San Antonio College Library

In an era of brash, expensive, provocative new buildings, a prominent critic argues that emotions such as hope, power, sex, and our changing relationship to the idea of home are the most powerful force behind architecture, yesterday and (especially) today. We are living in the most dramatic period in architectural history in more than half a century: a time when cityscapes are being redrawn on a yearly basis, architects are testing the very idea of...

"A collection of essays that speculates both about what architecture makes of theory as well as what theory makes of architecture"--

"The fine arts are traditionally seen to have intrinsic value: that is, they are valuable in themselves. But this poses a problem for architecture: its works are designed to serve our purposes, and therefore it is classed as functional. Carving out a new space, Edward Winters argues why architecture is a fine art and finds a place for the fine art of architecture in the cultural environment in which we structure our lives. Winters reconciles intrinsic...

"How and why do architects, artists and designers manipulate reality? This book answers that question by examining what it means to render, draw, represent, and mediate the elements that make up and affect our digital and physical worlds. From pixels and rooms to gaming spaces and dioramas, this book exposes approaches to rendering that are equal parts instructive and critical. In the pursuit of the strange and the uncanny, digital media and software...

Annotation

In a series of cogent and balanced arguments, Harries questions the premises on which architects and theorists have long relied - premises that have contributed to architecture's current identity crisis and marginalization. He first criticizes the aesthetic approach, focusing on the problems of decoration and ornament. He then turns to the language of architecture. If the main task of architecture is indeed interpretation, in just what sense can it...

" Comprehensively traces the development of Louis I. Kahn's philosophy of architecture from its beginnings in the 1930s to Kahn's death in 1974. The author, Kahn's daughter, provides a unique presentation of biographical information, portions of letters and writings, speeches, photos, and other material inaccessible to other writers. Includes diagrams collected from published and unpublished sources. Shows how Kahn's personality and background contributed...

In the first century B.C., Vitruvius Pollio narrated a myth of the origins of dwelling. In a forest clearing, previously isolated and savage people gathered about the embers of a dying fire; from this gathering emerged political institutions, human language, and the construction of permanent shelters. R.D. Dripps finds in this story the foundation of an extensive theory of architecture still able to offer guideposts for architecture practice. Against...