Poetic gestures -- Interlocking volumes -- Expressive forms -- Engaging nature -- Purist spaces -- Introspective pleasures.

"Art/Invention/House is an authoritative presentation of forty new and recent houses that represent the creativity of some of the world's most gifted architects. Author Michael Webb has chosen projects on five continents to demonstrate the inexhaustible potential of a building type that architects use to test new ideas while striving to give clients something more than they dreamed of. The houses shown here are under-stated or audacious but never conventional. They offer sweeping views and constant surprises, soaring spaces and intimate nooks, silky wood and raw steel. Some have only trees for neighbors: others are shoe-horned into tight urban sites, perch on precipitous slopes, or cling like limpets to the coastline. All are respectful of their surroundings and the need to conserve energy. But every house is one of a kind, the product of a dialogue between demanding clients and creative designers. Featured here in spectacular full-color photography, as well as generous plans and sketches, are projects by an international array of firms."--BOOK JACKET.

2