Yona Friedman

The Hungarian-French architect Yona Friedman (1923) rose to prominence with his manifesto L'Architecture Mobile and his idea for La Ville Spatiale. He maid to provide maximum flexibility through huge 'superstructures' over existing cities and other locations. Future in habitants were free to construct their dwellings with in these structures. Friedman's ideas led him to go beyond architecture. His sphere of engagement broadened to include sociology, economics, mathematics, information science, planning, visual art and filmmaking. Although Friedman's oeuvre encompassed a wide field, all his life he has adhered to principles based on the requirement of individual freedom. In embracing the unpredictability of human behaviour, he has always sought to provide people with the knowledge and structures to determine their own living environment. Among the means devised by Friedman were manuals that illustrate basic skills in the fields of architecture, urban planning and administration for the non-specialist. This monograph is the first to present an extensive survey, in both text and image, of over fifty years of work by Yona Friedman, casting light on its many different facets.