Morphosis

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Morphosis. Californian firm of architects, led by Thom Mayne (1944– ) and Michael Rotondi (1949– ), established in 1979, that aims to search for the ‘ability to absorb the idiosyncratic’ by drawing on the more terrifying aspects of technology. The Crawford House, Montecito, CA (1987–92), is derived from overlaying the contradictory geometries of the global Mercator grid with functional and experiential axes. The broken grids and fragmented walls establish their own highly complex geometries, but suggest change, impermanence, and incompleteness. The Venice III house, Venice, CA (1982), has a system of weights and pulleys controlling sun-sails that change the appearance of the building from an unfinished structure to a temporary tent. Covering a wide range of building types, their architecture is about possibilities of change. Works include the Mantilini Restaurant, Beverly Hills (1986), Cedar's Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Care Center, Beverly Hills (1987), and the Blades House, Goleta, CA (1992–4).

Bibliography

Jodidio (1993, 1995);
Mayne et al. (1999);
Morphosis (1994)