{"id":223,"date":"2010-09-15T20:43:58","date_gmt":"2010-09-16T03:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/?p=223"},"modified":"2012-03-20T13:33:09","modified_gmt":"2012-03-20T20:33:09","slug":"favorite-books-on-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/favorite-books-on-architecture\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Books on Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Every now and then I come across a book so enlightening, so thought-provoking, so intelligently written, it makes me want to toss out a score of others on my shelves lest I be tempted to waste time on them.\u00a0 I’ve listed the best below.<\/p>\n

What I’ve included should not be construed as anything near comprehensive.\u00a0 It would be quite different had I simply haunted different bookstores.\u00a0 Have I left out a favorite?\u00a0 Let me know what I’ve been missing.<\/p>\n

Note star ratings (1-5) are for degree of enlightenment\/readability.<\/p>\n

THEORY<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Paul-Alan Johnson, The Theory of Architecture<\/em>, VNR.\u00a0 Awesomely comprehensive, every imaginable facet of architectural thought is reflected on, and with impressive depth.\u00a0 An omnibus, profound yet accessible; if I were allowed to keep only one book on architecture, this would be it. \u00a0(*****\/***)<\/p>\n

Fil Hearn, Ideas That Shaped Buildings<\/em>, MIT.\u00a0 A wonderfully easy to read primer on the history of theory.\u00a0 Unexpectedly enlightening for such simply-presented ideas. \u00a0(****\/*****)<\/p>\n


\nSusannah Hagan, Taking Shape, A New Contract Between Architecture and Nature<\/em>, Architectural Press.\u00a0 This somewhat difficult read explores our relationship to nature, and its manifestation in architecture.\u00a0 More than any other I’ve come across, the book gives voice to the latent, underlying themes of the contemporary green movement and places it in elucidating perspective. \u00a0(****\/**)<\/p>\n

Also well worthy of shelf space:<\/p>\n

Bachelard,\u00a0Poetics of Space<\/em>
\nChang,\u00a0The Tao of Architecture<\/em>
\nCollins,\u00a0Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture<\/em>
\nForty,\u00a0Words and Buildings, A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture<\/em>
\nHubbard,\u00a0Complicity and Conviction in Architecture<\/em>
\nRasmussen,\u00a0Experiencing Architecture<\/em>
\nRykwert,\u00a0The Necessity of Artifice<\/em>
\nVenturi,\u00a0Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HISTORY<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Bill Risebero, Modern Architecture and Design<\/em>, MIT.\u00a0 Is it possible to take into account the importance of economics in a history without being labeled Marxist?\u00a0 Regardless, this, and Risebero’s The Story of Western Architecture<\/em> take a thoroughly fresh and mind-opening look at our past. \u00a0(****\/****)<\/p>\n

Lewis Mumford, Sticks and Stones<\/em>, Dover.\u00a0 You’ve seen it on used bookstore shelves so long you can’t imagine it’s worth a look.\u00a0 Devour its short contents though, and you’ll find astonishing insight into the American attitude toward building. \u00a0(****\/*****)<\/p>\n

Donald Miller, ed., The Lewis Mumford Reader<\/em>, Pantheon.\u00a0 Mumford’s innate understanding of our built environment makes even Jane Jacobs look like a dilettante by comparison.\u00a0 This sampler will help you see what a giant of 20th century critics he was. (*****\/***)<\/p>\n

Demetri Porphyrios, ed., On the Methodology of Architectural History<\/em>, Architectural Design Profile.\u00a0 A collection of essays on the way we look at our built history.\u00a0 Slow going in parts, but it covers Hegelian, structuralist, Marxist and other approaches in depth. \u00a0(****\/***)<\/p>\n

David Watkin, The Rise of Architectural History<\/em>, Architectural Press.\u00a0 I wish this history of architectural history were longer. Puts Semper, Wittkower, Gideon, Hitchcock, Pevsner, and others in enlightening perspective. \u00a0(****\/***)<\/p>\n

Also worthy:<\/p>\n

Banham,\u00a0Theory and Design in the First Machine Age<\/em>
\nFrampton,\u00a0Modern Architecture, A Critical History<\/em>
\nHersey,\u00a0The Lost Meaning of Classical Architecture<\/em>
\nJordan,\u00a0Victorian Architecture<\/em>
\nSummerson,\u00a0Heavenly Mansions <\/em>
\nWatkin,\u00a0A History of Western Architecture<\/em><\/p>\n

DESIGN<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright Drawings and Plans<\/em>, Dover.\u00a0 A poor man’s abridged facsimile of Wright’s Wasmuth portfolio, which introduced his work to Europeans in 1910.\u00a0 Spend half an hour on each page and understand how rich his work is, even just at plan level.\u00a0 You’ll learn a few German words along the way. \u00a0(****\/na)<\/p>\n

Robert McCarter, ed., On and By Frank Lloyd Wright, A Primer of Architectural Principles<\/em>, Phaidon.\u00a0 No biographical sensationalism, just pure, loving analysis of what makes his architecture so infuriatingly good.\u00a0 By far the best book on Wright’s work I’ve seen. \u00a0(****\/****)<\/p>\n

Edward R. Ford, The Details of Modern Architecture, vol’s 1&2<\/em>, MIT.\u00a0 Indispensable to the serious architect, these books analyze the minutiae of buildings with profound insight.\u00a0 They will surely snap you out of any misguided notion that architecture is something to be painted in only large strokes. \u00a0(*****\/***)<\/p>\n

Brookes & Grech, Connections, Studies in Building Assembly<\/em>, Whitney.\u00a0 Here’s all the technical detail you wish had accompanied the vacuous articles we all wasted time on in glossy magazines. \u00a0(****\/***)<\/p>\n

Adrian Forty, Objects of Desire<\/em>, T&H.\u00a0 The essays here don’t cover architecture per se<\/em>, but the in-depth studies of how culture fosters design leaves you thinking about how you might transpose Forty’s lessons to you own work. \u00a0(*****\/***)<\/p>\n

Also worthy:<\/p>\n

Banham,\u00a0A Critic Writes <\/em>
\nDuany, Plater-Zyberk,\u00a0Suburban Nation<\/em>
\nNorberg-Schulz, <\/span>Architecture: Meaning and Place <\/em>
\nNorberg-Schulz,\u00a0Genius Loci <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/em>MAGAZINES<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Design Book Review<\/em>.\u00a0 It’s now defunct, but keep your eye out for back issues at used book stores.\u00a0 It can broaden the mind more to see the whole of the architectural publishing world encapsulated in reviews than to mire one’s self in only a few choice volumes. \u00a0(****\/****)<\/p>\n

Environmental Building News<\/em>.\u00a0 Spend the 99 bucks.\u00a0 Cancel all those subscriptions to glossy feel-good rags.\u00a0 This is the only worthwhile periodical on green building. \u00a0(****\/****)<\/p>\n

Architectural Review<\/em>.\u00a0 Why is it only Brits have the guts to publish scathing architectural reviews when they’re deserved?\u00a0 Rewarding text accompanies the photos, rare in the American glossies.\u00a0 Even historic buildings are re-viewed. \u00a0(***\/****)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every now and then I come across a book so enlightening, so thought provoking, so intelligently written, it makes me want to toss out a score of others on my shelves lest I be tempted to waste time on them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,24],"tags":[26,28,27,29,31,30],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-history","tag-architecture","tag-best","tag-books-2","tag-favorite","tag-history-2","tag-theory-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actual-size.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}