Weiss/Manfredi :
Surface/Subsurface
Marion Weiss , Michael Manfredi

For nearly two decades the architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi has practiced outside the traditional boundaries of architecture. Their work with complex sites and programs benefits from an interdisciplinary approach and a dynamic integration of architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape design. Surface/Subsurface presents nine major projects that have been completed since their first monograph Site Specific, published in 2000.

Their design process—exemplary of the best contemporary architectural practices—reveals potential in subsurface conditions with the goal of generating an entirely new language for the surface. Projects include the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, which wanders over a highway and train lines; the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, New York, which manipulates the movement of water, cars, and visitors; and the Smith College Campus Center in Northampton, Massachusetts, which transforms the brick campus into a luminous terracotta surface. Each project is fully documented through project photographs, drawings, details, and texts.


Weiss/Manfredi is a multidisciplinary design practice based in New York City. Founded by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, the firm is known for their integration of architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape design. They were awarded the Academy Award for Architecture by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and were named "an emerging voice" by the Architectural League of New York. Interdisciplinary projects such as their competition winning Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Harvard University and the Design Center in Essen, Germany. They are currently working on the Nexus, a multiuse arts building in New York City. The firm has won numerous awards including national and international design competitions and has been featured in national and international publications and exhibitions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Architectural Biennale, the Sao Paolo Biennale of International Architecture and Design, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum's "Design Culture Now" Triennial, and the National Building Museum. Princeton Architectural Press published a monograph titled Site Specific: The Work of Weiss/Manfredi Architects.
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Editorial Reviews

Zorro-like Audacity, Metropolis:
"While navagating a 40-foot slope, the parks zigzaagging art corridor leaps over active railroad tracks and a busy highway. " — John Pastier (May, 2007)

Luxe:
"An ode to the unique, transformative designs of architecture firm Weiss/Manfedi. Surface/Subsurface explores the architects work on nine standout projects, including the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle and the Museum of Earth in Ithaca, New York."

Urban Design Review:
"For nearly two decades the architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi has practiced outside the traditional boundaries of architecture. Their work with complex sites and programs benefits from an interdesciplinary approach and a dynamic integration of architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape design." (Summer 2009)

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