So I'm planning to read stuff this summer...does anyone have any good recommendations?
Also, I kinda wanna find out more on Rem Koolhaas...but i just do not know what is the better book that will capture his design philosophy and proecesses well...s,m,l,xl or delirious new york?
personally i think the rem modus is best expressed in delirious new york, where the craziest shit is actually the product of the most rational capitalism - thats really the line of all oma and oma spawn work. i could see why one might not like rem, but it all has a solid architectural, design, and historical foundation. rem's good, in short.
smlxl is more like a performance. you could almost miss the architecture.
the problem, i think, with oma's body of work is that rem is such a fantastic thinker, writer, teacher, etc. that his architecture will never live up to his ideas. its impossible. nevertheless, i agree you should read both. if youre interested in the dutch avant garde i also recommend mvrdv's KM3 and anything by ben van berkel of unstudio.
on the other side of the spectrum, peter zumthor's thinking architecture talks about the sensual and connecting space and emotion. steven holl's questions of perception and pallasmaa's (sp?) the eyes of this skin also address issues of phenomenology in architecture. its all really interesting stuff that you should also be aware of.
how does rem's architecture not live up to the ideas?
the ideas are the ideas, and the architecture is the architecture.
he's fairly consistent about that.
while i like zumps arch the books put me to szzzzleeeep.
I can't really get what it is about s,m,l,xl. I find it too vague. Just noticed that one page of Bruce Mau's Life style contents more information for me. I think I should try harder)
I think that Rem has actually managed to transform architecture more radically than anyone since Le Corbusier or Mies—in both subtle and obvious ways. This is true both of his writing and of his architecture.
His influence on our profession is HUGE.
He changed the way we think about program (see the Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Karlsruhe mediatheque, the Zeebrugge port station.)
He changed the way we think about circulation (see his proposal for the Jussieu library, the Dutch embassy in Berlin, or the Kunsthal Rotterdam.)
He changed the way we think about materials (see the ad hoc, cheap materials in the Kunsthal Rotterdam, Fukuoka housing or Villa Dall'ava.)
He changed the way we think about scale (see Congrexpo, his masterplans or SMLXL)
No living architect has had as thorough an impact on the practice of architecture. You might think other architects make better buildings (as I do) but I don't think any other architect has had as much influence.
And some of the essays in SMLXL are among the most brilliant things ever written on urbanism and architecture. The Generic City, IMHO, is a work of genius.
Delirious New York and SMLXL seem to disguise a lot of simple ideas in fancy rhetoric. Many of the ideas have been expressed by other writers previous to his books. If you would like to expand your knowledge of architecture I would read GREAT BOOKS that are seemingly outside the realm of architecture. Anything from anthropology to philosophy provide applications to architecture.
Most architects are not good writers but there are a few good ones. In complexity and contradiction in architecture Venturi has a well structured argument that is limited to form. Here are a few random book recommendations:
Being and Time by Martin Heidegger
The Post Modern Condition by Lyotard
Modernity at Large by Arjun Appaderai
Ecology of Mind Gregory Bateson
The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin
I wouldn't overlook some of the major works of the past- The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius, The Four Books of Architecture by Palladio, Towards a New Architecture by LeCorbusier, Collage City by Koetter and Rowe. (that's just the tip of Western Arch.)
The reason being is you can see what the theory of the time period was, and how it corresponded in a paradigm shift of thought, and how this is a consistent pattern throughout history. Basically from Koolhas to McDonough to whoever, they all get at the same point in the end of proposing different versions of utopia.
I'd second some of the anthropology and social science books that gtechture recommends. Arjun Appadurai's work is really interesting. You might also look at Marc Augé's work on non-spaces and contemporaneous worlds.
And, while I'm relatively skeptical of some of the more frivolous French philosophy, Michel Foucault's work is completely innovative and rooted in real social conditions and power networks. The recent publications of some of his lectures on Biopolitics and Security are especially pertinent now.
basically, anything i read or pretended to read is for the larger part totally brilliant or absolutely trash or perhaps wishy washy depending on whether i tell you so or not. but certainly anything i read or pretended to read is for the larger part...etc
May 25, 09 2:19 pm ·
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Arch Readings? and s,m,l,xl or delirious new york?
So I'm planning to read stuff this summer...does anyone have any good recommendations?
Also, I kinda wanna find out more on Rem Koolhaas...but i just do not know what is the better book that will capture his design philosophy and proecesses well...s,m,l,xl or delirious new york?
and are these books good?
I'd like to add on...I'm in architecture school (third year) and any good books that would get a student like me on the edge...is good FTW!
read both... Rem is a good thinker and writer. His architecture sucks.
personally i think the rem modus is best expressed in delirious new york, where the craziest shit is actually the product of the most rational capitalism - thats really the line of all oma and oma spawn work. i could see why one might not like rem, but it all has a solid architectural, design, and historical foundation. rem's good, in short.
smlxl is more like a performance. you could almost miss the architecture.
the problem, i think, with oma's body of work is that rem is such a fantastic thinker, writer, teacher, etc. that his architecture will never live up to his ideas. its impossible. nevertheless, i agree you should read both. if youre interested in the dutch avant garde i also recommend mvrdv's KM3 and anything by ben van berkel of unstudio.
on the other side of the spectrum, peter zumthor's thinking architecture talks about the sensual and connecting space and emotion. steven holl's questions of perception and pallasmaa's (sp?) the eyes of this skin also address issues of phenomenology in architecture. its all really interesting stuff that you should also be aware of.
Jane Austen has finally redeemed herself with a new book:
http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242749278&sr=8-1
how does rem's architecture not live up to the ideas?
the ideas are the ideas, and the architecture is the architecture.
he's fairly consistent about that.
while i like zumps arch the books put me to szzzzleeeep.
my 2 cents.
i like Content. it's a mix of both thinking and architecture.
I second the Jane Austin has gone to the Zombies book. Read Sidney Robinson's tome on the Picturesque. It's not trendy but it's really good!!!!
I can't really get what it is about s,m,l,xl. I find it too vague. Just noticed that one page of Bruce Mau's Life style contents more information for me. I think I should try harder)
I think that Rem has actually managed to transform architecture more radically than anyone since Le Corbusier or Mies—in both subtle and obvious ways. This is true both of his writing and of his architecture.
His influence on our profession is HUGE.
He changed the way we think about program (see the Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Karlsruhe mediatheque, the Zeebrugge port station.)
He changed the way we think about circulation (see his proposal for the Jussieu library, the Dutch embassy in Berlin, or the Kunsthal Rotterdam.)
He changed the way we think about materials (see the ad hoc, cheap materials in the Kunsthal Rotterdam, Fukuoka housing or Villa Dall'ava.)
He changed the way we think about scale (see Congrexpo, his masterplans or SMLXL)
No living architect has had as thorough an impact on the practice of architecture. You might think other architects make better buildings (as I do) but I don't think any other architect has had as much influence.
And some of the essays in SMLXL are among the most brilliant things ever written on urbanism and architecture. The Generic City, IMHO, is a work of genius.
Delirious New York and SMLXL seem to disguise a lot of simple ideas in fancy rhetoric. Many of the ideas have been expressed by other writers previous to his books. If you would like to expand your knowledge of architecture I would read GREAT BOOKS that are seemingly outside the realm of architecture. Anything from anthropology to philosophy provide applications to architecture.
Most architects are not good writers but there are a few good ones. In complexity and contradiction in architecture Venturi has a well structured argument that is limited to form. Here are a few random book recommendations:
Being and Time by Martin Heidegger
The Post Modern Condition by Lyotard
Modernity at Large by Arjun Appaderai
Ecology of Mind Gregory Bateson
The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin
Thanks guys for the input...lol i did vow that for every arch book i touch, i also touch upon a non architecture book or two...for my sanity..hehe
Do you guys know if there are other emerging architect figures in our time besides Rem Koolhaas?
No, there is only rem.
LOL...really? ok
Not even Steven Holl, or William McDonough with Cradle-To-Cradle, or Kieren/Timberlake on Refabricating Architecture?
I wouldn't overlook some of the major works of the past- The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius, The Four Books of Architecture by Palladio, Towards a New Architecture by LeCorbusier, Collage City by Koetter and Rowe. (that's just the tip of Western Arch.)
The reason being is you can see what the theory of the time period was, and how it corresponded in a paradigm shift of thought, and how this is a consistent pattern throughout history. Basically from Koolhas to McDonough to whoever, they all get at the same point in the end of proposing different versions of utopia.
Aldo Rossi Achitecture of the City
I'd second some of the anthropology and social science books that gtechture recommends. Arjun Appadurai's work is really interesting. You might also look at Marc Augé's work on non-spaces and contemporaneous worlds.
And, while I'm relatively skeptical of some of the more frivolous French philosophy, Michel Foucault's work is completely innovative and rooted in real social conditions and power networks. The recent publications of some of his lectures on Biopolitics and Security are especially pertinent now.
tschumi + eisenman. read eisenman's early works
basically, anything i read or pretended to read is for the larger part totally brilliant or absolutely trash or perhaps wishy washy depending on whether i tell you so or not. but certainly anything i read or pretended to read is for the larger part...etc
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