Wolf D. Prix Books

The Mexican Roof Revisited is a sequel volume to the book “The Mexican Roof” (out of print). The former book documented a student’s project of Wolf D. Prix’s class at the University of applied Arts in Vienna. In “The Mexican Roof Revisited” contributors and new fellows met again under the shelter of the roof and discussed the conferences motto SUSTAINABILITY VS AESTHETICS. The book contains a visual essay on the roof and it’s construction as well as a complete documentation of the discussion between Raimund Abraham, Rozana Montiel, Wolf D. Prix, Carl Pruscha, Mauricio Rocha, Michael Rotondi. Additionally a conversation between Wolf D. Prix and Günter Feuerstein, moderated by Wojciech Czaja will be featured.

"The Mexican Roof," built as an architectural signal for an organisation promoting sustainable agriculture, is one of the few examples where a very ambitious project has been successfully translated into reality. Executed by the students themselves in a remote province in Mexico, it is basically a roof made out of bamboo that shelters the new community from the sun and collects water, the basis of any kind of growth. It is a conspicuous landmark that also serves very practical functions. The book presents the building process in Mexico starting with the finished roof and going back in time, along with an index that lists the various notions of the conceptual work. Special attention is given to a specific method of teaching that encourages students to pursue their visions, even if difficult, by providing the methods, experience, and determination necessary to solve the problems associated with this endeavour.

Catalogo della mostra pubblicato in concomitanza con la presentazione dell'installazione di Coop Himmelb(l)au "From Cloud to Cloud" come installazione austriaca all'interno della Biennale di Venezia, dal 15 settembre al 17 novembre 1996. Illustrazioni di progetti architettonici. Biografie.