Classic Readings in Architecture

After the Third Annual Architect-Researcher's Conference in 1966, many well-known Architects felt compelled to write manifestos to explain their design philosophy. The relative stagnation of architectural theory in the previous 2000 years was quickly inundated by a torrent of competing ideologies. The Masters were challenged. Architectural theory exploded.Professors today have the task of presenting this critical mass of conflicting theory. Some devote an entire term to one attractive proposition. Others develop courses with an historical perspective. Still others write anthologies. Jay M. Stein and Kent F. Spreckelmeyer have sifted through the rubble to salvage thirty-six ideas capable of standing on their own. These enduring essays have been assembled in Classic Readings in Architecture. What distinguishes a classic? Stein and Spreckelmeyer used a four-step process to select their texts. They started with architecture experts listed in the 1994 ACSA Guide to Architecture Schools. They reviewed syllabi from introductory courses. Award-winning essays were given preference. Finally, they read and read and read. Unfortunately, some of the highly influential, but more controversial texts were eliminated. For example Robert Venturi's gentle manifesto Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture did not make the final edition. This collection targets the first-year introductory seminar and, as such, has a different purpose from other recently published anthologies. Stein and Spreckelmeyer present a variety of ideas. They permit the selections to speak for themselves. Their introductory remarks, often biographical, served to orient the reader rather than to convert. Differences in tone and style separate one author from another. There are no smooth transitions. Like a beautiful jewel, various facets of the profession are re-examined under the harsh light of time. Architecture as Artifact hits the high spots from ancient Greece to modern Mexico. The full spectrum of interdisciplinary collusion is displayed from Calculus to Archeology. Classics are classics because they are unforgettable. Weeks after the term has finished, the students will refer to that essay by so and so. It will be the spark that ignites the discussion. The ensuing debate will shape future theory, which will in turn become classics.

As a textbook for graduate-level students just entering a graduate program in Architecture, I have found no better collection readings to introduce the realm of architectural thought. The book addresses the the idea of premise; that is to say, the nature of a position taken as the basis for making architecture beyond the fundamental assemblage of a spatial program and the technological means of building. A second strength of the book is in it's introduction of Architecture as a process rather than as a product. In this aspect, find this book to be an effective companion with Peter Rowe's *Design Thinking*, M.I.T. Press, the book dedicating a section of essays addressing the issue of Design Process. The relationship between the nature of a project and the methods employed in its design is made quite clear. Lastly, is the section dedicated to the Context of Architecture, which does so both within and beyond the bounds of physical context, addressing forthrightly the social context of Architecture at both micro and macro scales.