Wunderkammer

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien

Hardcover | 19 x 2.5 x 15.9 cm | 240 pp

Yale University Press | 2013 | 9780300197983

An alluring glimpse into magnificent Cornell-like boxes created by some of the world's leading architects and designers Inspired by the idea of the wunderkammer - "wonder-room" or "cabinet of curiosities" - that originated during the Renaissance.

World-renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien invited 35 celebrated architects and designers from around the world to create their own wunderkammers, filling boxes with objects that inspire them.

This delightful book gathers together the varied, evocative wunderkammers along with accompanying statements by their architect-creators, including such luminaries as Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Peter Eisenman, Steven Holl, Richard Meier, Murray Moss, Diebedo Francis Kere, Juhani Pallasmaa, Elias Torres, and Peter Zumthor. 

The boxes, each spotlighted in its own section, are explored through each architect's essay; working drawings and sketchbook pages; construction and installation photos; a list of the items contained; and a photograph of the final box. Wunderkammer offers a new way to think about art and inventiveness, collection and meaning in everyday objects.