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Introducing the notion of appreciating buildings as cultural artefacts, this book presents insightful readings by eminent writers which show the power of this approach. Reading architecture in this way can help architects to appreciate the contexts in which they operate when they design. This book introduces, outlines and elaborates on this and opens-up powerful insights for historians, critics and students.
Why write instead of draw when it comes to architecture? Why rely on literary pieces instead of architectural treatises and writings when it comes to the of study buildings and urban environments? Why rely on literary techniques and accounts instead of architectural practices and analysis when it comes to academic research and educational projects? Why trust authors and writers instead of sociologists or scientists when it comes to planning for the future of cities? This book builds on the existing interdisciplinary bibliography on architecture and literature, but prioritizes literature’s capacity to talk about the lived experience of place and the premise that literary language can often express the inexpressible. It sheds light on the importance of a literary instead of a pictorial imagination for architects and it looks into four contemporary architectural subjects through a wide variety of literary works. Drawing on novels that engage cities from around the world, the book reveals aspects of urban space to which other means of architectural representation are blind. Whether through novels that employ historical buildings or sites interpreted through specific literary methods, it suggests a range of methodologies for contemporary architectural academic research. By exploring the power of narrative language in conveying the experience of lived space, it discusses its potential for architectural design and pedagogy. Questioning the massive architectural production of today’s globalized capital-driven world, it turns to literature for ways to understand, resist or suggest alternative paths for architectural practice. Despite literature’s fictional character, the essays of this volume reveal true dimensions of and for places beyond their historical, social and political reality; dimensions of utmost importance for architects, urban planners, historians and theoreticians nowadays.
Culture and Architecture: An Integrated History is a brief survey of architectural history, from its pre-historic origins to the present day. It looks at the great works of architecture not only for their aesthetic values, but for their integral relationships with cultures and civilizations. Without their stories, history, and mythology, these monuments are merely brick, stone, mortar, and glass. Designed to be used in a single semester, but adaptable for a full year, Culture and Architecture is organized into five major time divisions that are introduced with a brief historical summary. Chapters begin with a timeline, and include photographs and drawings of the most important works during that period. Culture and Architecture is an ideal course book for students in foreign studies, art, anthropology, history, or anyone interested in architecture and culture. Leo Hansen is an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture, a department of the College of Design and Social Inquiry at Florida Atlantic University. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame (1978) and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree from the University of Miami (2003), for which he received an Award of Academic Merit. He is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians and the American Institute of Architects.
This innovative and unique book is a visual guide to the buildings that surround us, naming all the visible architectural features so that, unlike other architectural dictionaries, the reader doesn't have to know the name before looking it up. Clear line drawings and extensive colour photographs illustrate each of the main building types, from forts to churches, stately homes to skyscrapers. The individual structural elements and materials common to all buildings are then explained, whether in Classical, Gothic or Modernist style, before delving into the inner architectural details such as doors and windows, roofs and staircases. A comprehensive glossary completes the book. An original and accessible take on the architectural dictionary, this book takes you on a visual tour of the buildings around us, and will be useful not only to students but to anyone with a general interest in architecture.
Today’s explosive developments in digital technology have also affected architecture and the urban landscape. The new possibilities opened up by digital simulation have led to an increasingly strategic approach to planning, an approach based on generating scenarios, which thus represents a radical departure from traditional planning. From the preliminary sketch all the way to the production of individual building components, digital tools offer new possibilities that were still inconceivable just a few years ago. This volume provides a profound introduction to the important role of digital technologies in design and execution. In four chapters, the author systematically examines the influence of digital culture on architecture but also on the urban landscape as well as product design. The relationship of digital architecture to the city is also an important focus.
Cultural Architecture: A Path to Creating Vitalized Congregations, by Douglas A. Hill, shifts the conversation about congregational vitality squarely onto cultural development. Hill makes the case that Jesus's concern was for generating a human culture that produces life for all and that the church is to serve as the foundation for such a culture. Hill utilizes insights from the fields of Bible/theology, ecclesiology, organizational intelligence, anthropology, and psychology. His integration of theory and examples for practical application guide congregational leaders in becoming culturally aware as they engage in strategic congregational development. Hill casts a vision that he calls "anchor church" in which vitalized congregations apply his system of cultural architecture while accompanying struggling congregations on a path toward redevelopment. He also provides vision for how denominations and judicatories can support congregations in their quest for vitality. Cultural Architecture: A Path to Creating Vitalized Congregations serves to assist pastors and leaders as they guide their congregations through the painstaking and intensive process of redevelopment. It provides hands-on tools to guide congregational leaders in creating vision, core values, and strategic plans. It is a valuable resource to professors of practical theology and internship supervisors as they instruct students in organizational development. Judicatory leaders can utilize this book for training their pastors and leaders in cultural awareness as it relates to congregational development. Although Hill's approach is grounded in his experiences within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his systems for cultural architecture can be applied to congregations of any denomination.
Brought together for the first time - the seminal writing on architecture by key philosophers and cultural theorist of the twentieth century. Issues around the built environment are increasingly central to the study of the social sciences and humanities. The essays offer a refreshing take on the question of architecture and provocatively rethink many of the accepted tenets of architecture theory from a broader cultural perspective. The book represents a careful selection of the very best theoretical writings on the ideas which have shaped our cities and our experiences of architecture. As such, Rethinking Architecture provides invaluable core source material for students on a range of courses.
Investigating the historical tradition of Chinese architectural writing from antiquity to the twelfth century, Chinese Architecture and Metaphor reveals significant and fascinating social and cultural phenomena in the most important primary text for the study of the Chinese building tradition. Unlike previous scholarship, which has reviewed this imperially commissioned architectural manual largely as a technical work, this volume considers the Yingzao fashi’s unique literary value and explores the rich cultural implications in and behind its technical content. Utilizing a philological approach, the author pays particular attention to the traditional and contemporary architectural terminology presented in the Yingzao fashi. In examining the semantic meaning of the architectural terms used in the manual, he uncovers a systematic architectural metaphor wherein bracketing elements are likened to flowers, flowering branches, and foliage: Thus pillars with bracketing above are compared to blossoming trees. More importantly, this intriguing imagery was shared by different social groups, in particular craftsmen and literati, and craftsmen themselves employed literary knowledge in naming architectural elements. Relating these phenomena to the unprecedented flourishing of literature, the literati’s greater admiration of technical knowledge, and the higher intellectual capacity of craftsmen during the Song, Architecture and Metaphor demonstrates how the learned and “unlearned” cultures entangled in the construction of architectural knowledge in premodern China. It convincingly shows that technical language served as a faithful carrier of contemporary popular culture and aesthetic concepts. Chinese Architecture and Metaphor demonstrates a high level of engagement with a broad spectrum of sophisticated Chinese sources. It will become a classic work for all students and scholars of East Asian architecture.
This book is the first in more than a decade to provide new information on the Chavin phenomenon of ancient Peru. Thought by some to be the "Mother Culture" of ancient Peruvian cultures, Chavin is remarkable for its baroque, sophisticated art style in a variety of media, including finely carved stone monuments, beautifully formed pottery, and magnificent and complex metallurgy. Also, the textiles from Chavin are incredibly innovative, both iconographically and structurally. They, in fact, form the foundation for the later Andean textile evolution. Chapters in this book cover new interpretations of the history of the site of Chavin de Huantar, studies of related cultures, the role of shamanism, and many other topics of interest to specialists and the general reader, alike.
How to Read Architecture is based on the fundamental premise that reading and interpreting architecture is something we already do, and that close observation matters. This book enhances this skill so that given an unfamiliar building, you will have the tools to understand it and to be inspired by it. Author Paulette Singley encourages you to misread, closely read, conventionally read, and unconventionally read architecture to stimulate your creative process. This book explores three essential ways to help you understand architecture: reading a building from the outside-in, from the inside-out, and from the position of out-and-out, or formal, architecture. This book erodes boundaries between the frequently compartmentalized fields of interior design, landscape design, and building design with chapters exploring concepts of terroir, scenography, criticality, atmosphere, tectonics, inhabitation, type, form, and enclosure. Using examples and case studies that span a wide range of historical and global precedents, Singley addresses the complex interaction among the ways a building engages its context, addresses its performative exigencies, and operates as an autonomous aesthetic object. Including over 300 images, this book is an essential read for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture with a global focus on the interpretation of buildings in their context.