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About Yona Friedman / Pro Domo
Product Description Yona Friedman presents a personal selection of half a century of his work. In 1958 Yona Friedman published his first manifesto on 'mobile architecture' and founded GEAM (Groupe d'Etude d'Architecture Mobile), which proposed different strategies and actions geared to the adaptation of architectural creation to modern user requirements concerning social and physical mobility. In this initial manifesto, Friedman points out that architectural knowledge cannot be the exclusive property of professionals and specialists, and suggests writing guides ('manuals'), which explain topics related to architecture and urban planning in clear and simple terms. Following some recent publications that have reasserted the importance of Friedman's work, Pro Domo is 'a collection of fragments of scattered topics', a set of 'milestones' selected by the author himself. In his words, these highlights are not meant as a testament nor do they, form a coherent whole.' Instead, they form a personal selection chosen according to their sentimental value and span fifty-year period of production dating from the foundation of GEAM. The book includes building structure studies, urban design theories, observations on regional development, as well as design manuals for self-construction and competition projects. Review A fantastic new hardcover look at Friedman's work, full of images and essays and plans. --Geoff Manaugh, Archinect / BLDGBLOG Selected among 'Most Notable Monographs'. --The Architects Newspaper Bold and entirely sensible. --RIBA Book Review The cover of this monograph on artist/architect/urbanist Yona Friedman provides two snippets of its contents: a portion of the Friedman's 'Warning to the reader' that begins the book and a sketch of his proposal for a 'bridge-town' over the Huangpu River in Shanghai. The text hints not only at the admittedly fragmentary nature of the numerous selections, but also the mix of the serious and levity. This also comes across in the sketch, a serious proposal for something truly fantastical that's illustrated in a cartoonish way that most architects or urbanists would not venture to share to the public. But even though Friedman admits that the book is fragmentary, and the reader doesn't always know whether to take his projects seriously or not, the book (and it is a book) is a cohesive document of Friedman's life. As the cover is presented as a balance of image and text, this is also the case inside. While there are a number of selections (Interview with Myself, United Nations papers) where images cannot be found, the majority of the book is a balance of words and mainly sketches. The latter ultimately wins the battle between the two -- if such a battle were to take place -- because Friedman's sketches, models, diagrams, and numerous cartoons capture the ideas of the designer more than his words can do. The cities raised overhead, the structures infilled by the various occupants over the wishes of architects and planners, the Parisian and other cityscapes montaged with Friedman's megastructures, all of these strike chords in the reader more than the rather dry text. And it's his designs and imagery that hold the book together, both apparently unchanging over the 50+ years (and counting) of Friedman's career. It's quite an interesting story, in pictures. --John Hill, ARCHIDOSE
