Brad Collins

"Antoine Predock: Architect," the first of the four monographs on Antoine Predock edited by Brad Collins, founder of Group C, and published by Rizzoli, came out in 1994. The second, "Bldgs 1994–99," followed at the end of 1998; the third one, "Houses," came out in 2000; and "Volume 4" was released in 2006. (Predock and Collins also produced "Architectural Journeys," a book of sketches, in 1995 and "Turtle Creek Residence," a book-length building monograph, in 1997.) A large photo of the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming, is on the cover of the first, with an inset of the Nelson Fine Arts Center at Arizona State University. They are the most notable Predock projects from the late 1980s and early 1990s and two highlights from this monograph; the importance of Nelson can be found in it being given the book’s only gatefold — a double gatefold.

The two projects also happen to be the only Predock buildings I have seen in person. I visited Nelson in the mid-90s, when I was still an architecture student, and I can still feel the change in atmosphere as I walked from the sunny plaza to the shaded subterranean courtyard and entry: the beginning of an unprescribed 'promenade architecturale' through the galleries and other spaces. The Heritage Center, I argued in early 2018, was worth considering for an AIA 25-Year Award (none was awarded that year), but, when I visited later that year, the building was closed so I only saw it from outside. Nevertheless, the power of Predock’s mark on the landscape is undeniable — worthy of its presence on the cover of "Antoine Predock: Architect."… (plus d'informations)