The Light Pavilion: by Lebbeus Woods and Christoph a. Kumpusch for the Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China, 2007-2012

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Christoph a. Kumpusch Editor

Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich, Germany, 2013, English

Nonfiction, Architecture

9.5 x 9.5 inches, hardcover, 88 pages, 82 illustrations

ISBN: 9783037783092

Suggested Retail Price: $15.00

From the Publisher. The first built project and final creative work of artist and architect Lebbeus Woods (1940–2012), the Light Pavilion is transcendent architecture, a project that exemplifies the preoccupations of a consummate draftsman, thinker and educator.

Nestled within a mixed-use complex in Chengdu, China, this daring construction is an emancipated drawing, a light and shadow machine, a chromatic calendar, a fugue of steel, a dance of space and form. The pavilion’s dynamic geometry, perspective and sequence of spaces reframe perceptions of architecture and urbanism.

Filled with drawings, detail specifications, and construction documentation, this book also features breathtaking photography by Iwan Baan; commentary by Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Thom Mayne, Neil Denari, and Eric Owen Moss; historical analysis by Mark Morris; and a touching epilogue by friend and project collaborator Christoph a. Kumpusch. A visionary design made intensely real, the pavilion offers a glimpse of the future as well as a catalogue of architecture’s past.

A Designers & Books Notable Design Book of 2013

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John Hill

On John Hill’s Notable Books of 2013 list

Lebbeus Woods died the month (October 2012) before the completion of Steven Holl’s massive Sliced Porosity Block in Chengu, China. Situated partly within and in front of one of the five mixed-use towers is the “Light Pavilion” (dubbed “Time Light” by locals), Woods’s only permanent construction, carried out with New York-based architect Christoph a. Kumpusch. This slim, handsome volume documents the installation through sketches, construction drawings, photographs (during construction and after completion), and words from Woods, Holl, Kumpusch, and others. The installation fractures the regular grid of Holl’s building into angular lines of light and color. Its power and intensity is undeniable, apparent in photos where the Sliced Porosity Block is the subject but the installation attracts the eye.

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