Showing papers on "Architecture published in 1972"

Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form

Abstract: Learning from Las Vegas created a healthy controversy on its appearance in 1972, calling for architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of "common" people and less immodest in their erections of "heroic," self-aggrandizing monuments. This revision includes the full texts of Part I of the original, on the Las Vegas strip, and Part II, "Ugly and Ordinary Architecture, or the Decorated Shed," a generalization from the findings of the first part on symbolism in architecture and the iconography of urban sprawl. (The final part of the first edition, on the architectural work of the firm Venturi and Rauch, is not included in the revision.) The new paperback edition has a smaller format, fewer pictures, and a considerably lower price than the original. There are an added preface by Scott Brown and a bibliography of writings by the members of Venturi and Rauch and about the firm's work.

Lived-in architecture: Le Corbusier's Pessac revisited

Abstract: In the mid-1920s, at Pessac near Bordeaux, Le Corbusier built his first large-scale project, the Quartiers Modernes Fruges, which consisted of some 70 housing units. Acting simultaneously as architect and town planner, and taking account of the prevailing social and economic factors, he wished to provide people with low-cost, predetermined, homogeneous cubist structures -- "machines to live in" or empty containers that their presence alone would activate and fulfill.This book describes what happened as people moved in and proceeded to live their lives over, around, and against the architecture and the architect's designs for their behavior. It reviews the history of the project, describes reactions to it in the contemporary press ("Fascist," "Bolshevist"), and examines Le Corbusier's own conception of the project as revealed in various writings. A group discussion with several architects and a sociologist, and informal interview with Pessac residents discussing the parts of the house and the house as entity, their views of the project, and spatial and social relations in the district complete this historic account.

On Adam's House in Paradise: The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History

Abstract: On Adam's House in Paradise "takes off backward through history hunting for Adam's house, the original image. En route, with wry wit and charm, Rykwert singes every generation of architectural theoreticians back to Vitruvius, but he manages to illuminate their efforts and their immolations."-Charles Moore, Progressive Architecture This new edition of On Adam's House in Paradise (first published by the Museum of Modern Art) incorporates all the original illustrations and several new ones, as well as additional text by the author.

American building : the environmental forces that shape it

Abstract: Few books have influenced the field of architecture more than American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It. Originally published in 1947, it has emerged as a classic work on the relationships among buildings, their inhabitants, and the environment. Now comes the first major revision in over twenty-five years, bringing this essential book completely up to date for a new, more environmentally aware generation of architects and designers. In this superb volume, James Marston Fitch provides a fundamental theory of buildings. "The ultimate task of architecture," he writes, "is to act in favor of human beings: to interpose itself between people and the natural environment in which they find themselves, in such a way as to remove the gross environmental load from their shoulders". Fitch systematically examines the various aspects of the environment which buildings control for human habitation-air, temperature, light, and sound, even space, time, and gravity. He draws on scientific research to probe deeply into these problems and he sets out the most practical solutions to these and other issues in clear, precise language. Moreover, his analysis runs to the external environment as well, as he explores the impact of buildings on the outside world. American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It broke new ground in the school of thought now known as "green architecture"-the philosophy of designing buildings that require a minimum amount of energy and resources to erect and operate. For this new edition, architect William Bobenhausen has included new information on sustainable design and the latest construction technology, up-to-date statistics, case studies, photographs, and illustrations. This revised edition promises to keep this work at the forefront of our thinking about design and the natural world.

The Penguin dictionary of architecture

Abstract: The definitions and terminology used in this book attempt to relate to the architectural terms used in professional practice.

The American Vitruvius: An Architects' Handbook of Civic Art

Abstract: Princeton Architectural Press's Reprint Series was established in 1981 to make rare volumes on architecture available to a wider audience. The books' beautiful reproductions and finest quality printing and binding match those of the originals, while their 9-by-12-inch format makes them accessible and affordable. New introductions bring a modern voice to these classic texts, updating them to become invaluable contemporary resources. These critically acclaimed books are an essential addition to any library.

Gothic Revival in Europe and Britain: Sources, Influences and Ideas

Abstract: Most analyses of the nineteenth-century Gothic revival in architecture have treated it as an essentially English phenomenon This work is one of the few to consider the important parallel developments in Europe and thus set the movement in proper international perspectiveOne interesting aspect of the Gothic revival is its development in notably different national ways Dr Germann examines the semantics of "Gothic" and "style" in Italian, French, and English and shows how each country's concept of style influenced the choice of particular Gothic modes and forms In England the Gothic revival went hand in hand with liturgical revivals French art historians saw the renewal of the Gothic style as a nationalistic tribute to a golden age in France's history The Germans welcomed it as an opportunity for practical craft training Contributions to the three key architectural journals of this period--"The Ecclesiologist, " the "Annales archeologiques, " and the "Kolner Domblatt"--are examined as evidence of the spirit behind the workNo understanding of the Gothic revival would be complete without also putting it into historical perspective Dr Germann examines the events leading up to the Gothic revival, its beginnings, doctrinal aspects, eventual decline, and, finally, historical significance His analysis looks forward to Gaudi and the Bauhaus as well as back to VitruviusAlthough this book focuses primarily on the ideas of the period, rather than on specific works of architecture, there are 98 illustrations, including drawings and plans, depicting some of the principal buildings There are also extensive footnotes and a thematic bibliographical index

Rudolf Wittkower, "Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism": Its Influence on the Development and Interpretation of Modern Architecture

Abstract: THIS ESSAY will not attempt to outline the considerable effect Wittkower's Architectural Principles had on Renaissance studies. My intention, instead, is to sketch the influence it had on the development and interpretation of Modern Architecture as reflected in theories of modular construction, theories of proportion and composition, and views of the internal, intrinsic cultural, or societal significance of Modern Architecture of the first four decades of this century.' From its publication as a book in 1949 Architectural Principles was, according to the Australian architect Robin Boyd, "required reading in most architectural schools in the period after World War II."2 Its effect was particularly marked on those who began a reassessment of the aims and achievements of the early modern movement, and on architectural practice, at least in England, in the I95Os. Apparently the effect on the practicing architect was mixed since Reyner Banhamjudged it to have had a negative effect on architects who, simple-mindedly, applied Renaissance proportional systems or compositional principles to twentieth-century buildings. Its positive effect, primarily on a group of young English architects, will be discussed later. The widespread influence of the book, however, led Banham to say in 1955: "The effect of Architectural Principles has made it by far the most important contribution-for evil as well as good-by any historian of the modern movement."3 The positive contribution of Architectural Principles will be discussed with respect to the following, listed in increasing order of importance: (a) modular construction, (b) views on proportion and composition, (c) reassessments of aims and achievements of the 192os and '30s.

Traditional domestic architecture of Japan

Abstract: Traditional Japanese domestic architecture is epitomized in the minka: the houses of the common people built during the feudal age that preceded Japan's entry into the modern world in the late nineteenth century. Of the many forms in which the Japanese architectural genius has expressed itself, probably none has more immediate appeal for the Westerner than these commoners' dwellings in country and in town. Their functional beauty and quiet understatement reflect a tradition of design and craftsmanship that commands the admiration of professional architect and layman alike. In fact, modern architects, both Japanese and Western, have found in the minka a source of inspiration for new concepts of design and the effective use of space. These venerable houses play no less important a part in Japan's long and imposing. architectural tradition than the temples and shrines, the mansions of the medieval aristocracy, and the castles of the daimyo, for they embody the ideals of Japanese domestic architecture in their most vital form. In a word, the minka is the essential Japanese house. In this engagingly written and generously illustrated book, the reader is introduced to the minka in all its significant aspects: its place in Japanese architectural history and in the social scene of the feudal age, its structural variety, its adaptation to environmental conditions, its role as a symbol of social status, and its functional· and aesthetic values. At the same time, the book gives appropriate attention to the people who built these houses and lived in them-the farmers, the townsmen, the merchants, the lower-level government officials, the innkeepers, the less affluent samurai-and to the variations in structure and style determined by the occupations and preferences of the owners. Of particular interest is the wealth of detail in which the distinguishing features of the minka style are presented and discussed. The abundant photographs (19 in full color and well over 100 in black and white), drawings, and other illustrations cover the full range of achievement in the minka form during some three centuries. Teiji Itoh, architectural historian and critic, is well known among Western readers for his writing in The Roots of Japanese Architecture, The Essential Japanese House, The Elegant Japanese House, and Imperial Gardens of Japan. He obtained his doctor's degree at Tokyo University, where he majored in architecture, and, from 1947 to 1965, held the position of Associate Research Fellow in the Institute of Industrial Science at that university. In 1965, after two years as visiting professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, he returned to Japan to devote full time to the profession of architectural writer and critic. This book is one of the 30-odd volumes in the famous series recently completed by Heibonsha, Tokyo. The complete series, covering the entire range of Japanese art and including volumes on painting, sculpture, calligraphy, woodblock prints, architecture, gardens, costume and textile arts, folk art, and tea-ceremony art, is now being made available in English translations of the original Japanese volumes.

Twentieth Century Architecture: A Visual History

Abstract: 'Twentieth Century Architecture' is a fully documented, richly illustrated guide to the great architectural achievements of the last one hundred years. The book chronicles the technological advances, engineering achievements and aesthetic issues that have led to dramatic changes in every branch of architecture. This essential reference work provides photographs, drawings and plans for the significant buildings throughout each decade as well as a useful chronology of the buildings and a comprehensive index. The book examines pictorially the architecture of the twentieth century. It has been designed in such a way that the reader will be able to follow through, in the buildings actually built, the changes which have occurred over the last century.

The Rice Research Computer - A tagged architecture

Abstract: In this paper we report on a new computer with several novel features. These features are applications of the concept of tagged architecture, and although some of them are not unique to the Rice Research Computer (R-2), they focus our attention on this radical design form, its advantages and disadvantages. Since the work is still in progress, we limit this report to a discussion of the architecture and a few of its ramifications.

Undoing the City: Frank Lloyd Wright's Planned Communities

Abstract: residential architecture and his spectacular public buildings. But from as early as 1901 until his death in 1959 community and city planning was one of his major preoccupations. Unfortunately, his inflated rhetoric, his personal bombast and his imperious insistence that he alone could solve urban problems denied his theories the consideration they deserved, focusing attention instead on their ephemeral qualities and obvious impracticalities. Despite their fanciful and naive aspects, however, Wright's ideas anticipated many of the urban critiques of the 1960s, as well as many of their proffered solutions. That laymen and professionals alike dismissed America's foremost architect when he discussed the city may itself be symptomatic of the low priority the nation has placed on urban regeneration.

Early Fireproof Housing in a Staffordshire Factory Village

Abstract: THE WORK of the late Professor R. A. Cordingley, Dr. R. W. Brunskill, members of the Manchester School of Architecture, and others, has added greatly to our knowledge of vernacular house types.I Most scholars have, naturally, concentrated on rural rather than urban houses for the obvious reason that the survival of early types is higher in rural areas. They have also tended to direct their attention to the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries rather than later periods. A reason for this, apart from the urgency of recording earlier examples, is that one criterion by which a building is judged to be truly vernacular is the absence of 'polite' features-conscious architectural style-in the building. And from the mid 18th century a number of quite humble buildings, both rural and urban, possess touches of the 'polite'. Other architectural historians have directed their attention to mid 19th century urban housing. Professor J. N.Tarn and Dr. W. Vere Hole have investigated housing problems in towns and the solutions put forward by companies, trusts and local authorities. And a symposium on housing has recently been published, in which the contributors, all historians, approach the subject from different standpoints.~ But apart from articles by Mr. M. W. Barley on Milford and Belper, Mr. J. R. Hume on New Lanark, and Mr. Owen Ashmore on Low Moor, Clitheroe, the housing in early factory villages has been neglected.3 This important category of housing is a bridge between rural vernacular and urban domestic architecture. There is no doubt that much pre-I840s factory village housing is basically vernacular. In plan the cottages differ little from contemporary rural housing, and the form of construction is traditional. But the merchants and manufacturers for whom early factory housing was built formed a rising middle class elite. Many had economic, social, and political aspirations and the traces of 'polite' architecture in the front elevation of some factory housing reflects this. The manufacturers' own houses were usually remote from vernacular, being built in the style that current taste demanded.

The impact of European modernism in the mid-twentieth century

Abstract: This volume examines the influence of European modernism on American architecture from 1930 to 1960. Beginning with the Rockerfeller Center, a premier example of the effect of modernism on Beaux-Arts and Art Deco architecture, Jordy documents the transformation and adaptation of European modernism by American architects.

"Gothic" Construction in Ancient Greece

Abstract: THE FACT THAT ancient Greek and Gothic architecture are, visually, so obviously distinct leads to the idea that the masonry structure behaves in different ways in the two styles. However, an examination of the mechanics of masonry construction does not support this assumption. This is not to imply that ancient Greek and Gothic architects had the same view of their buildings; indeed, neither is likely to have thought of structure in a way that a modern structural engineer would consider relevant. Ruskin observed "that the principal distinctions between existing styles of architecture depend on their methods of roofing any space, as a window or door for instance ... ; that is to say, that the character of Greek architecture ... depends on its roofing a space with a single stone laid from side to side ... ; and the character of Gothic architecture