Monsters of Architecture [Hardcover]

Marco Frascari (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 084767648X | ISBN-13: 978-0847676484 | Publication Date: January 28, 1991

This book is a theoretical narrative for a reader who is willing to be bewitched by a theory that sees the presence of human bodies in the constructed world. Frascari theorizes that if the human body is an appropriate creative expression for the development of an architectural form, then the body can be viewed as a useful tool for activating the imagination and applying the meanings and reasons that are necessary in architectural production. The author presents the bodily basis of architectural production as it develops out of the secularization of the myth of the body in architectural demonstrations. Frascari suggests that we think of buildings in terms of the action and structure of our bodily habits, in the same way as we think of our bodies from the vantage point of our dwelling habits. This inquiry into the relationship between theory and practice in the discipline of architecture is from a semiotic point of view. It introduces some of the current theoretical-philosophical and methodological structures and procedures which support the author's inquiry, and provides a connection between the inquiry and various theories of architects. Frascari's book includes an important historical investigation into a neglected area and will be of great interest to students of semiotics, phenomenology, and architectural theory.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a keen intelligence at work, a purveyor of countless nuggets of fascinating information...

In this treatise on architectural images, Frascari enters directly into the practice of thinking ^Rwith,^I and ^Rwithin,^I the image. He has transcended allegorical and psychological methods in iconography and made considerable progress towards the creation of an architectural aesthetics that is cognizant of the tradition in both constructing and interpretation but is based on modern approaches to creativity. (Angel Medina )

...deserves serious attention among the new theories in architecture, and is recommended for all university architectural collections. (Choice )

About the Author

Marco Frascari is an Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the Ph.D. Program in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (January 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084767648X
• ISBN-13: 978-0847676484
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,742,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marco Frascari, Director of the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, received his first degree from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, and then completed a Dottore in Architettura at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV). He began his professional career in Verona while simultaneously teaching at IUAV. Later Dr. Frascari where he earned a Master of Science in Architecture at the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at several institutions such as Harvard University, Georgia Tech, and University of Pennsylvania, where he achieved his full professorship and was director of the Undergraduate program Design of Environment and of Ph.D. Program in Architecture. He was G.T. Ward Professor in Architecture at the Washington-Alexandria Architectural Center of Virginia Tech and founded its Ph.D. program in Architectural Representation. Dr. Frascari's present area of interest is neuroarchitecture. By focusing on architecture as an inherently multisensory experience Frascari explores what are hints of the neural patterns of cognitive perceptions and thoughts detectable in architectural drawings and theoretical writing and their embodiment in building and urban elements.