Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 | P E R S P E C T I V E 2 1 R E S O U R C E S Elements of Architecture by Rem Koolhaas B Y D A V I D M O R O N G , E D I T O R Elements of Architecture is a single volume of over 2600 pages that grew out of Koolhaas's work as the curator of the Venice Biennale's 14th International Architecture Exhibition. Originally produced as a box set of fifteen individual volumes, they have now been combined into one massive work. The scope of subjects and sheer mass of the book make it more likely to be used like a reference work, a kind of encyclopedia of architectural ideas, rather than a book to be read from one end to the other. But as one starts exploring the contents, a wide range of essays, ideas and surprising discoveries within the sections will take the reader in unexpected directions. The book is unusual among other works on the subject in that it focuses on the elements that make up a work of architecture, rather than the artists who created it. The major sections of the book reference the earlier single volumes, floor, ceiling, roof, door, etc. Each section is called out on the cover, and color-coded tabs make it easy to locate them within the mass of pages that make up the book. A. THE BOOK COVER DETAILS THE FIFTEEN ELEMENTS THAT MAKE UP THE MAJOR CONTENT OF THE BOOK. B. THE BOOK OPENED, SHOWING ITS CREASED SPINE INTENDED TO HELP IT LAY FLAT. A B