The wall-free architecture of Claude Parent
A new, carefully edited tome celebrates the life and contribution of the French architect, who passed away in 2016
Radical architect Claude Parent's vision is nowhere clearer than in his beautiful and thought provoking drawings, which are published extensively in a new Rizzoli publication. Parent is well known for establishing the ‘oblique function’ theory, which he developed together with Paul Virilio in 1963; it describes structures that are wall-free and showcase flowing, curvaceous forms.
Bringing together early sketches of later realised buildings and theoretical drawings, the book also features contributions by acclaimed figures in the field, such as Donatien Grau, Pascale Blin, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Odile Decq, Wolf D. Prix, Frédéric Migayrou and Azzedine Alaïa. It also has never-seen-before visuals that further explore the architect’s philosophy and approach.
Leading contemporary architects such as Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Daniel Libeskind have praised Parent’s work, while the late Zaha Hadid had stated that ‘Claude Parent was one of architecture’s most radical and audacious visionaries; audacious enough to question orthogonality as architecture’s natural realm, and propose the tilted plane as the engine of invention and surprisingly fertile basis of an alternative architectural scenario’.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the world
We round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Stone dials are making a comeback: here are the watches doing it best
Watches with hard stone dials are enjoying a surge in popularity
By Chris Hall Published
-
These illuminating fashion interviews tell the story of style in 2024
Selected by fashion features editor Jack Moss from the pages of Wallpaper*, these interviews tell the stories behind the designers who have shaped 2024 – from Kim Jones to Tory Burch, Willy Chavarria to Martine Rose
By Jack Moss Published
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’
A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
By Amy Serafin Published
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreat
This overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
La Grande Motte: touring the 20th-century modernist dream of a French paradise resort
La Grande Motte and its utopian modernist dreams, as seen through the lens of photographers Laurent Kronental and Charly Broyez, who spectacularly captured the 20th-century resort community in the south of France
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain unveils plans for new Jean Nouvel building
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has plans for a new building in Paris, working with architect Jean Nouvel
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Discover Tempe à Pailla, a lesser-known Eileen Gray gem nestled in the French Riviera
Tempe à Pailla is a modernist villa in the French Riviera brimming with history, originally designed by architect Eileen Gray and extended by late British painter Graham Sutherland
By Tianna Williams Published
-
'Tropicality' explored in Indonesian architect Andra Matin’s first monograph
'Tropicality' is a key theme in a new book on Indonesian architect Andra Matin, whose work blends landscape, architecture and living
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
At Lee Ufan Arles, tension and calm guide relationships between space and art
Lee Ufan Arles opens in the south of France, a collaboration between the famed Korean artist and Japanese architect Tadao Ando
By Amah-Rose Mcknight Abrams Published
-
‘A Time ⋅ A Place’ is a lovingly compiled photographic portrait of cars and architecture
‘A Time ⋅ A Place’ is a celebration of the European Car of the Year and changing perceptions of modern design, pairing the best buildings of the age with their automotive contemporaries
By Jonathan Bell Published