"ONE OF THE FEW HIGH-STYLE ARCHITECTS TODAY": FIRST EDITION OF S, M, L, XL, INSCRIBED BY REM KOOLHAAS

KOOLHAAS, Rem. S, M, L, XL. (New York): Monacelli, 1995. Thick octavo, original silver boards, photographic endpapers. $2000.

First edition of Koolhaas' mammoth work, profusely illustrated, boldly inscribed in black felt pen by him on the title page, "To a great [unclear], Rem Koolhaas, Philadelphia 8 9 2002."

Perhaps the most famous architectural monograph of the last 20 years, S, M, L, XL is a brilliantly illustrated record of the work of Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2000 and internationally acclaimed for his design of the Seattle Public Library (2004), "Koolhaas is one of the few high-style architects today… His inventive use of inexpensive industrial-grade materials and elegantly improvisational detailing enlivens his subversive twists on familiar modernist forms" (New York Times). Described by Koolhaas as "a novel about architecture," S, M, L, XL records projects (both realized and not) from private homes to grand urban planning, alongside a running dictionary, theoretical essays, fairy tales and thousands of images. It is "a surrealist pictorial wonderland… a cornerstone—the base of an immense edifice of Koolhaasian fact and fancy, reaching exhilaratingly skyward" (New Yorker). As issued without dust jacket.

Only lightest soiling to boards. A fine inscribed copy.