Publisher: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN: 9781588397867, Author: Contributions by Abraham Thomas, Paola Santoscoy, David Breslin, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Nadine M. Orenstein and Jhaelen Hernandez-Eli, Editor: Max Hollein, Format: Paperback, 178 x 273 mm, 132pp
An illuminating profile of one of today’s most innovative and forward-looking architects, whose materials-based practice explores how space can provoke emotional response
Architect Frida Escobedo’s (b. 1979) designs for public spaces have received global accolades. In 2022, she was commissioned to design the new Oscar L.Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Suspended Moment is the first overall survey of her career to-date including her award-winning structures that treat space as a language—layered, responsive, and reflective of both a site’s history and its present. This timely profile of the first woman to design a wing at the Museum explores Escobedo’s attention to gender, accessibility, and the environment. Focusing on both temporary and permanent structures in the context of her burgeoning career, the publication delves into Escobedo’s two-decade multimedia practice. Interviews with the architect alongside informed essays discuss the bases of her work and her diverse inspirations, ranging from concrete poetry to her hometown of Mexico City, which she describes as a “modern metropolis with ancient roots . . . in other words, a living, breathing museum.”