New Book Celebrates Rooftop Architecture as an Escape From Urban Crowding

December 21, 2016 5:00 am
JDS Architects, Hedonistic Rooftop Penthouses (Julien Lanoo/Taschen)
JDS Architects, Hedonistic Rooftop Penthouses (Julien Lanoo/Taschen)
JDS Architects, Hedonistic Rooftop Penthouses (Julien Lanoo/Taschen)
JDS Architects, Hedonistic Rooftop Penthouses (Julien Lanoo/Taschen)

 

Rooftops: Islands in the Sky, a new book from Taschen, is a 300+ page celebration of modern, urban rooftop design.

Cities are getting more crowded, which means that architects and designers have to get more creative with how they expand, or reinvent, existing urban structures. As a result, rooftop design has gotten a boost in recent years; whether it’s a simple garden or deck, an expansion of living space, or a meditative escape from the commotion of city life, people are rediscovering their rooftops. Rooftops: Islands in the Sky chronicles the most creative, imaginative, and architecturally-sound results of this trend.

Alberto Campo Baeza, House of the Infinite (Javier Callejas/Taschen)
Alberto Campo Baeza, House of the Infinite (Javier Callejas/Taschen)

 

The book features bars, restaurants, temporary art installations, and gardens from all over the world, all of which make bold aesthetic and architectural statements with their rooftop designs. Boyoun Kim’s vivid photographs and illustrations bring each selection—whether it’s a penthouse, museum tower, or vertical forest—to life.

Toyo Ito, CapitaGreen (Kai Nakamura/Taschen)
Toyo Ito, CapitaGreen (Kai Nakamura/Taschen)

 

Some of the designers and artists featured in Urban Rooftops include Pritzker Prize winners Norman Foster and Shigeru Ban, Jeffrey Inaba, and Julien De Smedt (JDS), as well as landscape designers Ken Smith and Vladimir Djurovic.

Rooftops: Islands in the Sky sells for $69. Click here to order a copy for yourself.

Cover of the English, French and German edition (TASCHEN)
Cover of the English, French and German edition (TASCHEN)

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