Origins of Architectural Pleasure [Hardcover]

Grant Hildebrand (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520215052 | ISBN-13: 978-0520215054 | Publication Date: June 30, 1999 | Edition: 1

Do survival instincts have anything to do with our architectural choices--our liking for a certain room, a special stairway, a plaza in a particular city? In this engaging study Grant Hildebrand discusses ways in which architectural forms emulate some archetypal settings that humans have found appealing--and useful to survival--from ancient times to the present.
Speculating that nature has "designed" us to prefer certain conditions and experiences, Hildebrand is interested in how the characteristics of our most satisfying built environments mesh with Darwinian selection. In examining the appeal of such survival-based characteristics he cites architectural examples spanning five continents and five millennia. Among those included are the Palace of Minos, the Alhambra, Wells cathedral, the Shinto shrine at Ise, the Piazza San Marco, Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel, Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, a Seattle condominium, and recent houses by Eric Owen Moss and Arne Bystrom.
Just what characteristics bestow evolutionary benefits? "Refuge and prospect" offer a protective place of concealment close to a foraging and hunting ground. "Enticement" invites the safe exploration of an information-rich setting where worthwhile discoveries await. "Peril" elicits an emotion of pleasurable fear and so tests and increases our competence in the face of danger: thus the attraction of a skyscraper or a house poised over a vertiginous ravine. "Order and complexity" tease our intuitions for sorting complex information into survival-useful categories.
Gracefully written, with excellent illustrations that complement the text, Origins of Architectural Pleasure will open the reader's eyes to new ways of seeing a home, a workplace, a vacation setting, even a particular table in a restaurant. It also suggests important design considerations for buildings with a more pressing mandate for human appeal, such as hospitals, retirement homes, and hospices.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

More like expanded essays than exhaustive studies, these brief pieces are take radically different approaches to the perception and experience of buildings. Hildebrand (architecture/art history, Univ. of Washington), author of The Wright Space: Pattern and Meaning in Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses (Univ. of Washington, 1991), applies his considerable descriptive skills to examples from the history of architecture before and after the domestic work of Wright. Examining the spatial rhythms of his selections with evident pleasure and helpful clarity, Hildebrand applies the intriguing classifications of refuge and prospectAromantic enclosure vs. classical opennessAto describe interior space. More illustrations would help concretize the original and important observations here. To the degree that Hildebrand's volume explores the materiality of his examples, Leach (architecture, Univ. of Nottingham) focuses on the abstract and philosophical implications of his choices. The editor of Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (Routledge, 1997), Leach discusses the sometimes difficult theories of Walter Benjamin, Jean Baudrillard, and Guy Debord, among others, to make the point that the architectural preference for imagemaking, along with the sensory overload of our society, devalues, or anaesthetizes, our experience of their work. Leach expresses sharp indignation toward theories of post-Modernism; the writings of Robert Venturi, Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour; and the tendency in the style to dissociate form from content, though the offense he takes at a recruiting advertisement by the London firm of T.P. Bennett Associates seems insufficiently explained and remains puzzling. General academic collections will benefit from the addition of Hildebrand's study, while only highly specialized collections will require Leach's as well.APaul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

"Grant Hildebrand gives a vivid and cogent analysis of the ingredients that have made beautiful places throughout history, explaining what in our nature makes us feel that way. The examples and illustrations are striking and provide a compelling argument for his thesis. Important reading for anyone interested in the theory and practice of inventing a new architecture."--Robert J. Frasca, NAIA

"Hildebrand's notions of prospect and refuge, enticement, peril, and complex order open up views to an architectural thinking that is grounded in bio-cultural and ecological understandngs of spatial situations, thus complementing our quest for beauty. In fact, Grant Hildebrand suggests that aesthetic choice itself has motivation in early evolutionary stategies for survival. In order to provide satisfactory domicile for the urban dweller of the third millennium, architecture must continue to acknowledge the hunter, gatherer, and farmer concealed in the genetic coding of human behavior."--Juhani Pallasma, Architect

"This is a book of great originality, importance, and relevance. Grant Hildebrand offers us extraordinary insights regarding the dual and interactive relation of human biology and culture in the formation of our aesthetic responses to the built environment. His book could be very helpful to those architects, planners, and environmentalists seeking to better capture and restore the human biological relation to nature in our various architectural forms."--Stephen Kellert, author of The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Existence

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 197 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520215052
• ISBN-13: 978-0520215054
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #946,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars architectural PLEASURE..., January 30, 2010

By 

Barbara Lien (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Origins of Architectural Pleasure (Hardcover)

I wish the other reviewer had actually had something to say about the quality of the book itself, which is a wonderful revelation about the deep reactions we all have (whether we recognize them or not) to architecture. Highly recommended.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant distilling of the fundamental appeal of great architecture... No matter what the style, August 12, 2011

By 

Diana Mann (CLAYMONT, DE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origins of Architectural Pleasure (Hardcover)

I first heard about this book in my thesis year of architecture school when I attended a public lecture given by Grant Hildebrant at my University. I had been searching for a style of my own that made sense, would be timeless, and would be appreciated by people with wide ranging tastes. In this day and age we as designers and architects have so many options. The walls of convention have been completely obliterated by a rebellion against tradition and all the opportunities available with the continual growth of technology. This is a great freedom, however, it can also make it very difficult to find a true universally appealing style. What is so amazing about Grant Hildebrant's theories is that they can be applied to any structure of any style and can help us to understand why so many buildings, although stylistically very different, seem to appeal to everyone equally. As its name suggests, The Origins of Architectural Pleasure distills great architecture down to simple, fundamental principles that appeal to our deepest instincts. This then provides the framework on which any style can be applied to achieve consistently beautiful buildings of timeless, lasting, universal appeal. In fact, Grant is very humble about his theories and takes very little credit for them aside from organizing and putting in print what he believes we all already know deep down. That being said, the book is not the least bit preachy and is really a discussion of a few very simple principles that will change the way you look at the built environment. Whether you are a seasoned architect or are completely new to the world of architecture, the concepts are simple but make a big impression. Of all the books I've read on architecture, and there have been a lot, this is the one book that impacted the way I design the most. I would recommend it to anyone looking to enrich their view of architecture... In fact, I have recommended it to many of my colleagues, and friends. I even went out and bought extra copies so I wouldn't have to risk losing my own! I would absolutely love to move out west and study under Mr. Hildebrant, he really opened my eyes to see what was right in front of me.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Condition, November 7, 2009

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B. Cabral - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Origins of Architectural Pleasure (Hardcover)

The book was in awesome condition. If used books always come in this condition, I don't think I'll ever buy a new book again.

Thanks.