The Architecture of Community [Hardcover]

Leon Krier (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1597265780 | ISBN-13: 978-1597265782 | Edition: 1

Leon Krier is one of the best-known—and most provocative—architects and urban theoreticians in the world. Until now, however, his ideas have circulated mostly among a professional audience of architects, city planners, and academics. In The Architecture of Community, Krier has reconsidered and expanded writing from his 1998 book Architecture: Choice or Fate. Here he refines and updates his thinking on the making of sustainable, humane, and attractive villages, towns, and cities. The book includes drawings, diagrams, and photographs of his built works, which have not been widely seen until now. 
 

With three new chapters, The Architecture of Community provides a contemporary road map for designing or completing today’s fragmented communities. Illustrated throughout with Krier’s original drawings, The Architecture of Community explains his theories on classical and vernacular urbanism and architecture, while providing practical design guidelines for creating livable towns. 
 

The book contains descriptions and images of the author’s built and unbuilt projects, including the Krier House and Tower in Seaside, Florida, as well as the town of Poundbury in England. Commissioned by the Prince of Wales in 1988, Krier’s design for Poundbury in Dorset has become a reference model for ecological planning and building that can meet contemporary needs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is Mr. Krier's gift to the coming generations-who, otherwise, have been left saddled by us with little more than extravagant debts in every way you could imagine.  They are going to have to inhabit what remains of this planet, along with whatever remains of its resources, when we are gone, and Mr. Krier's heroic, often lonely labors, have produced this indispensable beacon of principle and methodology to light their way home.”

(James Howard Kunstler from the book's afterword)

 “This is the compendium of common sense that has flowed from Leo's pen for over forty years. From first to last, none of it has aged; and none of it will age. It is the one indispensable book on urbanism.”

(Andres Duany co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism)

“Long the inspiration of new urbanists, Léon Krier's work, now comprehensively gathered in this book, is still the best guide for designing buildings and communities.”

(Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism)

 "Leon Krier's The Architecture of Community is a primer on the fundamentals of the language of architecture and urbanism...Krier's childlike drawings, distilled captions and hornbook like aphorisms make this the perfect textbook with which to begin reclaiming our lost literacy."

(Traditional Building)

"One of the most influential architects and urban theoreticians of the modern age, Krier has a clear idea of what's wrong with many of our urban development patterns -- and he has a similarly clear idea about how those problems can be avoided in the future. His book is a collection of suggestions and proposals that make up a general theory for how to create traditional cities, towns and communities that are attractive, livable, and (hopefully) truly loved."

(Planetizen)

"This book provides detailed drawings and images to illustrate the author's theories on classical urbanism and architecture, while providing practical guidelines for creating attractive, livable towns.  The book also outlines a diagnosis and a cure, a critique and a project, and presents a common-sense approach to urban planning."

(Abstracts of Public Administration)

“More than ever Krier has every right to claim our attention. We need him, in fact, as never before. He presents us with the lessons, if we would but take them, that come out of rediscovery. He celebrates the values that are knowable.”

(Robert A.M. Stern from the book's foreword)

About the Author

Born in 1946, Leon Krier is one of the most influential architects teaching and writing today. He has taught architecture and urbanism at the Royal College of Arts in London, and in the United States at Princeton University, Yale University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Virginia. He has worked extensively in Europe and North America and is currently consulting on projects in Guatemala, Romania, England, Belgium, Italy, France, and the United States. In 2003, he received the inaugural Richard Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597265780
• ISBN-13: 978-1597265782
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.5 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Timeless Way of Rebuilding May 14, 2009

By J. M. Tomlin

Format:Hardcover

If your faith is in Modern architecture, then you will find much to disagree with in this book. But if your faith is in traditional vernacular and Classical architecture, you will find a breath of fresh air in this open plea for sanity!

In between a thoughtful Foreword by Robert A. M. Stern, and a blistering Last Word by James Howard Kunstler, Krier makes some very bold statements and unpopular judgments against Modernism. Yet he does so with the grandfatherly wisdom of a well-seasoned and well-traveled Architect and Planner. He makes a compelling case for the ultimate sustainability of Classical and vernacular design, in its timeless beauty and elegant purposefulness, which comes as much from a rigorous disciplined understanding of its principles as it does from a deep heartfelt concern for the wellness and wholeness of humanity. For those who intend to endure and prosper beyond the end of peak oil and the bankruptcy of Modernism, Krier's book will provide practical instruction in the time-tested yet elegantly simple solutions to rebuilding our environment and restoring our souls to the sublime qualities of harmony with nature and community with each other that the ancients enjoyed.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review by Philip Langdon: The Architecture of Community June 19, 2009

By New Urban News Publications

Format:Hardcover

If you've never read Léon Krier, you've missed a tremendous pleasure. Krier, the Luxembourg-born architect who has sometimes been called the intellectual godfather of New Urbanism, may be the world's funniest living architectural theorist. He can be delightfully droll while making deadly serious points. For years his clever cartoons, especially, have alerted audiences to the ludicrousness of many contemporary architectural fashions.

Several years ago, Washington, DC, architect Dhiru Thadani realized that Krier's writings needed to be brought together, expanded or updated in some instances, and published as a single book. The joyful result is The Architecture of Community, a profusely illustrated volume that lays out Krier's thoughts on how buildings and communities should be designed and constructed.

I'm sure many critics regard Krier as an anachronism. He argues that there's no need for buildings to be more than a few stories high. He sees no point in pursuing the zeitgeist. The proper role of architecture, in Krier's view, is to uphold and strengthen the character of particular places, not chase after that modernist will o' the wisp, the "spirit of the age."

Born in 1946, Krier came by his love of tradition naturally. "I grew up in an environment that, despite two recent world wars, was unblemished by modernist architecture and planning," Krier remembers. "Until the mid-1960s, Luxembourg was a miracle of traditional architecture, a small capital city of 70,000 souls, embedded in manicured agricultural and horticultural landscapes and lofty beach [beech] forests. ...... My father's tailoring workshop occupied the ground floor of the townhouse, and for my primary education I hopped across the street when hearing the school bells chime from our garden."

"My mother's piano playing filled the house, and during holidays my parents took us four children to Switzerland, France, and Italy to visit places of beauty." But he came upon modernist visions in books by Le Corbusier, Giedion, and Gropius. "The formidable promise expressed there had swollen my sails," he says. Thus, in the summer of 1963, he took his parents to see Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse in Marseille. When, after enjoying beautifully intact old towns and landscapes nearby, the family encountered the "tawdry reality" of Corbu's creation, "we were all speechless with shock," Krier recalls. "Though I didn't realize it immediately, my life's orientation became defined by that visit."

In these pages Krier presents a philosophy of civilized and soul-nurturing settings -- through short, vivid sections of text, pithy cartoons, and lovely drawings. Occasional misspellings and foreign words and sometimes less than fully explained photos of his buildings only accentuate the sense that here is a product of genius.

From his close study of European settlements, Krier has concluded that communities can appropriately be organized through either of two geometric systems -- organic, irregular pattern-making, which Krier calls "vernacular networking," or artificially imposed straight lines, which Krier calls "classical networking." He sees organic planning as more practical and beneficial than is generally recognized. In Poundbury, a demonstration project for Prince Charles in southwest England, there are extremely irregular streets, which form convivial urban spaces and "induce spontaneously civilized behavior from car drivers -- without the help of ubiquitous traffic gadgetry," he points out.

Krier repeatedly returns to what he sees as the need for tradition -- in architecture, materials, town-building, and other realms. "Today," he says, "one truth is evident: without traditional landscapes, cities, and values our environment would be a nightmare on a global scale."

Modernists often complain about resistance from authorities or from a stodgy populace. "Modernity that augments daily comforts finds broad acceptance," Krier shoots back, citing the popularity of modern vehicles and machines. He rejects the idea that most people lack aesthetic appreciation. On the contrary, according to Krier, "humanity's aesthetic sense is as natural and universal a gift as the capacities of speech, motion, and reproduction."

He doesn't deny that many traditional-style buildings from recent decades have "the aura of the fake, the ersatz, the surrogate." He blames this failing at least partly on synthetic construction materials, and asserts that the situation is destined to improve, because those substances -- including plate glass, glues, nails, and steel-reinforced concretes -- depend on fossil fuels, which will in time become too expensive, leading us back to using "authentic" materials. If he's right, we're in for a wrenching transition.
Much as I admire Krier, I have never understood how a world rapidly heading toward a population of 7 billion can do without high-rises or fit a massive contemporary workforce into neighborhood-scale buildings. Nor do I see most Americans being eager to live in the tight little villages that Europe historically produced. To me, Krier's book is not entirely persuasive. But he gets many things right, and if our energy-profligate economy implodes, Krier's vision will look extraordinarily prescient.

Philip Langdon is the Senior Editor at New Urban News Publications Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loud and clear! August 13, 2009

By Pierre Gauthier

Format:Hardcover

Léon Krier's stimulating and entertaining book, though maybe a tad repetitive, is very highly recommended and doubtlessly destined to become a classic.

In a series of short texts, the author adamantly communicates his neo-traditional point of view on urban development, explaining for instance the essential difference between modernity and modernism or how the Washington Mall should be urbanized and densified.

The book is vibrantly enlivened with his own plans and intricate drawings as well as abundant, witty and sometimes provocative cartoon-like sketches.

Not only is this great mind of urban planning a distinguished academic but he also designed various projects coherent with his principles, including the town of Poundbury on the Prince of Wales' estates.

Congruent with this perhaps, he is very confident in the clout of planners and does not seem very concerned with economic realities, even when they would tend to confirm his own positions. In that sense, the reader may find an apt complement in Christopher Leinberger's down-to-earth work: «The Option of Urbanism».

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Clearing a Path July 19, 2009

By R. Bono

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Here's one architect and urban planner who has an appreciation of all that came before. Without a grounding in the history of traditional community building, how can designers claim professional expertise? Today...apart from practitioners like Leon Krier and Piercarlo Bontempi...the design of modern urban places has lost its way.

The book is filled with fundamental insight in designing good buildings and wonderful urban places. There is direct reference here to the extremism and excess of modern design...and an understanding that skyscraper overbuilding results in the ultimately unsatisfying mega-city/suburban sprawl syndrome. In all his work, Krier displays a classical sense of restraint and humility, that leads us away from the mere copying of good architecture and townscapes, to the underlying principles that have created excellent places. It's to these principles...and not the false modernist tag of "pastiche"...to which Krier points the reader.

The book is well illustrated with hand drawings, and photographs of built projects, culminating in the town extension of Dorchester, England...Poundbury. The town context, Krier understands, is the culmination and home of good architecture. It is in town design that socially important buildings find their proper monumental expression, and the context of all, the venacular streetscape, is established and maintained.

And it is in Poundbury...with its 40% "social housing"...that Krier has created a model for a truly believable and sustainable future. And how do we know this? By listening to the modernist brickbats? We can know this, as the author states, by asking the people who live there.