This small book was published in 1984 to celebrate the new city art museum of Stuttgart: the Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart designed by James Stirling and Michael Wilford and Associates.
The richly illustrated monograph consists of essays that present the history of the museum project and its design and building phases. The book also contains James Stirling’s essay The Monumentally Informal (Das monumental Informelle) in English and in German which has been dated December 1983 and which also contains elements from Stirling’s lectures and talks between 1979 and 1981. Here, Stirling describes his architectural approach and the various design phases. The illustrations consist of architectural drawings, photographs, scale model photographs, detail drawings as well as sketches for the details.
Architects have always looked back in order to move forward and we should, like painters, musicians and sculptors, be able to include ‘Representational’ as well as ‘Abstract’ elements in our art… So, freed from the burden of utopia but with increased responsibility, particularly in the civic realm, we look to a more liberal future producing work perhaps richer in memory and association in the continuing evolution of a radical Architecture.
— James Stirling, The Monumentally Informal. In: Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, p. 17.
The copy in stock is in good condition. There are no visible faults except some shelf wear on the covers and some yellowing on the edges of the pages.
