What Is Architecture? An Essay on Landscapes, Buildings, and Machines (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

British architect and critic Paul Shepheard is a fresh new voice in current postmodern debates about the history and meaning of architecture. In this wonderfully unorthodox quasi novelistic essay, complete with characters and dialogue (but no plot), Shepheard draws a boundary around the subject of architecture, describing its place in art and technology, its place in history, and its place in our lives now. At a time when it is fashionable to say that architecture is everything -- from philosophy to science to art to theory -- Shepheard boldly and irreverently sets limits to the subject, so that we may talk about architecture for what it is. He takes strong positions, names the causes of the problems, and tells us how bad things are and how they can get better. Along the way he marshals some unlikely but plausible witnesses who testify about the current state of architecture. Instead of the usual claims or complaints by the usual suspects, these observations are of an altogether different order. Constructed as a series of fables, many of them politically incorrect, What is Architecture? is a refreshing meditation on the options, hopes, possibilities, and failures of shelter in society.

About the Author

Paul Shepheard has practiced architecture for twenty years, has taught it for eighteen, and has been writing about it for three. He lives and works in London, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262691663
• ISBN-13: 978-0262691666
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,375,466 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A regular bloke chatting about architecture, May 25, 2001

By	Sagan Lazar "Sagan Lazar" (Mango Island) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I give it four stars although if judged strictly by its content alone, it's worth maybe three and a half. But given the sheer volume of intolerable turgidity, confusion and pretentiousness in architectural writing out there, this book is like a breath of fresh air in its regular-bloke-rambling style of writing. The author is British and there is some Brit slang as well as references to British examples and geography. This may hinder understanding somewhat if one is not familiar with places and life in the UK. The content does ramble a bit, and the intensity of focus is not quite there. Topics raised are never quite pursued to the depth the author seems to be capable of. Nonetheles, the author does everyone in the field of architecture a favor by reminding one that architecture is not about buildings alone, but about the structuring of three things, all strangely intangible and formless: landscapes, buildings, machines. Desires, really, rather than things. He cites Vitruvius as evidence that that's the way architecture was conceived from the beginning. The book is a teaser of sorts, and does have moments of real poetic insights about the subject matter. The book has spurred me to think about certain things that the author himself does not mention. For example, the consequence of Vitruvius's definiton of machine as 'cyclice kinesis', circular motion. Chatty, yes, but still not really for the layman. Which is just as well, since only architects read architecture books. Very British in the framing of the issue and very AA in presentation. On the whole, the book reads like a document of the author's speculations about things and questions concerning that bloody thing called architecture. I just wonder if he should not have titled the book, What WAS Architecture? Well, do ya now?!Roight,then. Cheers, mate!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is Architecture, July 15, 2000

By A Customer

An absolutely brilliant book. Highly recommended for those who see architecture as hobbby as well as those who have been in the profession for years. Truly refreshing and innovative.