Customer Reviews

Modern Architecture: A Critical History (World of Art)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book remains the only interpretive history of modern architecture and culture. It is scholarly, intelligent, infused with critical opinion and a true document of thought (as opposed to a banal catalogue of dates and facts). All of the words used are readily available to the English language reader, and their meaning demands to be grappled with. This is how deeper understanding is achieved. Do not open this book if you expect a pseudo-objective outline of neutralized information.

Frampton makes no apologies for modern architecture, instead he makes one of the more arduous defenses of modern architecture, taking in the full sweep of this architectural movement, and critically examining some of the contemporary trends which have followed in its wake.

It is a very readable overview of modern architecture, beginning with the late 18th century and 19th century predecessors which led to a thorough re-examination of architecture in the early 20th century. Frampton divides his study into short thematic chapters which allow readers to focus on one movement at a time. There are various recurring figures such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe; but Frampton covers an exceedingly broad range of architectural ideas in the past century.

He has updated the book to include some of the more recent currents in architecture such as deconstruction and fragmentation, which he places in the context of the broader stream of architecture since 1962 in one of his more thought-provoking chapters, "Place, Production and Scenography." He notes how many of the recent ideas in architecture draw from the Russian avant-garde and Italian Futurism. He pans Post-Modernism for its pretension display of historicism, as exhibited in the work of Michael Graves, preferring the more rigorous historic views of neo-rationalists like Aldo Rossi. It is an insightful, illuminating book, which has been updated to include Modern Architecture to 1991.

A cannonical book, but sadly only really educational if you know all about these buildings. If you didn't, the black & white, thumbnail size pictures doesn't help. Could someone republish this book with full-size photos and diagrams? I'll read it all over again!

I think it is one of, or maybe the best books of modern architecture since its first edition. Maybe it is not too didatic, so lay people about architecture could have some dificulty on understanding some facts, but this book is, like the title says, very critical and not just throws the facts, but explains very well the reasons why and the associations between mankind history, the artistic movements and the modern architecture. And the last edition bring the history of the last 30/20 years of architecture, what is someway hard to find in other books about architecture history. A must read for architecture students.(Sorry if my english is not well).

I'm surprised at some of the very negative reviews of this book. This
is probably the best short history of modern architecture, or history
of modern architecture of any length perhaps, and it succeeds quite
well as a "critical" history. Maybe some people think
Frampton overuses the word "critical," but he uses the term
in a meaningful way. He presents information but also systematically
analyses that information and draws reasoned conclusions. And the
rest of his language, supposedly impenetrable to some readers, is used
meaningfully also. It's not jargon. Yes, Frampton is well-educated
and he has an impressive vocabulary. Is that a problem? I would
expect as much from an architectural historian and critic. His style
is different from other writers and perhaps somewhat less accessible,
but he has many valuable things to say. Possibly more so than any
other historian of modern architecture that I've come across. He's
thought deeply about his subject matter and offers us his carefully
reasoned analyses. He does this while providing us with a wealth of
factual information in a concise format. It's an excellent book.
There have been many architectural writers in recent decades who've
abused us with meaningless archibabble but Frampton isn't one of them. I agree with one reviewer that Frampton assumes his readers are already familiar with the buildings (and architects, and 20th c. history in general), and I agree that more images and larger images would help. But there are a lot of images and the book is supposed to be concise. Maybe it's best to read a couple other histories first - Pevsner's "Pioneers of Modern Design" and Hitchcock's longer "Architecture: 19th and 20th Centuries," for example. ...

Although his writing style and references to European literary culture may be confusing for some readers, this book is the best short introduction to the development of modern architecture.

Kenneth Frampton's history of modern architecture is a terrific and scholarly book, highlighting all the important architects and styles of this century. Yet this book is not recommended as a beginner's guide to architecture. Frampton relates the various works to other architects and artists of the past and in recent years. His deep knowledge of art/architectual history is expressed throughout the book and can scare of readers without the background. I, myself, who has studied a good deal of art/architectual history, find myself befuddled now and then. Basically, I understand about 2/3 of the references and the other 1/3 I either have to pass on, or due further reasearch. It takes effort, but what you learn along the way is fascinating!

This book may have some excellent insights to modern architecture, but it's not for everyone. Kenneth Frampton is very well respected in the academia world. There is a possibility that he is brilliant and very well educated but his book is difficult to read. He packed his writing with a lot of information but I had to read everything two or three times because of another reason. His writing style must be an english teacher's nightmare. All of his sentences were run-on sentences. He wrote whole paragraphs using single sentences. I picked a sentence out of random and counted seventy nine words. As most wise english teachers preach, keep sentences short and simple.

This book is admittedly very dense. Each short essay is packed with knowledge, but Frampton is not difficult. It certainly isn't useful to rush through it. Mull over a paragraph instead of the whole book. I originally found Frampton a challenge but it never seemed hopelessly out of reach. His writing coaxes you to a higher level. Your knowledge grows as you consider and wrestle with any two essays. It forces you to amass an inter-related structure of knowledge. I now think the book is extremely forthright and consider it a generous gift to those striving to get deeper; a primer and a leg-up on assessing the history of architecture. I don't think Frampton is pretentious at all. His personality is not even present in the mateiral. I have no more idea about who he is now than before I picked up this book a long time ago. He foregrounds his architectural knowledge and graciously disappears.

90 percent of architecture publishing is coffee-table quality stuff that asks little of a reader, and consequently leaves you with little of substance. If you think this is difficult, pick up anything by the inscrutable, pretentious K. Michael Hayes. If you want facts in isolation, just keep telling yourself that Liebeskinds new WTC tower "which is 1,776 feet tall..." is architecture.

This is one of those 'must have' books for anyone interested in modern architecture. Although it does not have detailed information on each architect or movement, it is a great starting point from which to have a general idea of how the pieces of modern architecture fit with each other.