The Dilemma of Style: Architectural Ideas from the Picturesque to the Postmodern [Hardcover]

J. Mordaunt Crook (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226121194 | ISBN-13: 978-0226121192 | Publication Date: November 2, 1987 | Edition: 1

Is architecture in a state of crisis? Or are the critics simply in a state of confusion? Either way, the problems of architecture today are rooted in the history of architectural ideas. Those ideas—from the Picturesque to the Modern Movement; from the Neo-Classicism and the Gothic Revival to New Brutalism and Post-Modernism—form the basis of this original and highly readable book. Ranging widely over English architecture during the last two hundred years—Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Modern—The Dilemma of Style explores the way in which generations of architects and theorists have searched for a key to the conundrum of style. Richly illustrated and densely argued, with scores of quotations and hundreds of references, this is not another history of English architecture: it is almost an encyclopaedia of architectural ideas.

This challenging book confronts one of the central problems of architectural theory: the nature—and necessity—of style.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The subject of this book is really English Victorian architecture from 1840 to 1900, an area in which Crook ( William Burges and the High Victorian Dream ) is expert. Here he threshes out the contributions of Ruskin, Viollet-le-Duc, and others, and briefly extends his argument back into the late 18th century and up to the present. But despite its narrow scope this is an important book, one of a very few that explore in depth 19th-century architectural discourse. It is aimed at specialists and is far more detailed than Robert MacLeod's Style and Society (Riba, 1971), which covers much the same ground. Peter Kaufman, Suffolk Community Coll. Libs., Selden, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 2, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226121194
• ISBN-13: 978-0226121192
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,843,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Architectural Theory History, May 10, 2004

By 

Gavin Farrell (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dilemma of Style: Architectural Ideas from the Picturesque to the Postmodern (Hardcover)

Crook writes one heck of an Architectural history with this book. The title is exactly what the book is; an analysis of evolving architectural ideas from the picturesque (late 1700's/early 1800's) to present. Crook seems to have read pretty much everything related to architecture between these periods, focusing on British authors, and has distilled out trends and conflicts, which he illustrates in the book.

Crook's writing style is extremely dense (in a non-turgid way), and also surpisingly humorous in parts. Illustrations are used extremely well and often, all visibly supporting the arguements made in the text.

But this book is probably not for the casual reader, as a student of architecture I am familiar with probably only a quarter of the names brought up in the book, but thats enough to keep me going and understand the context, since I've already been made aware of the general trends he speaks of. Somebody with no background in architecture at all will find this a yawner. But why did you buy it anyways? This is by an architectural historian for architects and architectural historians, and it is an A1 peice of work.