Modern Architecture Since 1900 [Paperback]

William J.R. Curtis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0714833568 | ISBN-13: 978-0714833569 | Edition: 3

This work on 20th-century architecture combines a clear general outline with analysis and interpretation of particular buildings. While technical, economic, social and intellectual developments are fully treated, the final emphasis is on individuals and on the qualities that give buildings their lasting value. For this revised and updated third edition, an appreciation of regional identity and variety has been incorporated, and also a section on recent architecture. There are many new colour illustrations, plans and drawings. The bibliography and notes have also been extended. This book sets the Modern tradition in perspective, relating it to earlier traditions, and analyzing its richness and complexity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This third edition of the 1982 original has been greatly revised?seven additional chapters?to reflect new developments since its initial release. The volume's well-detailed text is buttressed with 650 color and black-and-white illustrations. This should be a standard volume in all architecture collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Publisher

A comprehensive and balanced overview of modern architecture, this edition combines a clear general outline with masterly analysis and interpretation of individual buildings. The text includes much new knowledge and research and a fresh appreciation of regional identity and variety, including expanded and developed discussions of European, American and non-western traditions. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; 3 edition (June 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714833568
• ISBN-13: 978-0714833569
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice condensed volume, June 10, 2000

By 

"mcgee22" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Architecture Since 1900 (Paperback)

What I found most appealing was Curtis's frequent inclusion of the ideational content of the architecture, a view of architecture as a result of so many cultural forces, which explains why some formal expressions enjoyed popularity in certain eras.

For an author aiming to take the 20th century in a single book, I think he has been guilty of few major omissions. His treatment of Mexican and Indian architects does seem to be outside the flow of content which envelopes the remainder of the book; He does not, however, attempt to unite all of the programs of the twentieth century into one attractive and finely packaged narrative.

In this book you will find lengthier treatments of Wright, Corbu, and Russian Constructivists to name a few. His thorough approach and keen insight appear to waver in the final chapters, as more modern figures are discussed, but in all honesty, a detailed analysis often requires a historical distance that has not yet come to pass.

His breakdown of chapters is, at times, not so clean as would be expected.

It is a demanding and involving book, requiring effort from the reader. It is not a volume that can be lightly perused. But again, it is highly rewarding.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very impressive survey of Modern Architecture, December 4, 2002

By 

James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Architecture Since 1900 (Paperback)

Modern Architecture since 1900 is an impressive overview, delving into the late 18th century and 19th century roots as well. Mr. Curtis approaches the subject thematically which makes it easier for the reader to understand the many currents in modern architecture. As one would expect Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe figure prominantly in this work. However, the author examines the influences on their work, as well as the impact they had on modern architecture, providing many intriguing links, such as the one between Wright and Mies.

The chapters which particularly stood out in my mind were "Architecture and Revolution in Russia" and "Totalitarian Critiques on the Modern Movement." In the first mentioned chapter, Curtis charted the rise of the avant-garde in Russia, its leading figures, and its confrontation with the Constructivists. In the second mentioned chapter, Curtis examined the attitudes toward modern architecture by Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, who was the only one of the three to accept modern architecture. Like all his chapters, Curtis presents the information in a clear cogent format.

Most illucidating is the widespread influence of modern architecture in Asia, Central and South America. He focuses primarily on India, Mexico, and Brazil, illustrating how modern architecture has been adapted to suit the cultural as well as climactic concerns of these countries. Le Corbusier looms large. But Curtis also notes the regional influences that led to counter movements, such as that inspired by Hassan Fathy.

Curtis is critical of the current trends in contemporary architecture. He questions the integrity of the latter-day modernists, post-modernists and deconstructionists. He is drawn more to the individual works of Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and Frank Gehry, which he feels express a deeper understanding of modern architectural principles.

One couldn't ask for more in this book. It is the most impressive survey of modern architecture since Giedion's "Space, Time and Architecture."

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, authoritative and stimulating., October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Modern Architecture Since 1900 (Paperback)

This is indeed a substantial volume, yet quite unlike many others of its magnitude, stimulating and readable at the same time. William Curtis provides a detailed overview of very numerous architects and assesses the extent of their influence in a very even-handed manner, avoiding the arbitrariness one frequently observes in other literature of the ilk. It has been asserted that the publication is directed at Architecture undergraduates. I must comment, as an outsider to this field of study, that Curtis has written a book that is not only accessible to the uninitiated, but one which serves to encourage further interest, reading and involvement in the great school of modern architecture. This is a compliment which one can pay to only a very limited number of authors, in whatever domain their authority may lie.