Ideas That Shaped Buildings [Paperback]

M.Fil Hearn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262582279 | ISBN-13: 978-0262582278 | Publication Date: October 10, 2003

In Ideas That Shaped Buildings, Fil Hearn identifies and codifies into theoretical systems the operative tenets of architectural theory from ancient Rome to the present. With this strikingly original synthesis of architectural history and theory, he constructs an intellectual armature on which virtually any architectural concept, past or present, can be positioned. Dealing mainly with the treatises that have been highly influential historically, he organizes their concepts thematically and analyzes their development through time. Straightforward and concise, Ideas That Shaped Buildings is readily accessible to architecture students, practicing architects, and the general public -- indeed anyone interested in understanding the design rationale of buildings. Its overarching message is that, far from being constricting, proper knowledge and application of architectural theory is enabling and inspiring, and makes creative freedom possible by providing the conceptual awareness needed to devise a design.After an introductory history of the development of architectural theory, the text is divided into four parts. The first deals with issues relevant to all theories of architecture. The second, treating theory from antiquity to 1800, focuses on the prescriptive conventions inherent in the classical tradition. The third, treating theory after 1800, focuses on the inspirational principles prompted by rationalist perceptions of the Gothic tradition. The fourth, treating theory since 1965, deals with rationales beyond rationalism and the influence of computers on design method and design formulation. The concepts discussed are illustrated with theoretical drawings and images of actual buildings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The comparative compactness of this book belies its grandly ambitious attempt to synthesize 2,000 years of Western architectural theory. For Hearn, an art and architectural history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, the Roman temples of Vitruvius and the postmodern Las Vegas of Robert Venturi form part of a coherent whole, sustained by a long and complex intellectual tradition, a shifting set of articulate reactions to a set of fundamental human circumstances. He finds further that design and architectural theory, more than most disciplines, have been dominated by a fairly small set of theoretical treatises, which form the bases for the four sections and 16 chapters of Hearn's work. These texts, and the ways in which designers and builders have reacted to them over the centuries, are described with the kind of terse thoroughness that speaks of a daunting command of the subject. Moving freely between Alberti and Le Corbusier, between the columnar order and the Dymaxion house, Hearn transmits a clear sense of the endless interdependence of theory and practice. But the most surprising thing about this volume is how deftly it incorporates-despite its "return to fundamentals" approach-the intellectual and technical developments of recent decades. Hearn's holistic approach allows a warts-and-all discussion of postmodernism's weaknesses that is also able to clearly describe its achievements. And the already pivotal impact of computer modeling on design is not only recognized, but broadly contextualized. The product of many years of classroom experience, this compendium is likely to become a much assigned text in both introductory and advanced architecture and design programs. And if Hearn's clipped no-nonsense style sometimes demands close attention, the reader can be assured that Hearn is never deliberately obscure, something that can hardly be said of every book in architectural theory's expanding field.
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Review

"Fil Hearn's Ideas That Shaped Buildings lucidly summarizes two thousand years of theorizing about architecture in an easy-to-read primer wisely organized both chronologically and thematically. Offering a comprehensive overview of the canon of design thinking from Vitruvius to Venturi, it will be a useful introductory text for architecture students, architects, and cultured readers interested in surveying Western civilization's most influential architectural ideas." Roger K. Lewis , FAIA, Professor, University of Maryland School of Architecture

"Hearn is a good tour guide." Michael J. Crosbie Architectural Record

"The product of many years of classroom experience, this compendium is likely to become a much assigned text..." Publisher's Weekly

"There has long been a need for this book, and it should sell well for many years." Peter Kaufman Library Journal

"Tutors and students will be blessing Fil Hearn for his little book... compact, erudite, literate." Jeremy Melvin Architects Journal

"Fil Hearn's *Ideas That Shaped Buildings* lucidly summarizes two thousand years of theorizing about architecture in an easy-to-read primer wisely organized both chronologically and thematically. Offering a comprehensive overview of the canon of design thinking from Vitruvius to Venturi, it will be a useful introductory text for architecture students, architects, and cultured readers interested in surveying Western civilization's most influential architectural ideas."--Roger K. Lewis, FAIA, Professor, University of Maryland School of Architecture

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (October 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262582279
• ISBN-13: 978-0262582278
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)