housing, community centers, and hotels. The design solutions draw on qualities of popular culture and vernacular design, as well as on three principles the firm brings to each commission: trust, ease, and fit. With these projects, Koning Eizenberg proposes a new expectation for the contemporary age: extraordinary experiences on a daily basis. Julie Eizenberg and Hank Koning established Koning Eizenberg Architecture in 1981. Both partners studied at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University of California, Los Angeles.