Transforming the Common Place

Transforming the Common/Placepresents selected projects by landscape architect Laurie Olin and his firm Hanna/Olin. Considered by many to be an heir to Frederick Law Olmsted's legacy, Olin has put his stamp on public spaces from Manhattan to Los Angeles and from Columbus, Ohio to London, England. His work deals mainly with the transformation of the ordinary, taking commonplace elements and making them extraordinary.

Transforming the Common/Place focuses on the three main elements of Olin's practice: public projects-Bryant Park in New York City and the Playa Vista development in Los Angeles; private/commercialcommissions-Canary Wharf and King's Cross in London; and experimental projects-the Wexner Center for the Visual Arts in Columbus, Ohio, carried out in collaboration with Peter Eisenman.

An introduction by John Dixon Hunt and an essay by Peter G. Rowe accompany the detailed project descriptions and numerous photographs.