This publication offers a new perspective on the work of Brad Cloepfil and Allied Works Architecture, recognized for designing buildings of enduring quality and cultural significance over the past 20 years. Published to accompany an exhibition opening at the Denver Art Museum in January 2016, the book offers an inside view into Allied Works' unique approach to design, a process driven by a rich material and physical investigation.
For Cloepfil and Allied Works, each project begins with the creation of hand drawings and concept models. These highly evocative artifacts--forged of diverse matter such as reclaimed timbers, porcelain, resin, glass, lead and steel--distill the essence of each project, and explore the dialogue among material, technique and intention that lies at the heart of architectural practice.
The book also documents Cloepfil's design for the installation: a series of custom-built cases, which open up to reveal a collection of artifacts inside, including models, drawings, photographs, pieces of materials and other objects that have provided conceptual inspiration. New essays by Brad Cloepfil and curator Dean Sobel place the work in context, and explore how this singular collection of artifacts reveals the process of creation in architecture--the act of translating ideas into built form.