
Architecture is a strange mixture of persistence & flux an amalgamation of elements -- some that have been around for over 5000 years & others that were (re)invented yesterday The fact that these elements change independently of each other according to different cycles & economies & for different reasons turns each building into a complex collage of the archaic & the current the site-specific & the standard mechanical smoothness & the spontaneous Only by looking at the elements under a wide lens can we recognize thecultural preferences forgotten symbolism technological advances mutations triggered by intensifying global exchange climatic adaptions political calculations regulatory requirements new digital regimes & somewhere in the mix -- the ideas of the architect that constitute the practice of architecture today A collection of these essential elements into 15 books in a package launched at the 2014 Venice Biennale that allows us to look through a microscope at the real fundamentals of our buildings & see again the essential design techniques used by any architect anywhere anytime