Werner Blaser is one of the best-known architectural critics of recent decades. He has published over 100 books in which – using narratives, photographs, and drawings – he has documented the oeuvre of important architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Foster, Piano, and Calatrava.
In ‘Synthesis’ he recounts his encounters with architects, designers, and artists, and their work as well as his encounters with traditional and vernacular architecture – in the Ticino in Switzerland and far-flung places such as Siberia, China, and Japan.
Using collages, the book also illustrates design relationships between East and West, and between traditional and contemporary architecture. In this way an ‘archi-text collage’ (Jakob Bill) has been created which nevertheless justifies the title ‘Synthesis’.
