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Modern Architecture Since 1900 William J R Curtis

Modern Architecture Since 1900 By William J R Curtis

Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William J R Curtis


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Summary

A penetrating analysis of the modern architectural tradition and its origins.

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Modern Architecture Since 1900 Summary

Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William J R Curtis

Since its first publication in 1982, Modern Architecture Since 1900 has become established as a contemporary classic. Worldwide in scope, it combines a clear historical outline with masterly analysis and interpretation. Technical, economic, social and intellectual developments are brought together in a comprehensive narrative which provides a setting for the detailed examination of buildings. Throughout the book the author's focus is on the individual architect, and on the qualities that give outstanding buildings their lasting value.

For the third edition the text has been radically revised and expanded, incorporating much new material and a fresh appreciation of regional identity and variety. Almost every chapter has been expanded and updated, and seven chapters are entirely new, including the whole of Part Four, which covers recent world architecture. Described by James Ackerman of Harvard University as 'immeasurably the finest work covering this field in existence', this book presents a penetrating analysis of the modern tradition and its origins, and traces the creative interaction between old and new that has generated such an astonishing richness of architectural forms throughout the century.

Modern Architecture Since 1900 Reviews

'A beautiful book, with a readable type and a host of superb illustrations, many of which are in colour. It would be no hyperbole to give the highest praise to those responsible for the design and layout of the volume.' (Environments by Design)

'A superb text for any course on modern architecture...can provide the student of architecture with the means to accomplish his most arduous task: to see.' (Skyline)
'As close to a definitive guide to the architecture of our century as we yet have.' (The Sunday Times)

'Well established as the standard work on twentieth-century architecture, the new edition of this book has a fresh appreciation of the range and complexity of modern architecture...This will become an essential textbook.' (Jury of the American Institute of Architects)
'The book is excellent value.' (Architects' Journal)

'A book of this length and depth is an unimaginable achievement...each chapter opens with an excellent essay laying out the main theoretical and historical issues. Despite his immense knowledge he does not talk down to his audience; instead his enthusiasm is infectious...It is delightful to see social housing alongside public and private buildings and to see nationalist and post-war architecture reviewed...it is definitely worth having. Colour pictures are numerous and there are plenty you have not seen before.' (Building Design)
'This should be a standard volume in all architecture collections.' (Library Journal)

'Comprehensive, up-to-date and very readable.' (Sunday Telegraph)

'Probably the most complete handbook now available, will find its way on to the required reading list for all students of architecture and the history of art.' (Archis)
'The clearest and most authentic survey to appear in English. After the tortuous style-filled books of the last 20 or so years, which have pompously posed as significant reading, Curtis's perspective reads as a brief of fresh air. Essential reading, indeed breath-taking reading for professionals, students, and intelligent lay-persons. I could not put it down...Neither should you!' (Architecture New Zealand)

'Now established as the standard work on 20th-century architecture.' (Reference & Research Book News)

About William J R Curtis

William Curtis has won worldwide acclaim for his architectural writing. His books include Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms and Denys Lasdun, both published by Phaidon.

Table of Contents

Part 1 The formative strands of Modern architecture: the idea of a Modern architecture in the 19th century; industrialization and the city - the skyscraper as type and symbol; the search for new forms and the problem of ornament; rationalism, the engineering tradition, and reinforced concrete; arts and crafts ideals in Britain and the USA; responses to mechanization - the Deutscher Werkbund and futurism; the architectural system of Frank Lloyd Wright; national romanticism and classical transformations; cubism and new conceptions of space. Part 2 The crystallization of Modern architecture between the wars: Le Corbusier's quest for ideal form; Walter Gropius, German expressionism, and the Bauhaus; architecture and revolution in Russia; skyscraper and suburb - the USA between the wars; the ideal community - alternatives to the industrial city; the international style, the individual talent, and the myth of functionalism; the image and idea of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye at Poissy; the continuity of older traditions; nature and the machine - Mies van der Rohe, Wright and Le Corbusier in the 1930s; totalitarian critiques of the Modern movement; the spread of modern architecture to Britain and Finland; universal models, national inflections and regional accents. Part 3 Transformation and dissemination after 1940: modern architecture in the USA - immigration and consolidation; form and meaning in the late works of Le Corbusier; the Unite d'Habitation at Marseilles as a collective housing prototype; Alvar Aalto and Scandinavian developments; disjunctions and continuities in the Europe of the 1950s; the process of absorption - Latin America, Australia, Japan; Louis I. Kahn and the challenge of monumentality; architecture and anti-architecture in Britain; crises and critiques in the 1960s; modernity and tradition in the Third World; architectural types and urban fragments - new directions in the 1970s. Part 4 Changing ideals in the late 20th century: modern architecture and the historical sense; world cultures and local identities; traditions of the modern; towards architecture, beyond style.

Additional information

CIN0714835242G
9780714835242
0714835242
Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William J R Curtis
Used - Good
Hardback
Phaidon Press Ltd
19960627
736
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Modern Architecture Since 1900