Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 1750-1950

Peter Collins is one of the more erudite architectural writers you will ever come across. This book was published in 1965, barely pre-dating the publication of Venturi's influential "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture." Now that I've read both, if I had to recommend one, I would recommend Peter Collins. While Venturi attacks Modernism by simply saying "its not complicated enough, I like complex architecture (and therefore you should too)" Collins goes much, much more in-depth. The various ideas architects have desperately flung around since 1750 are all traced, dissected, and put into their social contexts. Rationalism, Romanticism, Ecclecticism, Historicism/Archeology, Classics versus Goths, the Moderns, the various analogies to other fields architects have attempted - it is all discussed. The book stops at 1950, but this does not detract from its relevance in 2004, as we can see that architects have continued to explore connections with other genres in order to create their various forms. It is important to realize what we're doing and if it has ever be done before - and - it all pretty much has been. Not to despair though, Collins keeps it an interesting read, if you do not chuckle at his wit every now and then, then your sense of humor is dead. It is important to read this critically, and I found myself only very occasionally disagreeing. One of my favorite chapters, which is almost a six-page long joke, is entitled "Architecture and Gastronomy." (and yet - it is not a joke!) The only criticism of the book is perhaps his less-intensive use of illustrations than he might have. Those that he does include however are well-chosen. A very closely related work to this is J. Mordaunt Crook's 1987 "The Dilemma of Style: Architectural Ideas from the Picturesque to the Post Modern." Crook makes a book that attempts to do essentially the same thing, but has a slightly diferent perspective. I mention it because I believe these two, Crook and Collins, should be read by any architect worth their salt. Kenneth Frampton writes a fairly interesting introduction to the 1998 edition, hopefully this book will continue to have stamina for future generations of architects.