Book Launch: 'Art and Architecture - A Place Between'

Looking back to precedents in land and community art by artists from Robert Smithson and Walter de Maria to Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Joseph Beuys, Dr Rendell discusses international projects by artists including Tacita Dean, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Paul Pfeiffer and Rachel Whiteread and architects as varied as Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Diller + Scofidio and Shigeru Ban.

In the book, Dr Rendell visits site-specific artworks, interventions into existing buildings, galleries operating outside of their physical limits and the best of collaborations between the fields. More than just a survey, 'Art and Architecture' also draws on the work of thinkers from German Marxist philosopher Walter Benjamin to the French philosopher Michel de Certeau to probe the meanings of place, space and site.

Director of Architectural Research at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, Dr Rendell's previous publications include 'The Pursuit of Pleasure: Gender, Space and Architecture in Regency London' and, as co-editor, 'Gender Space Architecture: An Interdisciplinary Introduction', 'Intersections: Architectural Histories and Critical Theories' and 'The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space'.

The publisher says of the book: "The last twenty years have seen fascinating developments in the nature of collaboration between artists and architects and in the approaches taken by artists making work intended for public spaces. These sophisticated projects go far beyond the standard 'art for architecture' remit, limited as it is to the addition of artworks to already designed buildings, the work described here invites us to rethink the reputation that public art has acquired over the years amongst both the public and the artists themselves."

Image: 'Art and Architecture'

• Links:
• 'Art and Architecture - A Place Between'
• UCL Bartlett School of Architecture