Understanding Architecture

by McCarter, Robert; Pallasma, Juhani

• ISBN13: 9780714848099
• ISBN10: 0714848093
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-22
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

Intended both as an introductory text for students and professionals in the field as well as an accessible read for the general public, Understanding Architecture addresses the basic principles of architecture.The volume is organized in 12 series of chapters based on a key architectural themes including space, time, matter, gravity, light, silence, dwelling, ritual, memory, landscape, and place.Each chapter begins with an introductory essay, and includes a wide variety of historical examples from around the world, followed by in-depth analysis of 6 key buildings that further exemplify the theme of that chapter.By combining a broad historical sweep with a jargon-free architectural study of space and the direct experience of architecture, this volume is a unique introduction to the experience of architecture.

Author Biography

Robert McCarter is a practicing architect and has been Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis since 2007. He taught previously at the University of Florida, where he was Director of the School of Architecture from 1991?2001, and Columbia University, among other schools. He has written for numerous international publications, and his books include: Grafton Architects (2018); Marcel Breuer (2016); Steven Holl (2015); Alvar Aalto (2014); Carlo Scarpa (2013); Understanding Architecture, co-authored with Juhani Pallasmaa (2012); and Louis I Kahn (2005), all by Phaidon Press. He has also published The Work of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects: Economy as Ethic (2017); The Space Within: Interior Experience as the Origin of Architecture (2016); and Aldo van Eyck (2015), among other books.