Cordula Rau (Ed.)
Why Do Architects Wear Black?
From a reliable source, so that the black Indian ink pencil can be wiped on the sleeve… which implies that the drawing + text (as seen here) must be effected colourless.
Florian Aicher, Munich
Black ↔ white ↓
White holds all colours.
Uwe Kiessler, Munich
An architect is (still) a kind of communist.
Jun Aoki, Tokyo
They don’t wear black (anymore)!
Lars Spuybroek, Rotterdam
It’s the worst timing for me as an architect not with black but always with vivid colours.
Kazuhiro Kojima, Tokyo
I like black.
Zaha Hadid, London
Because it is… still crazy after all these years.
Mark Lee, Los Angeles
I only wear black in the north, because it has low reflectivity.
Philippe Rahm, Paris
No black clothes No cry
Hans-Ulrich Obrist, London
There are some things that one shouldn’t think about.
Herman Hertzberger, Delft
– I ride motorcycles and it’s the only color that resists dust and oil.
– And it’s easier for laundr y, you make fewer mistakes.
– P. S. It’s the color of the met al scene.
Niklaas Deboutte, Antwerp
Do they? Everywhere or only in some places?
(Not in India)
Anupama Kundoo, Mumbai
Cordula Rau (Ed.)
D-Munich
Acquisitions Editor: David Marold, Birkhäuser Verlag, Vienna, Austria
Content Editor: Angelika Gaal, Birkhäuser Verlag, Vienna, Austria
Production Editor: Heike Strempel-Bevacqua, Birkhäuser Verlag, Berlin, Germany
Translation: Markus Wieland; Word Up!
Layout, cover design, and typography: Martin Gaal, Vienna, Austria
Image editing: Pixelstorm Litho & Digital Imaging, Vienna, Austria
Printing: Beltz Grafische Betriebe GmbH, Bad Langensalza, Germany
Paper: Fly 05
Typeface: Univers LT Std
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024951567
Bibliographic information published by the German National Library
The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained.
ISBN 978-3-0356-2948-4
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-0356-2949-1
© 2025 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel
Im Westfeld 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
www.birkhauser.com
Questions about General Product Safety Regulation productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1