Within the scope of Graz 2003 - Kulturhauptstadt Europas (Graz 2003 - Cultural Capital of Europe) the city of Graz provided the possibility for the two London-based architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier to transform a visionary concept into built reality: the Kunsthaus Graz, a new and unique site for international exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. With this radical architecture project, Graz received a futuristic-looking building which satisfies to a high degree both the psychological and the functional demands of a visitor-oriented international art museum. The unusual biomorphic forms of the Friendly Alien make for a suspenseful dialog with the historic old town, especially with the century-old Graz landmark, the cubic clock-tower high up on castle hill. The documentation at hand presents the development of the Friendly Alien from a Utopian concept to a highly complex functional body. The extensive photographic material includes first-rate computer simulations and sheds light on the urban environment and its history, shows the unique architectural features of the building, and investigates with an "x-ray view" the complex network of static and technical utilities in the "skin", the nerve center of the Friendly Alien.