Customer Reviews

The Prodigious Builders

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Frankly, I'm a bit shocked that there aren't any reviews for this book, and if it has anything to do with the scarce availability of Rudofsky's semi-seminal work, all the worse.

This book needs to be read, not because the text is brilliant -- I don't think it is -- but Rudofsky writes about topics here that rarely are written about elsewhere. Traditional architecture, vernacular architecture, community architecture, and even non-human architecture. An invaluable resource.

Along with Architecture without Architects, Bernard Rudofsky has provided us with a visually rich, though hardly elegant view of indigenous building ideas that show how crucial an understanding of the demands of place are in home and building design. I have treasured these books for decades, and find in them ways to move forward into the demands of global warming and the need for regional building styles to develop. And they're just plain fascinating.