Monolithic Architecture

A number of architectural works recently completed internationally exhibit a particular sensibility best described by the term “monolithic”. Some of these works have already acquired a certain notoriety, primarily as a result of their strong physical presence in important urban settings. Others are still under construction or have yet to be realized. This book presents this controversial contemporary phenomenon to the general public. Looking closely at several buildings in Europe, Japan and America, the essayists set out to define monolithic architecture in its larger context, searching for its physical and conceptual roots in earlier times and proposing reasons why such structures both answer certain contemporary questions and provoke emphatic public response.