Orsina Simona Pierini is full Professor of architecture and urban design at the department of architecture and urban studies, the Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Carmen Espegel is an award-winning architect and Professor at the School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. Dick van Gameren is Professor of housing design and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Mark Swenarton is Emeritus Professor of architecture at Liverpool University, UK.
'An invaluable resource for architects seeking solutions to the current housing crisis.' – Architecture Today 'The drawings, specially prepared for the book by the authors themselves, are exemplary: simple, clear, black and white.' – Bob Allies, Building Design 'It is hard to imagine a more opportune time in which to publish a compendium on housing ... This magnum opus is not so much a book to be read as it is a document to be worked through ... a tour de force.' – Kenneth Frampton, Architecture Today 'An essential survey of 20th century housing projects through the medium of drawings ... The authors present the 87 selected schemes in three standard scales and formats with incisive graphic clarity. The beautiful drawings explore the relationship between public and private realms, the urban and the domestic, the city and the dwelling place ... Presented with the projects chronologically and with such graphical rigour, the reader is able to compare and contrast schemes that are not normally thought of together, as well as make connections between projects across time.' – Betty Owoo, Architects’ Journal 'It is, and this is not hyperbole, arguably THE book on architectural history of the year or even longer. The selection and range of projects covers what was probably the driving nexus of architecture for much of the 20th century – the urge to provide decent, affordable housing for all against the backdrop of the industrial city {...} The superb presentation allows readers to understand responses to the city and their sites, including definition of public and communal space, as well as the design of individual units.' – Jeremy Melvin, World Architecture Festival ‘a work of profound scholarship destined to become a landmark in its field’ – John Gold, Planning Perspectives