Materialized Space

A reassessment of the career of architect Paul Rudolph, from his modernist Sarasota houses to his controversial Brutalist buildings and later international projects, featuring unpublished drawings, models, and furniture. Architect Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) was known for his iconic modern houses and exemplary Brutalist buildings in exposed concrete, including the Yale Art and Architecture Building and the Boston Government Service Center. Rudolph's popularity peaked during the 1950s and '60s, when he served as the chair of Yale University's Department of Architecture, but his work fell from favor with the advent of postmodernism in the 1970s. This compact volume provides an introduction to and long-overdue reassessment of the architect's trailblazing career. Discussing the full range of Rudolph's work – from his beginnings in Sarasota, Florida, and his public and institutional buildings to mixed-use developments in Asia and plans for unrealized megastructures, including the controversial Lower Manhattan Expressway – Abraham Thomas examines how Rudolph explored concepts such as functionalism, urbanism, and modular construction across decades and continents. Richly illustrated with photographs of the structures and Rudolph's own drawings (many never before published), as well as models, furniture, and period press clippings, this book sheds light on the architect's process and takes up themes such as civic design, housing development, and experimental materials and methods – themes as important in his time as in our own.