Architect Alan Buchsbaum was a figure of central importance on the American design scene during his two decades of independent practice. His career, and his unique ability both to draw from and to draw out the world around him, reflected the revitalized spirit of his times, the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties. This lavishly illustrated monograph collects, for the first time, over fifty projects; its unique intertwining of work and text, image and type, presents an integrated portrait of Alan Buchsbaum and his design oeuvre prior to his 1987 death from AIDS. Buchsbaum's design outlook was at once irreverent and respectful, ironic and classical, versatile and idiosyncratic, elegant and entertaining. His Pop Art-influenced projects of the late sixties initiated the Super-Graphics look; elements of his High-Tech style of the mid-seventies became ubiquitous in interiors designed during that time; and his romantic modernism of the eighties, rich in materials and textures, foretold more extraordinary work to come. These three broad periods are presented in this volume in more than twenty-five residential designs (for such clients as Ellen Barkin, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, Diane Keaton, Bette Midler, and Anna Wintour and David Shaffer), as well as commercial spaces, installations, furniture, and rugs. In addition to the wealth of designs, this book features a variety of Buchsbaum's own writings - a fellowship essay, project descriptions, and zingy one-liners - as well as those of architect/editor Frederic Schwartz, architect/critic Michael Sorkin, writer Patricia Leigh Brown, critic Rosalind Krauss, and architects Stephen Tilly and Steven Holl. The complex picture that emerges is atestament to the individual whose untimely death robbed the design industry of a major talent.

Surprising juxtapositions between high elegance and downtown funkiness -- a choreography of bright colors and shapes, contrasting textures and patterns, theatrical lighting and quirky found objects -- make up the world of Alan Buchsbaum. An imaginative architect and designer, he was deemed one of the originators of the supergraphics look of the 1960s, the high-tech aesthetic of the 1970s, and the loft look of the 1980s. This lavishly illustrated monograph collects -- for the first time ever -- over forty of his incredible projects.
Working in New York during the late 1960s and early 1970s, he became famous for his ad-hoc style. The postwar era's bold materials (vinyl, formica, plastic) were united with his flair for embellishing modern forms while mimicking popular culture's nuances -- a big curve here, a little wiggle there. A favorite among design professionals and magazine editors, his death in 1987 robbed the industry of a major talent.
Featured are his notorious loft spaces for his star clients, who collaborated with Buchsbaum on these dramatic transformations. His world of fantasy and luxury was also a place of function and comfort, as seen in his commercial spaces, retail stores, and hotels -- the 1986-87 Nevele Hotel renovation is a tour de force of retro-chic design. Also documented is a cornucopia of his furnishings, including rugs, tables, chairs, and slipcovers. Contributors, all friends, clients, and/or collaborators, recall his ingenuity and flamboyant personality.