A challenging examination of the connections between traditional materials and forms and contemporary expression in architecture.

Architect, architectural historian and preservationist Francoise Bollack explores the use of traditional materials with contemporary forms and the corollary of contemporary materials applied to traditional forms and the blurring of the boundary between the two. Nineteen projects in the US, Europe, and Japan, are examined. Among the featured architects are Kengo Kuma, architect of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium, MVRDV, a highly regarded Dutch firm, and Lacaton & Vassal of Paris.