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The Buildner bookshop / Ideas worth keeping
For minds
that build.
A new perspective. A spark for your next project. Books that belong on your desk, and in your thinking.
Find your next read01–12Architecture. Design. Possibility.
In print & on screen.
In print & on screen.
↗ Free worldwide print shipping▤ Print, PDF, or both↶ 14-day returns on printed books
The reading room
Your next big idea
starts here.
From a single chair to a different way of living.
Find the perspective you’re looking for.
The printed books
Made to be
held.
Six of the titles come in print, from a 256-page hardcover to a notebook that fits in a pocket. Printed copies ship free, worldwide.
The review
Nine minutes
inside a book.
Show It Better, the YouTube channel on communicating architecture visually, goes through What is Small-Scale Architecture?, from the interviews to the competition designs.
A review by Show It Better, on Buildner’s YouTube channel.
In their words
Two architects,
two questions.
Every ARCHHIVE book asks one question. Ben van Berkel and Kengo Kuma answer two of them.
Ben van BerkelFounder and principal architect, UNStudio, Amsterdam.What is Small-Scale Architecture?“Small scale projects sometimes generate ideas which can later be extended to larger scale projects. They not only perform as a testing ground for geometric, material and construction related considerations, but they are also invaluable when testing ideas on a conceptual level. Or better said, how to combine the two.”
Kengo KumaFounder, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tokyo.What is Affordable Housing?“In our current era, it’s imperative to reevaluate and alter our understanding of ‘living’ within a home. The key aspect of this evolution is ensuring that all housing we envision and bring to life must be accessible in terms of affordability.”
The MICROHOME collection / Issues 01–04
Less space.
More possibility.
Small homes are a testing ground for big ideas. Explore built projects and competition concepts that rethink how we live.
See all four issuesYour desk. Your device. Your choice.
Keep it close.
A library that goes with you.
Take your reading from the studio to the train. Digital editions for your laptop, tablet, or phone.
The best of both worlds.
The printed edition for your desk and its digital companion for everywhere else. Available on selected titles.
Find your perfect pair ↗From the world of Buildner
Good architecture starts
with an open mind.
For over a decade, Buildner has brought architectural ideas into the world through international competitions. These books bring that spirit to your bookshelf: different voices, unexpected approaches, and possibilities worth exploring.
Discover Buildner ↗- 12
- titles, in print and PDF
- 1,800+
- pages
- 590+
- projects, essays, interviews and poems
- 15
- years of Buildner competitions
A few useful things
Before you
turn the page.
Can I choose between print and digital?
Yes. Each book page shows the editions available for that title. Some are PDF-only, some offer print and PDF, and selected titles also have a print + PDF bundle.
How much does shipping cost?
Nothing. Printed books ship free worldwide, and we email you the tracking details as soon as your order is on its way.
Can I return a printed book?
Yes. You have 14 days from the day it arrives to change your mind: choose Withdraw from contract at the bottom of any page, then send the book back. The bookstore terms have the details.
What format are the digital editions?
Digital books and MICROHOME magazines are supplied as PDFs. A print + PDF bundle includes both editions of the same title.
Inside the book
Every chair
has a point of view.
The Architect’s Chair 01 is the first collection from Buildner’s annual Architect’s Chair competition: 64 signature chairs by nearly 80 architects and designers from 31 countries. Each chair gets its own spread or more, with photographs, drawings and the designers’ own account of the idea.
- 64
- chairs
- 31
- countries
- 14
- jurors
- 01
- the first edition
The printed book
A book to hold,
pages to turn.
Hardcover, A4+ portrait, 200 pages in colour.
Turn the pages
Big pictures.
Fine lines.
Real spreads from the printed book: large photographs, construction drawings in green and the story of each chair in its designers’ words.
Pages 2–3. The title pages. 
Pages 8–9. The jury. 
Pages 40–41. W Chair, Guntis Zingis, Latvia. 
Pages 54–55. Amoeba, Christopher Stevens, Canada. 
Pages 78–79. KORDELA, Jule Christine Appuhn and Pascal Bernd Deppisch, Germany. 
Pages 82–83. Heavy-To-Float, Celina Epp, Germany. 
Pages 158–159. The Seattle Chair, Weston Baker, United States. 
Pages 176–177. LSF1 Chair, Pedro Afonso Pessanha De Meneses Porto De Aguiar, Portugal.
The brief
Architecture,
at the scale of the body.
Charles and Ray Eames, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Arne Jacobsen all designed chairs that are still made today. A chair is where an architect’s ideas meet the body directly: every joint, material and angle is visible, and every one of them can be felt.
The Architect’s Chair competition asks for exactly that: one chair that carries its designer’s way of thinking. This first edition shows what came back, from a soft sculpture of two cylinders to a chair printed in basalt fibre.
Eight things the jury looks for
- 01Functionality
How well the chair does its job: long sitting, adjusting, moving it around.
- 02Comfort
Real support, from the shape of the seat to the angle of the back.
- 03Aesthetics
Form, colour, texture and proportion, and what the chair does for a room.
- 04Signature style
The themes, materials and moves that make it unmistakably one designer’s.
- 05Material quality
Solid woods, metals and fabrics, chosen to last.
- 06Craftsmanship
Precise joinery, clean finishing, techniques done well.
- 07Versatility
Modular parts, adjustable settings, stacking, a place in many rooms.
- 08Sustainability
Renewable or recycled materials, a smaller footprint, a long life and a recyclable end.
The jury
Judged by designers and architects from Stockholm to Shanghai.
- Johan AnsanderIndustrial designer, Stockholm
- Rasmus Bækkel FexFurniture designer, Copenhagen
- Boris BerlinPartner, Boris Berlin Design, Copenhagen
- Anne BrandhøjPartner, Bly Studio, and wood sculptor
- Mårten ClaessonCo-founder, Claesson Koivisto Rune Architects, Stockholm
- Sarah HossliProduct designer, Lucerne
- Flora LeeAssociate partner, MAD Architects, Los Angeles
- Alexander LervikDesigner, Scandinavia
- Lorenz NoelleProduct designer, Switzerland
- Natalia Sanz LaviñaCo-founder, YSLA Architects, Tokyo
- Harrison StallanArchitect, OMA, Rotterdam
- Philippe StarckDesigner and architect, France
- Li XiangFounder and CEO, X+Living, Shanghai
- Takeshi YamamuraCo-founder, YSLA Architects, Tokyo
Case studies
Six chairs,
up close.
Six of the 64, and the thinking behind them. Page numbers are those of the printed book.
01
The chair on the cover
Umi Armchair
Rostyslav Sorokovyi, Ukraine
The green chair on the cover is this one. Rostyslav Sorokovyi wanted an object that feels like a soft sculpture more than a piece of furniture: two cylinders joined in a horseshoe make the seat and the back, on cylindrical legs, the back pair longer than the front.
In a world overloaded with information and detail, it keeps to clean lines and one playful shape, and leaves it to you how to sit in it: to rest, to read or to meditate.
- Two cylinders joined in a horseshoe
- Cylindrical legs, the back pair longer
- For resting, reading, meditating
Pages 16–21
02
A classic, pared back
The Elsie chair
Appareil Atelier in collaboration with Les Jardins de Métis, Canada
Appareil Atelier began with an inventory: the chairs whose simple forms have kept them popular for generations, starting with the bentwood chairs of the 19th century. The handmade wooden chair stood out as the enduring classic.
Elsie keeps only what that chair needs, a seat and a backrest, in solid wood with generous curves. The prototype was developed with L’Autre Atelier.
- Solid wood, made by hand
- A seat and a backrest, nothing more
- Prototype with L’Autre Atelier
Pages 10–15
03
A landscape to lie on
Mountains Chair
Chris David Wang, Italy
Its outline echoes the sweeping mountains of traditional Chinese painting. The body is natural cork, shaped by CNC machining, and it rests on a dark oak base put together with mortise and tenon joints, like the wooden stands used to show bonsai.
There is no single right way to use it: it is a stage and a playground, for a short rest or a long lie-down.
- Natural cork, shaped by CNC
- Dark oak base, mortise and tenon
- After Chinese landscape painting
Pages 22–25
04
And how to fix, modify and keep it forever
A Lounge Chair
Andrew Longo, United States
Think of a favourite sweater: it grows on you, it needs mending, and the repairs become part of why you keep it. Andrew Longo asks whether a chair could earn the same place in our lives.
His lounge chair comes with a manual that explains how to repair it, so that looking after it becomes part of owning it, and throwing it away becomes unthinkable.
- Comes with a repair manual
- Made to be fixed and modified
- Meant to be kept for good
Pages 66–67
“One ‘sits’ in a chair. Sitting is not a passive act but a collaboration between two forms working together.”
05
A grandmother’s bench, printed in stone fibre
AVIAM SCAMNUM
Alexandre Ferreira Picanço, Portugal
The name is Latin for “grandmother’s bench”, a tribute to the designer’s own grandmother. The chair is 3D-printed in continuous basalt fibre, chosen to recall the volcanic rock of the Azores: strong, durable, light and recyclable.
Its form comes from algorithmic modelling, guided by the principles of the Bauhaus.
- 3D-printed continuous basalt fibre
- After the volcanic rock of the Azores
- Algorithmic modelling
Pages 160–161
06
A fairy tale in carved wood
100.BUT
Minh Le Tan and Ngọc Minh Châu Đỗ, Vietnam
The chair takes its idea from the Vietnamese fairy tale of the Hundred-knot Bamboo Tree. It is made with mortise and tenon joints, and its carving and inlay turn the frame into a set of images.
The upholstery is an eco-leather made from tree bark, to cut waste.
- Mortise and tenon
- Carving and inlay
- Eco-leather made from tree bark
Pages 166–167
More from the book
Pull up
another chair.
A wider look at the chairs inside, with their designers and the page each one starts on. Choose a thread to follow.
The Elsie chair
Appareil Atelier in collaboration with Les Jardins de Métis
Canada, page 10
Umi Armchair
Rostyslav Sorokovyi
Ukraine, page 16
Mountains Chair
Chris David Wang
Italy, page 22
Fly chair
Tiago Roberto Borges Curioni
Portugal, page 26
Mooniie
Jose Manuel Reyes
Canada, page 30
Nara Chair
Alexandre Alvin Handjojo of Kayou
Indonesia, page 32
MOVE seat
Ariel Śliwiński
Poland, page 34
W Chair
Guntis Zingis
Latvia, page 40
6220 Lounge Chair
Vincent Van Leeuwen and Leonie Velzeboer
Netherlands, page 44
∞ Chair
Pablo Julian Mariano
Canada, page 48
Tube Chair
Wenhan Zhang
United States, page 50
G24 Lounge Chair
Vagia Pantou
Czech Republic, page 52
Amoeba
Christopher Stevens
Canada, page 54
ABC – Acrylic Bolid Chair
Joel Bernard Bostaetter
France, page 56
Sitting on Clouds
Sofiya Sladkarova
Bulgaria, page 58
AG02 lounge chair
Antonio Ghummarra
Italy, page 60
TubeWeave
Gabriel Alfonso Rivera Leon
Puerto Rico, page 62
CPH-13
Michael Adam Mc Kay
United States, page 64
A Lounge Chair (and How to Fix, Modify, and Keep it Forever)
Andrew Longo
United States, page 66
CHAIR’sPACE
Marcel Ferencz
Hungary, page 68
The Unicorn Chair
Liang Meng
China, page 70
Lounge Chair Tôle Courbée
Stephen Lee
France, page 72
Expanding Stool
Zi Ho Park
South Korea, page 76
KORDELA
Jule Christine Appuhn and Pascal Bernd Deppisch
Germany, page 78
Heavy-To-Float
Celina Epp
Germany, page 82
The Hug Chair
Khadija Rehman and Masshal Saif, A* alittlemore studio
Pakistan, page 86
Embrace
Yoon Hur and Kenneth Siu
Canada, page 88
CALMA DUO
Dragan Gavrovski and Marija Rafailovska
Macedonia, page 90
Hi-Chair
Sebastiano Mastrodonato
Italy, page 94
RON Chair
Szymon Hanczar
Poland, page 98
U²
Dante Akira Uwai
Brazil, page 100
The Easy Chair
Sergio Sanchez
United Kingdom, page 102
Camur Lounge Chair
Ethan White
United States, page 104
AA9 Chair
Aleksandar Oseilartey and Andrea Ralevic
Serbia, page 108
DC-18 Armchair
Branabus David Cousley
Ireland, page 112
BAM-X
Philip Christopher Rossington
United States, page 114
Metamorphosis
Michele Fuschini and Carlotta Leoni
Italy, page 116
Ballerina Chair
Roy Pertchik
United States, page 118
Castara Chair
Frank Seales
Canada, page 120
The UNO Chair
Davide Mezzasalma
Italy, page 124
Ponticello
Leon Rassloff and Nicolas Gross
Germany, page 126
Nes Chair
Seda Dedeoğlu Sezer
Turkey, page 128
Bench 313
Anh Duy Trần
Vietnam, page 130
Arch Chair
Tamon Sekiya
Japan, page 134
Etrua Lounge Chair
Federico Fiermonte
Finland, page 136
U-Chair
Quentin Prosper F De Moyer
Belgium, page 140
Walk in the Park Chair
Sofia De-francesco Vieira and Rosana Alcídia Gomes De Sousa
Portugal, page 142
Catê Chair
Rafaela Gravia
Brazil, page 146
Purvottanasana Chair
Emad Lajevardi
Germany, page 150
Centaurus Lounge Chair
Mauro Fragiotta of 06D Atelier
United Kingdom, page 154
The Seattle Chair
Weston Baker
United States, page 158
AVIAM SCAMNUM
Alexandre Ferreira Picanço
Portugal, page 160
KORI Chair
Marek Błażucki
Poland, page 162
100.BUT
Minh Le Tan and Ngọc Minh Châu Đỗ
Vietnam, page 166
ISU
Diogo Miguel Fernandes Mindouro, Mafalda Sofia Carracha Santos, and Mariana Pereira Silva
Portugal, page 168
CUBO
Matei-Claudiu Binau
Romania, page 172
The Rainbow Chair
Tetiana Korchebna and Ihor Zhuravel
Ukraine, page 174
LSF1 Chair
Pedro Afonso Pessanha De Meneses Porto De Aguiar
Portugal, page 176
C.u.t.w. Chair
Joerg Volgger
Italy, page 178
Whispering Woods Chair
Jason Cal and Maxwell Andrew Wolff Perry
Canada, page 180
The Intersect Chair
David Beker
United States, page 184
Michelangelo Chair
Rosana Arifin and Tit Vrhunec
Slovenia, page 188
Osseus
Evan Francisco Abrahamson and Levi Manuel Triviño
Switzerland, page 190
The Harrington
Douglas Van Der Pas
Netherlands, page 192
Words and pictures from the book, The Architect’s Chair 01 (Buildner). Every chair and its photographs by the designers named.
