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Paperback The Look of Architecture Book

ISBN: 0195156331

ISBN13: 9780195156331

The Look of Architecture

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Book Overview

What is style in architecture? "Style is like a feather in a woman's hat, nothing more," said Le Corbusier, expressing most modern architects' low regard for the subject. But Witold Rybczynski disagrees, and in The Look of Architecture, he makes a compelling case for the importance of style to the mother of the arts.
This is a book brimming with sharp observations--that form does not follow function; that the best architecture is not timeless but precisely of its time; that details do not merely complement the architecture--details are the architecture. But the heart of the book illuminates the connection between architecture, interior decoration, and fashion. Style is the language of architecture, Rybczynski writes, and fashion represents the wide and swirling cultural currents that shape and direct that language. The two--style and fashion--are intimately linked; indeed, architecture cannot escape fashion. To set these ideas in sharp relief, he shows us how style and fashion have been expressed in the work of major architects including Frank Gehry, Mies van der Rohe, Charles McKim, Allan Greenberg, Robert Venturi, Enrique Norten, and many others. He helps us see their works anew and ultimately to look afresh at our surroundings.
Style is one of the enduring--and endearing--aspects of architecture, Rybczynski concludes. Furthermore, an architecture that recognizes the importance of style would not be as introspective and self-referential as are so many contemporary buildings. It would be part of the world: Not architecture for architects, but for the rest of us.

Customer Reviews

5 ratings

The Fickle Nature of Architecture

Sir Henry Wotton said, "The end is to build well. Well building hath three conditions: commoditie, firmness and delight." Commodity- to shelter human activity firmness- to durably challenge gravity and the elements delight- to be an object of beauty Building should last and feel as though they will. A banal church is a greater failure than a banal factory. The end must direct the operation. Rybczynski packs this book with a lot of information in a delightful way, making it an easy and enjoyable book.

The Fickle Nature of Architecture

Sir Henry Wotton said, "The end is to build well. Well building hath three conditions: commoditie, firmness and delight." Commodity- to shelter human activity firmness- to durably challenge gravity and the elements delight- to be an object of beauty Building should last and feel as though they will. A banal church is a greater failure than a banal factory. The end must direct the operation. Rybczynski packs this book with a lot of information in a delightful way, making it an easy and enjoyable book.

A wonderful journey

While I finished the reading, the only thought in my mind is to read more references related to the writer's vivid-narrated lectures, as well as more books signed a name as "Witold Rybczynski".

Fabulous Book

Any book by Rybczynski is a delight to read and contains a wealth of information and fresh ideas. "The Look of Architecture" is no exception, and while it is not as groundbreaking as "Home," it is a carefully written analysis of Architecture that is chock-full of examples to illustrate what he's getting at (a few more pictures would be nice, though).

Suprising

I was amazed by how involved I got in this book. For a book about buildings, I was grossly interested. Rybczynski knows his stuff when it comes to books.
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