Powers Brown Architecture (Commodity and Virtue in Architecture)

• Spans the entire 25 years of Powers Brown Architecture's practice, including projects not previously covered in earlier publications

• Carefully curated collection of work evinces the defining characteristic of the firm: singularly disciplined structure over a predominate style or argument about form

• Explores the notion of 'marketect' as opposed to 'starchitect'

• Includes compelling foreword by Stephen Sharpe, (editor of Texas Architecture magazine) and thought-provoking essay by Jeffrey Brown, FAIA

• In-depth interview with Jeffrey Brown, FAIA by architect and professor Donna Kacmar, FAIA

This monograph, the firm’s third publication in book form, covers 35 projects — the majority not previously published in book form — in a range of building and problem types. Projects like the Hillel Student Center in Washington, D.C. and the Transit Terminal in Galveston, Texas on the historic Strand span the range in public work. Frank’s International and Seismic Exchange explore the possibilities of corporate architecture to create place as much as to make a statement. Arabella transforms the repetitiveness in the condominium building type to variety in all living units, while the Thompson Hotel & Arts Residences along the River Walk in San Antonio navigates pedestrian scale in a twenty-story tower. POST covers the commitment to resiliency and the future of the planet while MEDDNet™ transforms urban design tactics into a national-scale disaster relief strategy. The introduction is written by journalist Stephen Sharpe who has covered the firm’s work for nearly 20 years. An extended essay by Brown situates the firm’s position at the conversational threshold of scepticism about “Starchitecure” and the reality of everyday architecture, or “Marketecture”, while an intimate interview by architecture professor and author Donna Kacmar, FAIA gives insight into the details behind the firm as practice and the work itself.