Where Architects Work

Where Architecture Begins: Architects Open Their Offices

What does it actually look like in the offices of people who think on a day-to-day basis about good architecture? Where do the ideas and designs of contemporary architecture originate?Seventy-six architectural firms, in German-speaking countries and internationally, open their doors and show us the spaces in which they work. There is a view of the outside of each architectural firm, one of the interior, and a floor plan, where the work places of the owners are highlighted. This not only exemplifies the similarities and differences between the architects, but also the internal organization of the offices as well as the attitude expressed by each respective building.

The rooms in which architects work and receive visitors today tell of a profession that is itself a polyglot, down to earth, makeshift, honest, ironic, serious, or playful. Employees work in skyscrapers and barns, in townhouses and storage buildings, on the water and in the woods.The exemplary views of the seventy-six architectural firms are accompanied by a fundamental observation of continuities and discontinuities of the “atelier/studio.”

* Seventy-six architectural firms, in German speaking countries and internationally, show how and where they work
* Insight into the working environment of architects based on lavish photographs and unified floor plans