The lavish five-volume set of Food for Architects is dedicated to the buildings and cooking of the renowned Zurich-based firm Steib Gmür Geschwentner Kyburz Partners. As enthusiastic housing designers, they have been searching for both the perfect floor plan and the perfect spaghetti for three decades.

Volume 1 of this first comprehensive monograph on the firm’s work brings together brief personal texts on the various types of rooms in a house or apartment as well as other aspects of living. Volume 2 offers insights into the evolution and design methods of Steib Gmür Geschwentner Kyburz Partners, documenting 65 key buildings and projects from their portfolio. Volume 3 features floor plans of a total of 168 furnished apartments with concise comments, interspersed with recipes for 12 spaghetti dishes. In a photo essay, volume 4 introduces the inhabitants of 11 apartments from various realised buildings, who also speak about their homes in brief interviews. The dessert of this five-course menu is the concluding volume 5, featuring a conversation with the firm’s four partners — Jakob Steib, Patrick Gmür, Michael Geschwentner, and Matthias Kyburz—as they discuss topics that are key to their architectural work.

Zurich-based Steib Gmür Geschwentner Kyburz Partners were formed by the merger of Patrick Gmür Architekten (founded in 1989 as Gmür Lüscher Gmür), of which Michael Geschwentner was already a collaborator, with the studio of Jakob Steib (founded in 1987) and his collaborator Matthias Kyburz. Working under their current name since 2013, Steib Gmür Geschwentner Kyburz Partners have gained renown and wide recognition for their highly innovative housing designs.