Onomatopoeic Spaces

Onomatopoeic Space: The Architectural Lexicon of Schwartz and Architecture showcases the work and ethos of Neal J. Z. Schwartz and his San Francisco-based studio. The lens for framing Schwartz and Architecture’s practice of more than three decades is a linguistic one, focusing on the ways onomatopoeic words supplement traditional language to evoke complex sensations and concepts. The book articulates five fundamental attributes of onomatopoeia—gestural, mimetic, marked, synesthetic, and evocative—to unpack the ways these hyper-articulate words function to subvert the limitations of language.

Evocative photography of 15 built projects and five critical essays illuminate the firm’s design language, the clarity, poetry, and utility of which have garnered significant praise internationally. Seven reflections on what influenced Schwartz’s design and career offer another, more personal narrative. A foreword by Mabel O. Wilson, professor of architecture, planning and preservation at Columbia University; an essay by Rodolphe El-Khoury, Dean of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture; and an afterword by Stephen Cassell, principal of New York-based design firm Architecture Research Office, round-out the the artfully crafted volume.

Blending architectural theory, monograph, and memoir, Onomatopoeic Space offers an unusually candid account of how an architectural practice develops its voice over time and how design ideas are transformed into built form.