Peter Lynch: Fragments and Coherence

Drawing from multiple disciplines, architect Peter Lynch describes a distinct approach to design and composition—what he terms “holding together” 

From the publisher:
Fragments and Coherence presents writings and works by Peter Lynch, architect—researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, formerly Architect-in-Residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Guest Professor at Penn State University and KTH. In thirty years of practice, Peter Lynch has followed an approach to architectural design that he calls “holding together.” Through a process of fitting and adjusting, heterogeneous elements are resolved into a singular, coherent work—one that is the only possible way to frame a certain question, and the only possible answer to that very question. In drawings, sketches, site photos, models, and block prints, the author presents twenty examples of “holding together” from his architecture practice, ranging from details to urban development proposals. A set of essays analyzes important held-together works in the history of architecture—Hadrian's Villa, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, John Hejduk’s “Victims” projects, Eileen Gray’s Villa E.1027, and Dimitri Pikionis’ Philotel Playground, among others—as well as held-together works of music, art, and literature. Beethoven’s and Mahler’s late symphonies, Dostoyevsky’s novels, T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land,” and Marcel Duchamp's "The Large Glass” are a few examples explored in depth.

The author relates concepts of philosophers François Jullien, Mikhail Bakhtin, Baptiste Morizot, Estelle Zhong Mengual, Erik Bordeleau, Gilbert Simondon, and Giorgio Agamben to the notion of holding together. Agamben’s understanding of “singularization” is central to the book. Works made of disjunct elements, reconciled with each other according to their natures, are often singular: examples of themselves alone, not encompassed by any category or rule.

Peter Lynch is the principal of Building Culture PLA, a Stockholm-based studio that offers design services and conducts research in architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and building technology. He was Visiting Professor at Penn State in 2015 and Guest Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology from 2016-2021. He headed the graduate architecture department at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1996-2005.

Sergio Martín Blas (Foreword) is a PhD architect, professor, and researcher on architectural design at ETSAM, the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, and coordinator of the PhD program on Advanced Architectural Design at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has been lecturer and visiting researcher at IUAV in Venice, TU-Delft, La Sapienza in Rome, UNR Rosario, UCSG Guayaquil, TU-Berlin, and Cooper Union in New York.

Yael Hameiri Sainsaux (Editor) is an architect, educator, and PhD scholar. She created and curated the “Conceiving the Plan” exhibition at the Italian Pavilion for the 17th Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, and created and edited Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in Public Space (Skira 2022).