Designing Circulation Areas
Christian Schittich ed
Edition Detail 176pp HB £65

The circulation area in western architectural thinking has shifted from being a means to an end to an end in itself. But it has almost become a typology of its own, since deconstructionist theory created spaces so fluid that it’s hard to know where circulation technically stops or starts. Edition Detail’s latest book on the topic initially interrogates these conditions in seven short, intriguing essays covering all types of vertical and horizontal circulation. This is followed by 27 short building studies by the likes of Piano, Snøhetta, Delugan Meissl, Morphosis and 3XN, each well illustrated with photos and/or technical details. The book’s not cheap, but it’s an authoritative look at contemporary circulation approaches by architects at the top of their game – a freeze-frame of a subject that, one feels, still has far to run.