Ordinary and Extraordinary tells the story of the celebrated Los Angeles-based architecture and design practice Brooks and Scarpa, recipients of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. Working across disciplines including landscape architecture, planning and environmental design, as well as furniture, graphic and interior design, Brooks and Scarpa employs a rigorous research process and technological prowess to produce iconic buildings that surprise and delight in their ability to enrich the cultural fabric of our cities. Equally dynamic and accessible is Ordinary and Extraordinary, which charts Brooks and Scarpa's history to-date, methodology and working philosophy through a selection of highlighted projects that come to life through a narrative concerning the practice, penned by ex-journalist and Wallpaper contributor Tibby Rothman. Ordinary and Extraordinary takes its readers on a journey from Brooks and Scarpa's origins in 1991 as Pugh and Scarpa to its current leadership under Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa, who together steer the 25-person team from one successful project to the next, emphasising a collaborative and client-led approach that is further lauded for its sustainability-savvy design approach. Their work ranges from high-density housing in Chengdu, China, to Downtown Los Angeles boutiques like Aesop's cardboard-coated interiors; it spans the iconic, Corten-clad facades of the Aronson Fine Arts Center at Laumeier Sculpture Park near St Louis, Missouri, and the futuristic canopy roof of the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ordinary and Extraordinary meditates upon the artistry defining Brooks and Scarpa's unique practice in a format equally engaging as an object and book. 237 colour and b/w illustrations
