A Guide to Ecstacity

by Nigel Coates, Brian Hatton

In this encyclopedic book, British architectural visionary Nigel Coates asks us to reimagine the city as a dynamic hybrid of inventive design and cross-cultural political empowerment. His innovative view of the contemporary metropolis is presented in the form of Ecstacity, a hypothetical place that collapses the real into the imaginary, with fragments of cities from around the world woven together into one multifaceted urban fabric.
With streetscapes, buildings and plans appropriated from Tokyo, Cairo, London, New York, Rome, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro, Ecstacity constructs an urban kaleidoscope marked by cultural diversity and suggests that pluralism - and not uniformity - is the best response to the multiplication of modern lifestyles and revolutions in global communication.
Guide to Ecstacity is simultaneously a sourcebook, architectural survey, novel, and autobiography. It features Coates's own influential designs as well as work by other leading architects, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, and Daniel Libeskind.

Genres: Architecture

454 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Sharayu Gangurde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could get hold of this wonderful book again. I first read this in my college library. I remember noting this quote from the book that reads as follows- If you want to keep your creative edge, never give up access to your childhood. I have since used this quote umpteen times as my own design and creative philosophy. I was greatly inspired and transfixed with Coates writing. I may not remember correctly but he had written something about US and European brands which were termed as fixed and evolutionary like Starbucks and Prada. I really hope to buy a personal copy for myself soon so as to find out what he wrote that captivated my attention back then.