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Being a photographer, visuals are always the first thing that I look for in a book. This is especially true for a so-called coffee-table book. The average reader may expect fantastic glamour shots that present the architecture in an overly dramatic and polished form. If you are looking for that, you might be disappointed in this book at the first glance. If you look a little closer (and you cannot help but do so) you will discover wonderful photographs that are excellently composed and, perhaps, a bit understated. Patrick Bingham-Hall took great care in finding the right light to present each structure in the best possible way. The book contains over 100 full-color or black & white photographs that are technically without flaws. Every description utilizes multiple images (one full page and several smaller photographs) and floor plans.

The architecture, of course, is what the photographs are supposed to be about, but the reader might miss more representation of the environment; something that confirms the anticipation of great architecture embedded in its landscape: rain forests, breathtaking landscapes, or busy cities at this end of the world. Some of these photographs might even seem to have been taken just around the corner, or in Argentina or South Africa. But closer inspection with by a trained eye will prove otherwise.

What the pictures may not show – the smell, light, and textures, everything beyond the plain construction – London compensates for with a fine description of the architecture. One can feel the air, the humanity, and the fresh breeze that comes from the Pacific in both the prose and the pictures. About Adi Purnomo’s Cingajur House (Jakarta, Indonesia, 2003) “… the terraces feature loose corals and wooden surfaces lain over porous organic fibers mixed with corals, allowing surface water penetration into the ground. The sound of the loose corals underfoot is a poetic reminder of nature …” London also takes a deeper look into the stories behind the house: What were the underlying presumptions? What where the client’s demands and mindset?

London and Hall examine structures that are very different from one another: modern constructions, industrial-like building with dominant metal beams that are obviously fill-ins or constructions for special needs clients (artists) like Wetherall and Warn’s Glick House (Leederville, Perth, Australia, 1999) or cast-concrete structures like Dominice Dube’s Inge’s House (Auroville, India, 2003). Other constructions, like Blacket Smith’s Victoria Park House (Victoria Park, Perth, Australia 2003) utilize a wild mix of materials. Frankly, judging from the outside, this last home could have been built in hippie community in Northern California. As the writer indicates, one requirement was that elements to be used must have had a previous life – the building is almost completely built from recycled, salvaged or otherwise reused materials. Inside the house one finds beautiful hardwood floors and a beautiful, almost free-hanging wooden staircase. The book also includes amazing traditional wood constructions like Cy Kuan’s Hardy House (Sayan, Bali, Indonesia, 1997), a virtual tree house.

If you are looking for a book that tells you specifically what woods and other materials have been used, how many pounds of nails, screws, or for the advanced craftsman dowels have been used, or how each element was hewn and hammered, or what wood working techniques were utilized, look elsewhere - this book does not tell you that. London limits his text to general descriptions such as ”… faith in the regenerative and innovative potential of examing centuries of old techniques, not a tokenistic primitivism but a serious examination of the craft techniques that made lasting and practical contributions to building and dwelling …” or simplifies it to “… a careful selection of low cost building materials and finishes,” which may leave the advanced craftsman with as many questions as he/she had before.

If you are looking for a book that describes beautiful and contemporary homes in a region that you may not have known had so much interesting and experimental work in a broader context, if you want to be inspired by different concepts of material use for amazing homes, that are perfectly suited for the needs of its inhabitants – this publication is a good choice. Overall, Houses for the 21st Century is a very well written and illustrated book, something for both the eyes and the soul, and you will enjoy reading it and browsing photographs.