ACTAR
Encyclopedia
ACTAR is part of ActarBirkhäuser is a publisher of books on architecture, graphic design, and contemporary art. It was founded in 1994 and is based in Barcelona
.
ACTAR is directed by Ramon Prat. In 2006, ACTAR opened a New York
office for North America
n sales and distribution. In addition to ACTAR's in-house titles, ACTAR D internationally distributes publications by prominent Europe
an cultural institutions and publishers.
ACTAR's publishing program is focused on the works of established and emerging architects, designers, artists, and photographers at the forefront of contemporary practice and theory. Actar books feature collaborations with architects including OMA / Rem Koolhaas
, Foreign Office Architects / Farshid Moussavi, MVRDV
/ Winy Maas
, UN Studio
, Massimiliano Fuksas
, Diller + Scofidio, Toyo Ito
, SANAA / Kazuyo Sejima
, Sanford Kwinter
, Kazys Varnelis, Harvard Graduate School of Design
, Vincente Guallart; designers including VASAVA; photographers including Joan Fontcuberta
; and chef Ferran Adrià
of ElBulli.
FOOD for thought THOUGHT for food, featuring Ferran Adrià
and elBulli, edited by Richard Hamilton
and Vicente Todoli, (ISBN 9788496954687),
and published in 2000. It has become an international urban classic, reflecting on the
phenomenon of rapid urban mutations.
Prize for Best International Communication (2007), National Design Prize: General of Catalunya (2005), Daniel Gil Design Publisher Prize (2004), ADG-FAD Medal for Best Publishing House (2003), The LAUS Prize for Graphic Design (six consecutive years, 1995-2000) awarded by the FAD.
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
ACTAR is directed by Ramon Prat. In 2006, ACTAR opened a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
office for North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n sales and distribution. In addition to ACTAR's in-house titles, ACTAR D internationally distributes publications by prominent Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an cultural institutions and publishers.
ACTAR's publishing program is focused on the works of established and emerging architects, designers, artists, and photographers at the forefront of contemporary practice and theory. Actar books feature collaborations with architects including OMA / Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
, Foreign Office Architects / Farshid Moussavi, MVRDV
MVRDV
MVRDV is a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1991. The name is an acronym for the founding members: Winy Maas , Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries...
/ Winy Maas
Winy Maas
Winy Maas is a Dutch architect, landscape architect, professor and urbanist. In 1991 together with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries he set up MVRDV...
, UN Studio
UN Studio
UNStudio is a Dutch architectural practice specializing in architecture, urban development and "infrastructural" projects. The practice was founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos...
, Massimiliano Fuksas
Massimiliano Fuksas
Massimiliano Fuksas is an Italian architect, born in Rome in 1944 to an Jewish Lithuanian father and Italian Catholic mother. He received his degree in architecture from the La Sapienza University in 1969 in Rome, where he opened his first office. Subsequent offices were opened in Paris and Vienna...
, Diller + Scofidio, Toyo Ito
Toyo Ito
is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most...
, SANAA / Kazuyo Sejima
Kazuyo Sejima
is a Japanese architect. After studying at Japan Women's University and working in the office of Toyo Ito, in 1987 she founded Kazuyo Sejima and Associates. In 1995 she founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA together with her former employee Ryue Nishizawa...
, Sanford Kwinter
Sanford Kwinter
Sanford Kwinter is a Canada-born, New York-based writer and world-renowned architectural theorist, and a co-founder of the influential publishers. Kwinter currently serves as Professor of Theory and Criticism at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design...
, Kazys Varnelis, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
, Vincente Guallart; designers including VASAVA; photographers including Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta is a conceptual artist whose best-known works, such as Fauna and Sputnik, examine the truthfulness of photography. In addition, he is a writer, editor, teacher, and curator....
; and chef Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià i Acosta is a Catalan chef born on May 14, 1962 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. He was the head chef of the El Bulli restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava, and is considered one of the best chefs in the world.-Career:...
of ElBulli.
Book lines
VERB is ACTAR's trademark series for the investigation of current architectural production. VERB BOOGAZINE is a hybrid, thematic publication that combines the heterogeneity and topicality of a magazine with the referential and comprehensive approach of a book. Previous boogazines include; Crisis, Natures, Conditioning, Connections, Matters, Processing. VERB MONOGRAPH is a user manual that presents an extensive analysis of a compelling building or situation first examined in the boogazine. Previous monographs include From Control to Design, Desert America, Seattle Public Library, Sendai Mediatheque, The Yokohama Project.FOOD for thought THOUGHT for food, featuring Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià i Acosta is a Catalan chef born on May 14, 1962 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. He was the head chef of the El Bulli restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava, and is considered one of the best chefs in the world.-Career:...
and elBulli, edited by Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton may refer to:*Richard Hamilton , Irish officer*Richard Hamilton, 4th Viscount Boyne , Irish MP for Navan*Richard Hamilton , American actor...
and Vicente Todoli, (ISBN 9788496954687),
Books
MUTATIONS is Actar's landmark book, written by architect Rem KoolhaasRem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
and published in 2000. It has become an international urban classic, reflecting on the
phenomenon of rapid urban mutations.
Awards
City of BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
Prize for Best International Communication (2007), National Design Prize: General of Catalunya (2005), Daniel Gil Design Publisher Prize (2004), ADG-FAD Medal for Best Publishing House (2003), The LAUS Prize for Graphic Design (six consecutive years, 1995-2000) awarded by the FAD.
External links
- http://www.actar.com ACTAR, the progressive editorial project exploring architecture, graphic design, and contemporary art.
- http://www.actar-d.com ACTAR D, the worldwide distributor specializing in international architecture, design, and art publications.