Assemble: Building Collective

Architecture collective Assemble has transformed the definition of a successful young practice by working on temporary, small-scale, community-based projects, often reusing sites and materials. Described by architecture critic Edwin Heathcote as “young, widely admired and increasingly influential,” they are the future of architecture and the antithesis of the faceless corporate juggernaut.

This retrospective of the first decade or so of Assemble’s dynamic work highlights how their methods, working practices, interest in craft and building, and focus on reuse and material choices set them apart from other architecture practices. Based on extensive interviews with partners, and the group’s archives and documentation of their projects, the book is itself a collaborative labor of love, drawing together nearly forty major pieces of work through stunning photography, drawings, and text. Their projects range as widely as Granby Four Streets—a community-led project to rebuild a derelict neighborhood in Liverpool—to a brewery in rural Japan and a train depot renovation in Arles.

Providing an essential overview of the group, from their self-initiated temporary projects to their meteoric rise to international acclaim, Aaron Betsky explores how Assemble’s playful and subversive buildings have forged a pioneering new model of progressive architecture that continues to challenge the establishment.