Publishers of Architecture, Art, and Design Gordon Goff: Publisher www.oroeditions.com info@oroeditions.com Published by ORO Editions Copyright © 2026 Steve Ziger and ORO Editions. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying or microfilming, recording, or otherwise (except that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Author: Steve Ziger Book Design: Alex Castro ORO Managing Editor: Jake Anderson 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition ISBN: 978-1-966515-65-4 Color Separations and Printing: ORO Editions, Inc. Printed in China. International Distribution: www.oroeditions.com/distribution
4
ORO Editions makes a continuous effort to minimize the overall carbon footprint of its publications. As part of this goal, ORO Editions, in association with Global ReLeaf, arranges to plant trees to replace those used in the manufacturing of the paper produced for its books. Global ReLeaf is an international campaign run by American Forests, one of the world’s oldest nonprofit conservation organizations. Global ReLeaf is American Forests’ education and action program that helps individuals, organizations, agencies, and corporations improve the local and global environment by planting and caring for trees.
Facing page: Karnak, Egypt February 5, 2024 Small title page: detail, Le Due Torri Bologna, Italy October 8, 1988 Title page: Along the Douro River Portugal September 24, 2019
Contents Introduction
7
Early Years
14
1980s
20
1990s
30
2000s 62 2010s
128
2020s
190
Afterword
248
Acknowledgments
250
The Architect
252
5
16
17
26
Le Due Torri Bologna, Italy October 8, 1988
From the leaning tower Pisa, Italy October 9, 1988 Following spread, left: Cloister Pisa, Italy October 9, 1988 Following spread, right: Courtyard in San Gimignano, Italy. October 10, 1988 A lone flutist was playing Albinoni’s adagio in the reverberant courtyard while I sketched. To this day I think of San Gimignano when I hear that haunting music.
27
Garden at I Tatti Settignano, Italy July 2, 1998
56
Facing page: Hazy view of Il Duomo Florence, Italy July 1, 1998
57
Villa le Balze Fiesole, Italy April 28, 2001 Travels in Tuscany reinforced my interest in landscape design, especially how it can define architectural space and dramatic sequences. The British landscape architect Cecil Pinsent was a master at this. Facing page: View from Il Villino Settignano, Italy April 26, 2001 Following spread, left: View from San Giorgio Maggiore Venice, Italy October 6, 2002 Following spread, right: View from San Giorgio Maggiore Venice, Italy June 19, 2001
69
98
Equestrian Statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo Venice, Italy June 15, 2001 Facing page, left: Equestrian Statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo Venice, Italy October 19, 2017 Facing page, right: Equestrian Statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo Venice, Italy October 19, 2002
99
Locanda dell’ Amorosa Sinalunga, Italy June 6, 2011
134
Facing page: Villa Bev St. Barts April 25, 2013
141
2020s In early March of 2020, I was among the first wave of Americans to come down with a new virus that would soon shutter the world, and Jamie suffered a serious injury while skiing. We were quickly reminded of how unpredictable life is. We weren’t getting any younger, and we wouldn’t always be as mobile. We vowed to travel again as soon as possible, and to never take for granted the gift of being able to do so. As soon as we could, we went to Machu Picchu. The 15th-century Incan citadel high in the Peruvian mountains is a place where architecture and landscape seamlessly merge. Here, there is a song between the natural world and the humanmade; land, spirit, and building are harmonious. Ziger|Snead now had two young partners who excelled, and this gave me more freedom. I explored Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iceland, Egypt. But even as I traveled farther afield, I felt a pull to the place that sparked my wanderlust. Jamie and I returned to France, spending a month in Paris. I revisited Versailles and returned to the museums I had loved so much in my youth. I sketched and saw each place anew, the perspective of time, and of age, affording fresh meaning. Being present in these moments, drawing as I have for more than five decades, I felt gratitude for having spent all these wondrous hours in communion with the world and this practice. So many moments—simple and fleeting, magical and profound, quiet, bustling, vibrant—have passed through my line of sight, through my pen, and onto these pages. Ink and paper, 190
time and attention, combining to inform who I am today.
244
Abu Simbel Egypt February 9, 2024 Facing page: Anubis Tutankhamun Egyptian Museum Cairo, Egypt Feruary 3, 2024 Following spread, left: Philae Temple Complex Egypt February 8, 2024 Following spread, right: Step Pyramid of Djoser Saqqarah Necropolis Egypt February 10, 2024
245