App-proof architects

Fuksas. A Journey through Architecture, EM Publishers, Milan 2011. 190 MB.
Yes is more! An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution by BIG, Taschen, Cologne 2011. 1.86 GB.

The feverishly expanding world of iPad apps is an as yet little explored area that has seen numerous attempts to encode a language and adapt it to the medium. Its intended public seems to use them more like books than software, adopting a relaxed "lean back" attitude closer to that of someone reading or watching tv instead of the "lean forward" approach supposedly peculiar to pc use.

Two recently released apps on two renowned architecture practices — Yes is More by Denmark's Bjarke Ingels, and Fuksas: A Journey through Architecture, on Massimiliano Fuksas — prompt a reflection on how best to exploit interactive and multimedia languages when narrating the process that leads from an idea to an architectural design.

Yes is More is the transposition of a paper catalogue published by Taschen for an exhibition with the same title in 2009 and features the complete and partly updated text. Bjarke Ingels describes his innovative vision of architecture in a comic story that begins with famous quotes and probes the details of individual projects. The rich and complex contents are supplemented with numerous films and photos that can be explored through 360 degrees.

Videos record the execution of the projects and recreate their context, as with the fascinating travel log of the Little Mermaid's journey from Copenhagen to the Danish Pavilion in Shanghai for Expo 2010, and examples of how to occupy urban spaces, close to the author's heart, as in My Playground, in which some of Ingels's designs are showcased as the camera follows the antics of Danish street group Team JiYo.

Despite simple navigation by swiping through the pages one by one, orientation can be an issue due to the absence of page numbers and a minuscule slider bar at the bottom of the screen telling you where you are. Plus points include the possibility to view entire page sequences in miniature, as well as the index, and a selector roller that allows you to choose the project (38 in total plus three concluding themed chapters) you want to see. Bookmarks can be created and there is a search box for single words.

Yes is More remains effectively anchored to the book form but does lend itself to dynamic solutions (videos, 360-degree images) that enhance it and make good use of the iPad's capabilities. The result is a work that reflects the inspired and dynamic personality of its author and is bursting with content, but presents a few non-intuitive navigational obstacles and requires a certain dose of user receptiveness and patience.

Fuksas. A Journey through Architecture is a different matter. It is published by Encyclomedia, which has unquestionable historic credentials and was one of the first houses in Italy to work with multimedia. The work's structure is clear from the outset. An illustrated index allows you to browse through the app's 40 projects, which can be viewed via 10 lists that range from year of completion to city, structural design and consultants.

The "back" key conveniently returns you directly to the index, from where you can select a path of just illustrations or view individual projects presented in file form with essential details and a number of photographs. You can switch from each file to the lists and general app map, a system that makes for quick-and-easy navigation. Four projects (the Admirant Entrance Building, Peres Center for Peace, Zenith Music Hall and the Nardini Research Centre and Auditorium) are featured in depth.

In the last two sections, meanwhile, you can explore single details of the illustrations by clicking on the photographs. The in-depth files "immerse" you in the work method of the Fuksas office, constituting a valuable record. Another strong point is the abundance of well organised and easily managed illustrations. As a whole, however, the work is fairly static and does not fully exploit the potential offered by a medium such as the iPad. The odd foray into video and illustration interaction would have made the journey through Fuksas's projects more dynamic and exciting.