Book Review: Blur

Blur: The Making of Nothing by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, published by Harry N. Abrams, 2002. Paperback, 384 pages. (Amazon)



Serving as a document of the 3.5-year struggle to "make nothing," this book will find more favor with architects, those familiar with the difficult process to build anything. Those unfamiliar with the design and construction processes might be enlightened, though they'll have to dig through dry correspondence, architectural drawings, shop drawings, and so forth. Regardless, I found the documentation fascinating, almost as fascinating as the project itself, a fog cloud hovering 75 feet above the waters of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, part of Expo.02. The book acts like a timeline, a literal one anchoring each right-hand page and illustrating that page's location in the process. Thematic sections give detailed information on the various components: fog nozzles, media, structure, etc. If the project weren't such an atypical building, the process wouldn't be nearly as interesting. But given the groundbreaking nature of the undertaking, even the most mundane faxes and shop drawings take on more than a passing fancy. By the end, the reader is amazed that the project turned out so successful, given the struggles and setbacks encountered along the way.

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