Architect -Peter Eisenman

Introduction
Peter Eisenman was born in Newark, New
Jersey in 1932.
He studied at Cornell and Columbia Universities
and then at Cambridge University in England.
He taught at Cambridge, Princeton and the
Cooper Union in New York, where he was
founder and director of the Institute for
Architecture and Urban Studies.
Eisenman first rose to prominence as a member
of the New York Five, a team of five architects.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Introduction
These architects' work at the time was often considered a
reworking of the ideas of Le Corbusier.
Subsequently, the five architects each developed unique
styles and ideologies, with Eisenman becoming more
affiliated with the Deconstructivist movement.
His earlier houses weIntroductionre "generated" from a
transformation of forms.
Eisenman's latter works show a sympathy with the "antihumanist" ideas of deconstructionism.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Philosophy/Ideology
He is one of the foremost
practitioners of
deconstructivism in
American architecture.
Eisenman's fragmented
forms are identified with an
eclectic group of architects
that have been, at times
unwillingly, labelled
deconstructivists.
The work of philosopher
Jacques Derrida is a key
influence in Eisenman's
architecture.
Eisenman's buildings are
purely arranged forms that,
in their arbitrary overlay of
different grids, gesture
towards the uncertainty of
all well-ordered,

Eisenman works with grids and

well ordered overlays

Architect -Peter Eisenman

works
Architect -Peter Eisenman

Santiago de Compostela, Spain

City of Culture of Galicia (Cidade
da Cultura de Galicia) is a complex
architecural environment under
construction in Santiago de
Compostela, Galicia, Spain. It was
designed by architect Peter
Eisenman and office, following an
architectural design competition
hosted by the Parliament of Galicia
in February 1999.
began construction in 2001-2002
with an initial budget of 109m
Located on Monte Gais, a small
hill overlooking Santiago de
Compostela, the City of Culture is a
new cultural center for the
Province of Galicia in northwestern
Spain.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

City of Culture of
Galicia

City of Culture of Galicia

The objective of the design was to

convert Mount Gaias into a 'beacon
of knowledge' for pilgrims.
The construction is a complex
learning environment for the
following buildings:
Museum of Galician History
New Technologies Center
Music Theater
Galician Library
Periodicals Archive
Central Services building

Architect -Peter Eisenman

City of Culture of
Galicia

The design for the City of Culture

was inspired by the five pilgrim
routes inside the medieval city that
lead to the cathedral.

First, the street plan of the medieval

center of Santiago is overlaid on a
topographic map of the hillside site
(which overlooks the city).
Second, a modern Cartesian grid is
laid over these medieval routes.
Third, through computer modeling
software, the topography of the
hillside is allowed to distort the two
flat geometries, thus generating a
topological surface that repositions
old and new in a simultaneous matrix
never before seen.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

City of Culture of
Galicia

The design evolves from the

superposition of three sets of
information.

The Archive and all of the buildings

are linked below grade to a service
tunnel

Architect -Peter Eisenman

City of Culture of
Galicia

It features a double roof: an inner,

waterproof membrane and an outer,
stone-clad layer that channels heavy
rain off the surface and hides roof
mechanicals

Orange is the floor area

iside the building.

The Master plan

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects

Competition model, 1999

City of Culture of
Galicia

Red lines show the

service tunnels below
the hill.

City of Culture of
Galicia

Image courtesy Eisenman Architects

Volumetric analysis

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects

South facade of Hemeroteca looking west
Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
Interior of Hemeroteca

elevations

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

Glendale, Arizona

Architect Peter Eisenman worked

in conjunction with HOK Sport,
Hunt Construction Group, and
Urban Earth Design to design an
innovative, earth-friendly stadium
for the University of Phoenix
It has become a landmark facility
for Arizona
The Stadium is a multi-purpose
facility with the ability to host
football, basketball, soccer,
concerts, consumer shows,
motorsports, rodeos, and corporate
events

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

Cardinals Stadium is a football

stadium currently under
construction in Glendale, Arizona.

Along the stadium facade, vertical

glass slots alternate with reflective
metal panels
The roof has two large retractable
panels that will uncover the entire
playing field while providing maximum
shading for fans. The roof can be
closed and the facility air conditioned
in the hot months
The translucent Bird-Air fabric roof
allow the stadium to have an open,
airy feel even when the roof is closed

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

The shape of the stadium is loosely

modeled after a barrel cactus, a
widespread plant in the Arizona
desert.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

The roof of the stadium is made

of PTFE (Poly-tetra-fluoroethylene) fiberglass high
translucency fabric membrane.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Cardinals Stadium

The stadium has a fully

retractable natural grass
playing field. The grass field
rolls out of the stadium on a
18.9 million pound tray. The
tray has a sophisticated
irrigation system and holds a
few inches of water to keep the
grass moist. The field, with
94,000 square feet (over 2
acres) of natural grass, stays
outside in the sun until game
day. This allows the grass to get
maximum sun and nourishment
and
also frees
upthe
theentire
stadium
the field
having
floor
for other
roof retract
to events.
allow the
necessary sunshine to reach
the grass.

Cardinals Stadium
Exterior View when the top retractable panels are closed.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Peter Eisenman - Nunotani Corporation Headquarters

Tokyo - Japan, 1990-1992
The client for this 40000 square foot headquarters building on the
outskirts of Tokyo is an international commercial design company. The
president of the company requested an "aggressive, contemporary
image" for the building, which consists of studio and office spaces, a
multimedia presentation room, library, cafeteria, CAD workrooms,
and traditional Japanese resting rooms.
CONCEPT
The landmass of Japan is located at the point of collision
between the western pacific continental plate and the
Pacific oceanic plate. Friction from the subterranean
movement of these two plates has, over millions ofyears
, created the islands of Japan through volcanic activity
and tectonic plate movement, produced by earthquake
activity. Surface waves that move through the striated
landscape in and around Tokyo periodically compress
and expand the continuous plate structure of the
Edogawa District. Within this zone the Nunotani building
is seen as a metaphoric record of the continuous waves
of movement as the plates overlap.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Simultaneous to this analogue, our project represents an attempt to

rethink the symbolism of the vertical office building. Traditionally, the
vertical building had two metaphoric connotations, one as a
metaphor of anthropocentrism (the human vertebrate as upright,
symmetrical, and skeletal) and the other as a symbol of power and
dominance, in particular, phallocentrism. Our building symbolically
seeks to undermine these two centrisms, first by producing a building
that is not metaphorically skeletal or striated but, rather, one that is
made up of a shell of vertically compressed and translate plates; and,
second, by producing an image somewhere between an erect and a
"limp" condition.

Architect -Peter Eisenman

Bibliography
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.com)
Arcspace (http://www.arcspace.com)
Eisenman Architects (
http://www.eisenmanarchitects.com)
ArchINFORM (http://www.archinform.net)
Great Buildings (http://www.greatbuildings.com)
Designboom (http://www.designboom.com)
ArchPEDIA (http://www.archpedia.com)
ebescoHOST (http://www.ebescohost.com)
Encyclopedia Britannica

Architect -Peter Eisenman