Just because a firm is traditional or modern doesn’t mean that its buildings are all fluted columns or glass curtainwalls. Want proof? Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has proof—or rather, “evidence,” as its new monograph is titled.
Like a clue from the scene of a crime, police-tape-yellow Evidence (The Monacelli Press, 2012) comes wrapped in a plastic bag with an ID tag: “2012, Date Found; 05231939, Case Number.” “The intention was to show that … the firm doesn’t have a single stylistic position,” says Peter Morris Dixon, RAMSA’s director of external communications. Inside, pairs of pages feature two images of contrasting examples—of windows, for example, from different houses—instead of the traditional full-project presentation. Partner Gary Brewer, AIA, says that “many monographs are deadly dull, and you look at them once and put it away.” This one has our attention for sure.
