William / Kaven’s Royal I and II houses are featured in Carchitecture USA: American Houses with Horsepower, a beautiful hardcover book from publisher Uitgeverij Lannoo that pairs "America's most iconic architecture with dazzling supercars."
To order, visit HERE.
The Art Libraries Society of North America reviewed Architecture of Normal:
“The bland sameness that characterizes much of the American built environment is fertile ground for architectural criticism. Daniel Kaven, architect and artist, offers a new entry in this genre describing the impact on the United States of successive eras of transportation technologies in Architecture of Normal: the Colonization of the American Landscape.”
Read review HERE.
American Tapestry, a piece from my Architecture of Normal series, is part of a group show curated by Mona Kuhn for The Billboard Creative's ninth annual exhibition during 2023 Frieze Los Angeles. Check it out on the corner of Melrose Ave. and N Gramercy Pl.
Read more about the show + access the interactive map HERE.
Honored to see Architecture of Normal featured in PRINT Magazine’s The Daily Heller, a design digest dubbed a “must-follow feed in the world of design” by Wired Magazine.
"Kaven has assembled an enticing visual narrative that includes extensive historical photography, architecture commentary, personal anecdote and original art. It serves as a critical travelogue of what the world accepts as the American landscape, but leaves the door open for further debate over whether it is a dream-scape or nightmare."
— Steven Heller, The Daily Heller / PRINT Magazine
A piece from my Architecture of Normal series has been selected for The Billboard Creative’s ninth annual billboard exhibition in Los Angeles, opening February 3. Look for my billboard at the intersection of Melrose Ave. and N Gramercy Pl.
This year's exhibition, curated by Mona Kuhn, is titled We The People and will feature the work of 30 artists on billboards across Los Angeles. Previously featured artists include Ed Ruscha, Paul McCarthy, Ramiro Gomez, Phung Huynh, Narsiso Martinez, Marilyn Minter, Alex Prager, and Calida Rawles.
See below for more information and full list of 2023 artists.
Architecture of Normal (Birkhäuser, 2022) has been honored with a 2022 GRAY Award in the Product Design category. I had a great time accepting the award and celebrating fellow winners at the other night’s epic GRAY Party at Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
The GRAY Award is a prestigious design accolade, awarded to designers in the categories of Architecture, Interiors, Landscape, and Product Design and determined by an international judging panel of design icons. This year's panel included Ini Archibong, Paul Cocksedge, Paolo Ferrari, Holly Hunt, Patrick Lam, and Mia Lehrer.
9/21 Architecture of Normal Book Launch
Join us for the launch of Daniel Kaven's book, Architecture of Normal: The Colonization of the American Landscape (Birkhäuser, 2022), and a discussion of the history and future of design in America. Kaven's expansive literary and visual assemblage, called an "enthralling cautionary tale about the future" by Metropolis Magazine, explores how evolving transportation technologies have shaped America's built environment and examines the connection between urbanization and colonization in the American West.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
7 to 9pm
SOHO Warehouse
1000 S Santa Fe Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Episode 35: Architecture of Normal - William / Kaven Architecture’s Daniel Kaven with Host Daniel Safarik
Daniel Kaven sat down with Unfrozen Podcast host Daniel Safarik (Director, Research and Thought Leadership at Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) to talk about his new book, Architecture of Normal (Birkhäuser, 2022), along with suburbanization, flying cars, and why “Generation Z needs to get out in the streets and be really pissed off about work-from-home.”
"Book Review: Architecture of Normal – The Colonization of the American Landscape" by Sean Ruthen
Architecture of Normal was reviewed in Toronto-based Spacing Magazine.
“Part Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and part Learning from Las Vegas, this honest portrayal of the connection between urbanization and colonization from Portland-based artist Daniel Kaven is a cornucopia of visual imagery.”
—Sean Ruthen, Spacing Magazine
"On the Road or In the Air, Daniel Kaven Sees the Journey as Destination" by Brian Libby
Daniel Kaven sits down with Metropolis to discuss Architecture of Normal and the future of cities in America.
“Architecture of Normal: The Colonization of the American Landscape reads like an enthralling textbook—a breezy history teeming with photography, original artwork, and timelines—even as its author offers a more cautionary take on what we have wrought.”
—Brian Libby, Metropolis
Richard Speer reviews Daniel Kaven’s Architecture of Normal for The Democracy Chain.
“For a tome this sobering and cautionary, Architecture of Normal is a surprisingly zippy read. The graphic design, by Kaven himself, is dynamic and snazzy, from the fuchsia foiled cover and pink-edged pages to the counterposing of sepia-toned archival images with the vivid neons of Kaven’s own photographs and digital collages. He interrupts the historical narrative with welcome personal recollections of growing up in New Mexico and his ‘vision quests’ across the West from 2017 to 2019 as he was writing the book.”
—Richard Speer
W/K partner Daniel Kaven talks Architecture of Normal with host Brandon Gaston for Season 3, Episode 2 of GRAY Magazine’s “In the Design Lounge” interview series.
“In his new book, Architecture of Normal (through Birkhäuser), Portland-based architect Daniel Kaven explores the contrast between the grandeur of the American landscape and the underwhelming architecture of its suburban strip malls, fast-food chains, motels, and tract housing.”
— Rachel Gallaher, GRAY Magazine
Daniel Kaven’s debut book is now available to North American and European markets. With pink foil stamping, painted page edges, 200+ full-color images, beautiful endpapers, plus a fascinating selection of historical photos and original art, the design and print quality of Architecture of Normal make for an incredible reading experience.
Architecture of Normal (Birkhäuser, 2022) explores the dissonance between the overwhelming American landscape and the underwhelming architecture of its strip malls, fast food chains, motels and tract housing. Part travelogue, art book and architectural survey, the book charts the patterns created by reigning modes of transportation and examines how we came to accept the bland, branded boxes lining America’s streets and freeways. Beginning with a portrait of ambulatory Native American societies and the introduction of horses by the Spanish, Kaven discusses the built environment as it has been shaped by trains, cars, planes and rockets, and looks toward a future architecture defined by autonomous cars and air taxis. This highly visual narrative includes extensive historical photography and Kaven’s own art.
Follow #architectureofnormal on Instagram for a peek inside the book.