Customer Reviews

Why Architecture Matters (Why X Matters Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Opening a book on architecture tends to put me a bit on edge, since I've come to expect that the author, whoever he may be, is going to be highly opinionated and is going to make a lot of pronouncements that seem arbitrary and (worse) that differ from my own arbitrary opinions. This book was a pleasant surprise. Goldberger doesn't spend a lot of time pronouncing certain examples of architecture as appealing or appalling. Instead, he gives a good overview of what some of the issues are and how various architects handle them: "challenge" versus "comfort", for example, to take what's perhaps his best chapter. There are good black-and-white illustrations in the text, and my only quibble is that there could have been more of them provided (fortunately, it's not hard to find images on the internet). Highly readable and accessible.

To our joy, 3 books are recently released by first-rate architectural critics.
One is the posthumous work of Herbert Muschamp and the rest two are works of
Paul Goldberger. Critic of New Yorker, his writings flow with delicious flavor.

Born in NJ, studied at Yale, and practiced in NY, Goldberger's writings grasp what is
best of Architecture with examples mostly from the US.
Books like this typically pays particular attention to examples of great
masters of Europe or cities like Paris, Rome, or London.
Goldberger's writings are valuable, at least to foreign audience,
because subject matter is mostly American.

The book is divided into thematic sections. Each section provides ample illustrations.
What makes the reading enjoyable is the fact that Goldberger's writing does not only stick
to examples of now, but rather, navigates also through past, kindly explaining to the
readers why certain building in the past is as much valuable as, if not more, excellent
buildings of now.

For example, he compares National Gallery West to East, outlining why John Pope's design
(though style-wise it was criticized severely by Modernists at the time of erection)
is better than IM Pei's. Claims like this could be mind-bothering, depending on which school
of thought an audience is in. As a museum, Paul thinks west wing was much more exhibition-friendly
than Pei's. He explains why good buildings outlive criticism of the day and outlast
regardless of their style application.

Explanation on Lincoln Memorial is another example. Stylistically speaking it's a Greek
building, but Goldberger's reading of it turns it not so pseudo historical replica.
He argues Henry Bacon was talented enough to make it a truly brilliant and
as much a modern building as any other Modern masterpiece.

Buildings of Gilded Age receive new edge, Architects 19 century gets
new spotlight, and the arc of styles (or life of a building) are re-viewed
with insight and sharpness. His writings on Yale campus and his child
neighborhood are touching. His clips from movies and novels add freshness.

Goldberger also tries to help the reader to see the building not as an individual object,
but to view it in the context of visible, and sometimes invisible, setting. He helps
us to see sometimes physical and cultural, and sometimes political and financial forces
that shaped the building. Yet the joy of his writing is that it is ultimately geared towards
experiential dimension of a space than theoretical.

The joy of experiencing real world, hence he argues, lies in the "serendipity"
and the "propinquity" of real stuff felt through real contact in cities and buildings.
Hence, even in the cyber space world with virtual realities, the importance of matter
and physical contact remains vital importance for people.

The book was very useful to me as an artist in terms of the power of context and the abstract meanings that can exist in art and music as well as architecture. Goldberg's writing is smooth as silk and very conversational.

I had worked with Architects for years on projects and wish I had been schooled on their impact much earlier. Very unbiased and easily understood for the layman.

This book abundantly quotes varied sources ranging from Vitruvius to Allan de Botton, in fact to a point where it appears akin to namedropping. Similarly, all buildings to be expected are indeed mentioned: Falling Waters, the Louvre, Chartres Cathedral, Sant'Ivo, etc. However, little detail is provided to the reader who does not know them firsthand and small new insight is given to those who do. Also, time seems to have stopped a decade ago since the notions of sustainable development or green architecture are nowhere mentioned.

The author is overly balanced and prudent. He appears to be purposely inclusive and hardly takes a clear stance on any issue. He claims for instance to agree with Robert Venturi's positions . . . and with Le Corbusier's. Despite the fact that he has devoted his professional life to the appreciation of architecture, the overall tone is strangely aloof and dispassionate.

Also, potential readers should not be fooled by the attractive photograph of the Chrysler Building on the cover page. In fact, this book's lay-out is archaic and illustrations are limited to tiny low-resolution black and white photographs interspersed here and there. The thick, «quality» paper makes the pages of slightly varying size annoying to turn.

Unfortunately, this superficial book will not necessarily be of particular interest to persons unfamiliar with architecture and will not be vastly informative or stimulating to those familiar with the topic.

prose poetry that matches the poetry with which the author describes different architectual structures. am particularly interested in the different architectural forms found in the Americas and the bearing that architectural structures have on impoverished neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side of New York City.