Earth Architecture: From Ancient to Modern [Hardcover]

William N. Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0813032075 | ISBN-13: 978-0813032078 | Edition: 1st

From ancient forts in New Zealand to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Earth Architecture ranges across the globe, covering more than 6,000 years of human history.

 

William Morgan, a practicing architect and published author, has created an invaluable compendium of environments shaped by the manipulation of one of the most fundamental building blocks available: earth. This splendidly illustrated volume contains intricate, detailed descriptions of more than fifty sites, written in non-technical language that will appeal to a broad range of readers.

 

Mounds, shaped hills, and terraces are only a few of the categories of structures Morgan systematically examines as he surveys everything from semi-subterranean dwellings to large-scale engineering projects. His exhaustive look encompasses a 4,200 B.C. settlement in the Negev and a contemporary performing arts pavilion in California. In addition to the unknown master builders and engineers from ancient times, works of modern architects including Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, and Frank Lloyd Wright appear in these pages.

 

Morgan's focus on the architectural uses of earth in shaping societies and communities suggests implications for contemporary architecture, and the sites discussed offer numerous precedents for sustainable design, energy conservation, and environmental enhancement.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A passionate and magisterial look at a neglected area of architectural history

 

"We associate earth architecture with ancient cultures, but in this marvelous book Morgan juxtaposes ancient and contemporary earthworks for our amazement and delight."--
Esther Pasztory, author of Thinking with Things

 

"Morgan has a mission: to ensure that we do not overlook nor underestimate the great creative energy of men and their integral relationships with the life giving soil and water around us."--James R. Turner, author of Tight Walk

 

From ancient forts in New Zealand to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Earth Architecture ranges across the globe, covering more than 6,000 years of human history.

 

William Morgan, a practicing architect and published author, has created an invaluable compendium of environments shaped by the manipulation of one of the most fundamental building blocks available: earth. This splendidly illustrated volume contains intricate, detailed descriptions of more than fifty sites, written in non-technical language that will appeal to a broad range of readers.

 

Mounds, shaped hills, and terraces are only a few of the categories of structures Morgan systematically examines as he surveys everything from semi-subterranean dwellings to large-scale engineering projects. His exhaustive look encompasses a 4,200 B.C. settlement in the Negev and a contemporary performing arts pavilion in California. In addition to the unknown master builders and engineers from ancient times, works of modern architects including Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, and Frank Lloyd Wright appear in these pages.

 

Morgan's focus on the architectural uses of earth in shaping societies and communities suggests implications for contemporary architecture, and the sites discussed offer numerous precedents for sustainable design, energy conservation, and environmental enhancement.

About the Author

William Morgan, FAIA, president of the Jacksonville-based William Morgan Architects, formerly held the Beinecke-Reeves Chair in Architectural Preservation at the University of Florida. He is the author of Precolumbian Architecture in Eastern North America, Ancient Architecture of the Southwest, and Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (May 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813032075
• ISBN-13: 978-0813032078
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,107,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Falls short, even as an at-a-glance book, January 18, 2009

By 

Sub-Kontinental (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Earth Architecture: From Ancient to Modern (Hardcover)

Although Morgan's categorizations are interesting, the meat of the book leaves a lot more to be desired. (It also belies Morgan's "50 years of research.") With roughly two images and one paragraph per work, Morgan leaves himself little room for provoking any thought when it comes to the specific architecture at hand. I've read more detailed coverage of
Ankor Wat, for instance, in children's encyclopedias.

Even if you evaluate the book purely on a visual basis--which is what we designers tend to do--EA is sub par. The images are too cliche, too compendium-ish to really give an understanding of the importance of the architecture. I'm sure Morgan has a lot of passion, but it's simply lost in the briefness. Similarly, the verbal filler reveals nothing that couldn't be deduced from looking at the images.

(Side note: the graininess of the Altar of Heaven image on page 81 is an abomination. What the was the publisher thinking?)

That said, the latent arguments behind Morgan's organization/categorizations can be interesting. For instance, juxtaposing the dallas-fort-worth airport the Borbodur under the category of "Platforms" is thought-provoking.

I have a feeling this book was concocted purely as means of making a quick buck. Whether or not that's Morgan's fault, I dont know. The forward author's claim that EA "[reminds] us to think holistically" does hold some weight, but not $25-$35 worth of weight, which is the cost of the book. If you want substance, consider checking the book out of the library, noting the works covered, and then researching them on your own. It'll be far more rewarding than dropping the cash for this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Survey of Buildings Made with Earth, October 4, 2008

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Earth Architecture: From Ancient to Modern (Hardcover)

Humans have been building shelters from earth for as long as we have been human. Any architectural survey which wants to explore this topic will have an overwhelming body of architecture to examine. William Morgan structures his survey by cataloging types of earth architecture. Morgan has chapters on mounds, shaped hills, retained earth, terraces, platforms, excavations and modified earth. Each chapter in turn, features a handful of buildings that reinforce the theme.

The value of this book is that Morgan proposes a system for cataloging earth architecture. He also includes some very interesting structures in the various chapters. However, the very few paragraphs he dedicates to each building is disappointing. For those of us who enjoy the classification of building structures, this is an interesting book with nice photos. But I am not sure that is worth the $35.00 price tag. "Earth Architecture" is one of those books, best purchased used.