To accompany the exhibition at the Architectural Association, London, 27 February-27 March 2009.

This book maps the genesis and decline of a building thought by many to represent a radical break in Mendelsohn's thinking -- his first step towards a rational form of expression. The reevaluation of the building also provides an opportunity for a debate on the larger issue of the conservation of modern structures. What are we to make of buildings that no longer perform their intended function? Is there a way to carry out a project of conservation that is not a literal attempt to turn back the clock, to preserve a 'dead' monument? Through texts and speculative projects, Ruins of Modernity explores possible approaches to this increasingly acute problem. The endpiece -- a presentation of John McAslan's work on Mendelsohn and Chermayev's Bexhill Pavilion -- documents one actual solution.

Barkow Leibinger, an American-German architectural firm formed in 1992, achieved instant acclaim with the completion of its innovative laser factory in Germany. The firm's functional, undogmatic style of architecture can be seen in the 15 major projects presented in this monograph. Designs include the award-winning American Pavilion at Expo 2000, the Start-up Center in Switzerland and the biosphere for the National Horticultural Show 2001 in Potsdam.

Edited by Andres Lepik. Text by Barry Bergdoll, Brett Steele. Photographs by Christian Richters, Corinne Rose.

Barkow Leibinger's Bricoleur Bricolage atlas is a historical tool of an altogether different sort from the sixteenth-century European projects and their many descendants interested in the mapping of all history. Yet this atlas shares with its early modern origins a belief in comprehensiveness, orderliness and chronology - in this case, of the projects, research and ideas that the Berlin office of Barkow Leibinger have undertaken during the past few years, or to be more precise, since such activities were catalogued last, in Barkow Leibinger: An Atlas of Fabrication, published by the Architectural Association (AA) in 2009.