In this book Francine Houben presents a personal account of her experiences. Text and image convey her original and authentic attitude, views and feelings about architecture. She has made a
selection from her many Mecanoo projects for this publication. A home and a canal house. A garden town and a water town. A secondary school, a polytechnic and a university library. The public
space of a historic city, a park and a square in a medieval city. A vision of mobility and infrastructure and an ecological new town. A hotel and an underground office. A ruin, a theatre, a
decor for an opera, a museum and an exhibition. And finally a chapel in a cemetery. Each of these projects is exemplary of her vision and illustrates the three core elements of how she
conceives architecture: composition, contrast and complexity.
