Covering everything from pre-fab houses to inflatable buildings, Teflon membranes to zero-gravity designs, utopian architecture to virtual cities, this fascinating exploration of lightness in architecture offers exciting glimpses into a future in which gravity is optional.

The Weight of the World or: The Invention of Lightness in Architecture

Introduction

Five Pioneers of Light Architecture

Building with Light.

Bruno Taut's Glass Fantasies

Light and Heavy.

Eero Saarinen's Trans World Airlines

Terminal in New York

Geometry: Go and No-Go.

Richard Buckminster Fuller's Visions

Master of the Universe.

Archigram's Pencil Revolution

Escaping from Slab Construction.

Ulrich MOther's Shell Artworks

Looking Ahead.

Light, Mobile and Floating Architecture

Lightweight Construction

In the Beginning was the Bubble.

Frei Otto Moves into New Construction Territory

The Next Generation.

Werner Sobek's Art of Archi-neering and His R 128 House

Membranes and Light Materials

The Mother of All Tents.

Richard Rogers' Millennium Dome in London

Membranes Over Plush. Klaus Latuske's Musical Theatre

in Hamburg for The Lion King

Two Extraordinary Travelling Exhibition Buildings.

Andreas Heller's LiebesLeben and SehnSucht

Surfing the Wave. Benno Bauer's Culture Centre

in Puchheim, Munich

Inflatable Architecture

There's Something in the Air. Axel Thallemer's

Airtecture and Airquarium

Cool Britannia. Doug Branson's and Nigel Coates' Powerhouse::UK

Modern Nomads

Temporary Buildings for All Seasons. Shigeru Ban's

Curtain Wall House in Tokyo, His Expo 2000 Pavilion

in Hanover and His Emergency Accommodation for Kobe

Mobile Community Centre in No-Man's Land.

Florian Nagler's Burgerhaus in Neuperlach, Munich

More Than a Container. Matthias Loebermann's

Infobox in Nuremberg

A House on Wheels. Johannes Kaufmann's Su-Si

Broom Dome, Lounge Tube or Bamboo Cube.

Moritz Hauschild's Summerhouse Projects

Building a World of Bits and Bytes

Place of Origin, the Computer. Zaha Hadid's Mind Zone in London

Following Lined Paths. Greg Lynn's Architectural Animations

The Influence of the Exhibition. Bernhard Franken's

BMW Pavilion in Frankfurt

Fascinating Spatial Sculpture. Frank O. Gehry's

Deutsche Genossenschafts Bank in Berlin

The Art of Reconstruction. Johannes Herold's Archivision Project

Looking for Lost Synagogues. Manfred Koob's and

Marc Grellert's Virtual Reconstructions

Virtual Spaces. Florian Raft's Exhibition Design

Views of the Future of the City 1. Bill Wright's SimCity-

Town Planning for All

Views of the Future of the City 2. Peter Haimerl's Zoomtown

Architecture in Space

Gracious Living in Space. Richard Horden's

and Andreas Vogler's Space Design Project

Room With a View. Howard Wolff's Plans for a Space Hotel

A Little Featherweight Glossary

Endnotes

Selected Biblio.qraphy