Situated Objects: Buildings and Projects by Stan Allen, Photographs by Scott Benedict by Stanley T. Allen
Stan Allen is an architect and educator who has won global acclaim, primarily for his work in town planning and his influential 1996 essay Field Conditions. His new book Situated Objects shows a unique facet of his creative process: a selection of small buildings and projects on rural sites, most of them situated within the landscape of the Hudson Valley, New York. They demonstrate an approach to architecture that engages in a dialogue with this partly wild and wholly non-urban environment that lies just outside the gates of New York City. The projects are presented in drawings and a rich array of images by celebrated photographer Scott Benedict. They are arranged in three thematic categories: Outbuildings, Material Histories, and New Natures, supplemented by the architects writings and essays contributed by Helen Thomas and Jesus Vassallo. The first book on Stan Allens buildings, Situated Objects highlights Allens personal engagement with American material traditions, the conventions of architectural drawing, and the challenge of building with nature.