Why Do Architects Wear Black?

So why do architects wear black? In a neat little notebook, bound of course in black, Cordula Rau has collected the answers to this question given by 100 architects and designers, acquiring in the process an impressive collection of signatures.

In some cases the answers take the form of earnest attempts to provide an explanation in terms of practical clothing on which stains don't show up, combined with honest sighs of 'No idea', indignant denials of 'I never wear black', and a range of entertaining and fanciful theories showing that the respondents have really thought about the subject. One of the best is Arno Brandlhuber's "Mourning for all the projects which were never realised". However, my favourite is Odile Decq, "I wear black because around the lunatics everything is white." There were a few replies which unfortunately I wasn't able to decipher – doesn't handwriting have something to do with ego? The English translation appears in small print... All in all a good idea, very well implemented, and a real alternative to flowers or wine as a nice little present when you are invited somewhere.

Facts
Cordula Rau (editor)
228 pages
15 x 11 x 1,6 cm = A6 format notebook
Springer Verlag Vienna New York 2008
Publisher's recommended price: 21.35 EUR
Language: German - English, Japanese with English translations
ISBN: 978-3-211-79191-2