"As the title of the series indicates, Christ and Gantenbein are not interested in outstanding singular buildings found in the various cities they visit with their students; they want to examine the building types that are generated by the different political, economic, and social contexts of each place. . . 

So in Tashkent (a city that has been receiving a lot of attention of late) we find reinterpretations of mahalla, or traditional neighborhood structures, as well as terraced houses, block fragments, gallery buildings, and so forth. Befitting Genoa’s coastal context, standout typologies there include the topoographic slab, in which long buildings undulate according to natural contours, and the stepped buildings that cascade down hillsides. The towers of Tbilis exhibit some Soviet-experimentation, while I found Casablanca’s patio carpet (a great phrase) and courtyard typologies very appealing.

Comparing the latest Typology book published by Park to its two predecessors, the only noticeable change is the addition of maps that locate and key some of the projects in the book; the maps come after four essays (one per city) that give historical context to the typological analyses, with references in the texts clearly keyed to the projects."

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