Synopsis
This is a book of theoretical essays by architect Stan Allen, which examine the ways in which the modes of representation and techniques of realization available to the architect affect the practice of architecture. Allen shows how these models of representation are put into play in specific buildings by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier. While the practice of architecture is circumscribed by a function, the many practices that contribute to the realization of this task affect the look of our cities and the spaces we live in.
Allen's essays, organized into three sections:
Representations
Buildings
Media
The final essays analyze the role of media in architecture, specifically the reproduction of buildings in photographic form, and the impact of computer-aided design techniques.
Booknews
Nine essays that practicing architect Allen wrote between 1989 and 1997 and extensively reworked over the next two years explore how the modes of representation and techniques of realization available to the architect affect the practice. Though conversant in contemporary theory and architecture history, he argues that concepts in architecture are not imported from other disciplines but emerge through the materials and procedures of architectural practice itself. He includes many monochrome photographs, but no index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)