Modern Architecture: A Critical History

This is the Bible for the History of Modern Architecture. I lived with this book in graduate school during the '80's, and is still relevant, important and has been up-dated to address the last 30 years of Architectural ideology and design. A must have for students and any professional interested in a critical historical perspective. It is also a great read.

Excellent source for architecture students that want to acquire a perspective about modern architecture. Frampton provide his peculiar criticism about conflicts, particularities and contradictions of 19th and 20th century arquitectural history. Recommended for anyone.

I'm surprised at some of the very negative reviews of this book. Thisis probably the best short history of modern architecture, or historyof modern architecture of any length perhaps, and it succeeds quitewell as a "critical" history. Maybe some people thinkFrampton overuses the word "critical," but he uses the termin a meaningful way. He presents information but also systematicallyanalyses that information and draws reasoned conclusions. And therest of his language, supposedly impenetrable to some readers, is usedmeaningfully also. It's not jargon. Yes, Frampton is well-educatedand he has an impressive vocabulary. Is that a problem? I wouldexpect as much from an architectural historian and critic. His styleis different from other writers and perhaps somewhat less accessible,but he has many valuable things to say. Possibly more so than anyother historian of modern architecture that I've come across. He'sthought deeply about his subject matter and offers us his carefullyreasoned analyses. He does this while providing us with a wealth offactual information in a concise format. It's an excellent book.There have been many architectural writers in recent decades who'veabused us with meaningless archibabble but Frampton isn't one of them. I agree with one reviewer that Frampton assumes his readers are already familiar with the buildings (and architects, and 20th c. history in general), and I agree that more images and larger images would help. But there are a lot of images and the book is supposed to be concise. Maybe it's best to read a couple other histories first - Pevsner's "Pioneers of Modern Design" and Hitchcock's longer "Architecture: 19th and 20th Centuries," for example. ...

I think it is one of, or maybe the best books of modern architecture since its first edition. Maybe it is not too didatic, so lay people about architecture could have some dificulty on understanding some facts, but this book is, like the title says, very critical and not just throws the facts, but explains very well the reasons why and the associations between mankind history, the artistic movements and the modern architecture. And the last edition bring the history of the last 30/20 years of architecture, what is someway hard to find in other books about architecture history. A must read for architecture students.(Sorry if my english is not well).

Although his writing style and references to European literary culture may be confusing for some readers, this book is the best short introduction to the development of modern architecture.