BOOK:John Pawson-Anatomy of Minimum, Phaidon Publications

The monograph “Anatomy of Minimum” is the latest volume in Phaidon’s documentation of John Pawson’s career, hones in on the essential details that mark his distinctive architectural and aesthetic style. It groups a selection of his recent works into domestic projects, including his own house in rural England; extended sacred spaces; and repurposed structures, such as London’s Design Museum. Throughout its pages, this book explores Pawson’s unique approach to proportion and light and his precise language of windows, doors, and walls. John Pawson is a British architectural designer whose work is known for its minimalist aesthetic. Pawson was born and brought up in Halifax, Yorkshire, the youngest of five children. Coming from a wealthy family, he was studied at Eton. After a period in the family textile business Pawson left for Japan in his mid-twenties, moving to Tokyo during the final year of his stay, where he visited the studio of Japanese architect and designer Shiro Kuramata. On his return to England he enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, leaving to establish his own practice in 1981. Pawson’s work focuses on ways of approaching fundamental problems of space, proportion, light and materials.Pawson has completed a number of architectural and interior projects across the world.-Efi Michalarou