Of People and Houses | Architecture from Styria

Architecture Graz Styria Yearbook 2008/2009
Photographed by Livia Corona, edited by Ilka & Andreas Ruby

HDA Publishers, Graz, 2009 | 332 p, 240x310mm, English/German, ISBN 978-3-901174-71-1

The 2008/2009 edition of the Haus of Architecture Graz yearbook is a departure from the traditional architectural yearbook. Editors and curators Ilka and Andreas Ruby created Of People and Houses in the spirit of a time capsule rather than an archival document. A distinctive three-part strategy of interviews, drawings and photographs was used to communicate the eleven architectural projects chosen for inclusion in the yearbook.

The threefold strategy of presenting ten nominees and the winner of the Styrian Award for Architecture 2008 in a qualitative and narrative way is meant to provide an easy yet complex comprehension of the projects. Interviews with inhabitants, neighbors, and architects provide a narrative for each project. Simplified plan and section drawings relay the essential spatial and quantitative information for each structure. Finally, Mexican-American artist Livia Corona shot all of the photographs in the book as portraits of the architecture, context, and people of Styria, far exceeding traditional architectural photography. The dynamic context of the architecture and the lives lived in and around it become as present as the architectural object.

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