Writing on architectural history emulating the detective novel: the Gumshoe series on significant buildings. The first case is about Rem Koolhaas and a private residence in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris.

Gumshoe is a new series of architectural books that introduces an original approach to the writing of architectural history. It returns the focus of architectural discourse back onto buildings in a style and form that is fresh and scholarly but also easy and enjoyable to read. It emulates the detective novela form of writing beloved by many, but also one that has enjoyed a parallel academic life in disciplines and by writers in fields as diverse as psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud), film (Sigfried Kracauer), and art history (Carlo Ginzburg)but, significantly, not yet by architecture. Each volume will investigate a singular building as if it were a mystery waiting to be solved.

Written by distinguished French architectural critic and historian Françoise Fromonot, the first case The House of Doctor Koolhaas is about the Villa dall'Ava, a private residence in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris. Fromonot brilliantly unpicks, explains, and interprets this very first building completed by Rem Koolhaas, who is universally regarded as the world's most celebrated architect, and his Rotterdam-based firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The house is resolutely part of a modern architectural canon, but until now has not been the focus of a dedicated book or analysis.

Named one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2026.

• First volume in the highly anticipated new Gumshoe series of architectural books, introducing a new approach to the writing of architectural history
• Gumshoe's focus is on buildings rather than theories or speculative projects
• Distinguished authors from various countries write on notable buildings from across architectural history
• Each volume investigates a singular building, emulating the style and book format of a detective novel

Autorentext

Françoise Fromonot is a professor of design, history, and theory at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville and William Wayne Caudill Professor of Architecture at Rice Architecture Paris.

Thomas Weaver is an architectural writer, educator, and editor based in London. He also lectures at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, Switzerland.