Work of Mackay Lyons Sweetapple Architects: Economy as Ethic

Large format, good pictures, pretty complete oevre. A couple of nice essays in front, one by Pallasmaa.

Nicely laid out, great writing. Used for reading and work.

A spectacular book! A great combination of photos, plans, and other drawings!!

Beautiful showcased work

Clean, simple work. Good photos.

The book is beautifully produced with many projects shown. Great photos, plans and sections. As an architect I would appreciate some detail drawings and more on the materials used.

...as the previous two books published nearly ten years ago. I'm not one to typically write reviews but felt I didn't want someone to purchase this book searching for clarity and insight into the architects work. So, for what it is worth....First of I am a huge fan of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple and this is in no way a reflection upon their contribution to the built environment. Quite the contrary. Given the substantial heft and production value of the book itself, I expected way more than what I/we are given. I find this book to be an extreme disappointment for way too many reasons. It is a very haphazardly assembled book that provides little if any insight into the workings and process of the practice. It seems to be assembled as a mere portfolio for potential clients (again, not a fault by the architect but by the publisher) where there is no real order or chronology. The book begins with a project completed in 2006, jumps back to 1997, forward to 2010, back and forth, back and forth repeatedly and is difficult to gain any real insight into the growth and development of an impressive body of built works. Nor is there any ordering into the 'form' or type other than residential vs public. Furthermore seldom is a project given more than a single spread with sometimes two substantial project's documentation reduced to a meagre half page (1/4 spread). Even though brief as each projects documentation is a little bit more organizing and editing into chronological order and/or location and/or material & structural expressions and/or Ghost vs residential, could have made all the content provided worth the reduced $43 price.As an architect that looks to MacKay-Lyon Sweetapple often as allies I find little in this book to be inspiring or insightful. With the book clocking in at +370 pages and boasting 750 illustrations, not a single illustration is a detail providing further analysis of the means and methods of a particular project. I will say it is impressive to see just how much work they have completed over the years but serves at best as a catalogue for which you will need to search online for more detail and documentation for a project of interest.If you are an architect seeking a better understanding of their work, I suggest the two books both published nearly TEN YEARS AGO with less than half of the work than this new publication and are both excellent primers into the firms practice and philosophy. And in my professional opinion are far more insightful and inspiring. Both are by Princeton Architectural Press (always a sure bet if you are an architect looking for a book for an architect). The first which is an overall view of the work up to the date of publishing in 2005 is called Plain Modern. The other which is written by the architect on the whole of the Ghost projects up to the date of publishing in 2008 called Ghost: Building An Architectural Vision which is a beautiful and potent little book. Both of these books together although not trying to show off the quantity of the architects work clearly capture the quality and are both together half the price of the new one if you buy used.Again, praise to the architect but the publisher should have exercised some editing skills to avoid redundancy and monotony. Buy the other books if you want to explore the projects in more depth.

Très beau livre

grandissimi architetti!

Bien arrivé et protégé.Très beau livre belle photo, plan, coupe, coupe de détail également. Magnifique ouvrage.

Great book.