Jorge Pardo is one of the best-known artists in the contemporary art scene. In 1997 at the Sculpture Project in Münster, he presented a pier on the bank of the River Aase; he designed a café for the new building at the Leipzig Trade Fair, and he's currently working on a project for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. His objects alternate between art, design and architecture and raise questions about the effects they have when perceived in the different places where they appear: "What does this object do?" Pardo is so well-known as a 'design artist' that a large number of other aspects of his work tend to be neglected. This monograph examines the variegated nature of his oeuvre: detailed descriptions of various works focus on the different work complexes, and specialist authors contribute illuminating essays on various individual aspects from the viewpoint of art theory, design theory and architectural theory. With a detailed biographical appendix and an interview with Jorge Pardo, the book presents a wealth of concentrated information on the Californian artist.