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Product Details
Paperback: 157 pages
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 1987)
Originally published in 1964, concurrent with the exhibition Architecture Without Architects shown at MOMA, this slim volume of text and photographs radiates heat and light when reviewed almost forty years later. In fact, Rudofsky's introductory essay is so fresh today it is almost inconceivable it was written the better part of four decades ago! Offering a scathing attack on modern approaches to the landscape and to problems of living more generally in a time of rampant population growth, Rudofsky shrewdly pointed to the fact that "part of our troubles results from the tendency to ascribe to architects-or, for that matter, to all specialists-excessive insight into problems of living when, in truth, most of them are concerned with problems of business and prestige." But what transpires when the focus can be maintained on functionality, efficiency, ease of use, and a design aesthetic that remains humbly in tune with and loyal to the mood and visual imperative of the land under development? To answer these crucial questions Rudofsky takes us back a few thousands of years to the origins of architectural strivings (even preceding man's earliest efforts) and the material results thereof. The essential point Rudofsky cares to make in these pages is that "vernacular architecture does not go through fashion cycles. It is nearly immutable, indeed, unimprovable, since it serves its purpose to perfection." Rooted in a practical, harmonious relationship with its setting, 'primitive' architecture exemplifies the art of living well through its consistent use of frugality in construction, cleanliness in line and detail, and a general respect for "creation.Read more ›
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
This is a wonderful book. Nearly every page introduces me to something new, and thus broadens my conception of what it means to be a human being. Flipping through it at random reveals photos of gigantic Syrian water wheels, Dogon granaries, Spanish arcades, desert fortresses in Morocco, Italian hill towns, and hollowed-out baobab trees used as homes. The book is far more than a mere collection of curiosities, though: it is a challenge to our narrow conceptions of what makes a building or a city "legitimate." The book goes on to challenge us on even more fundamental levels: it radically expands one's exposure to alternate forms of living/urbanism/social networks, and exposure to the different social forms of the past always causes me to think heavily upon the ways in which the ones of our own time might be deficient (The incredible diversity of building styles depicted in this book are jeopardized and in some cases destroyed by the rise of tourism and the global marketplace; a trend that has already done irreperable damage to some of these cultures at the time the text was written.) A slim but important book, a celebration of human diversity, and a call for increased attention towards both our own lifestyles and the ones we endanger.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
A delicious document that proves that architecture has always been made by and for the people. This book almost always ilustrated by very sensuous photographs aproaches the subject that although architecture is suposed to respond objectively to problems of the «inhabitance» doesn't have to abdicate of any dramatic expression, and in fact can be enhanced that pragmatism!
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful
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This item: Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture
