Margaret Helfand Architects: Essential Architecture

Paola Antonelli's introduction places Helfand within the tradition of American modernism, tracing both European domination over the East Coast and contectual and pragmatic trends on the West Coast. Helfand's own experiences, from architecture school at the University of California at Berkeley in the midst of the countercultural era to rebuilding and then sailing a ninety-foot schooner-- which introduced her to traditional and vernacular architecture around the world-- were also extremely influential. The practice of Margaret Helfand Architects-- individual and personal yet strongly affected by both national and international themes-- thus exemplifies what Antonelli calls "the new age of modernism worldwide."