Dominique Perrault Architecture Meta-Buildings, St. Petersburg - Madrid - Seoul - Vienna

Dominique Perrault, the force behind the four colossal projects showcased here, defines a meta-building as "a structure that exceeds the customary dimensions of a building to encompass a landscape or a city, both physically and conceptually." She continues, "I believe the future of our towns lies in meta-buildings, for reasons of energy consumption, social relations, transportation and urbanity. Buildings of this type almost act in an urban manner. In a sense they're a kind of city in themselves." That thesis might be controversial, but it's hard to debate the power of Perrault's projects, the prismatically-shaped Marinsky II Theater, on a canal in historic St. Petersburg, the winged Olympic Tennis Stadium in Madrid, the high-rise Donnau-City Gate in Vienna, and the lawn-covered Ewha Women's University Campus Center in Seoul. Perrault, who has won the World Architecture Award and the Mies van der Rohe Award, is best known for Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale.Perrault, Dominique is the author of 'Dominique Perrault Architecture Meta-Buildings, St. Petersburg - Madrid - Seoul - Vienna', published 2007 under ISBN 9783865601087 and ISBN 3865601081.