The Edifice Complex; A Provocative New Book
Fitzpatrick-Here's one of those posts where I discuss things to do with the theory and sociological impact of architecture. So if you're reading for DIY info, skip along.
My mother gave me a subscription to dwell magazine (thanks, Mom!). No, I didn't misspell the title; it's lowercase in that semi-pretentious way you see a lot of things done in the upper eschelons of architecture. That semi-pretentiousness is one of the reasons I didn't subscribe when the mag came out a few years back. But I'm glad to have it now and it's chock full of thoughtful, and critical, writing on architecture and design.
In the February/March issue, Iwas struck by an interview with architectural critic, Deyan Sudjic, on his new book, The Edifice Complex. In it, he examines the relationship between client and architect, and the impact of this relationship on culture. This is interesting precisely because there is so little of it; architecture and design journalism being for most intents and purposes a promotional tool of the industry. Unfortunatley, I'm behind on posting, and the April issue is already up at dwell, www.dwellmag.com, so I cant' link to it. But it's worth a gander at the book on Amazon or at your local bookseller, and certainly worth a subscription to dwell.
In the dwell article (Feb/March, page 148), Sudjic explains:
The book isn't meant as a hatchet job on architects. I just wanted to explain the circumstances that architects operate in . If you listen to architects, the client appears as an idea, an abstraction; but the unsanitized reality is dirtier. The truth is that clients are influenced by motives like wanting to elevate themseves and put down other people, while architects will just do anything to be able to build. It's a two-way relationship in which both sides use and abuse each other. With someone like Philip Johnson, you can read the work as a way of satirizing the clients he flattered to their faces and abused behind their backs.
And this applies doubly for interior designers.
Provocative, and the book contains no glossy photos to distract from the discussion. Sudjic also mentions Tom Wolfe's From Bauhaus to Our House (which is in my own library and which I've mentioned in this blog before), as one of the rare books on the architect/client relationship and it's impact on society. That's a short and fun read for anyone wishing literacy in modern culture.
My mother gave me a subscription to dwell magazine (thanks, Mom!). No, I didn't misspell the title; it's lowercase in that semi-pretentious way you see a lot of things done in the upper eschelons of architecture. That semi-pretentiousness is one of the reasons I didn't subscribe when the mag came out a few years back. But I'm glad to have it now and it's chock full of thoughtful, and critical, writing on architecture and design.
In the February/March issue, Iwas struck by an interview with architectural critic, Deyan Sudjic, on his new book, The Edifice Complex. In it, he examines the relationship between client and architect, and the impact of this relationship on culture. This is interesting precisely because there is so little of it; architecture and design journalism being for most intents and purposes a promotional tool of the industry. Unfortunatley, I'm behind on posting, and the April issue is already up at dwell, www.dwellmag.com, so I cant' link to it. But it's worth a gander at the book on Amazon or at your local bookseller, and certainly worth a subscription to dwell.
In the dwell article (Feb/March, page 148), Sudjic explains:
The book isn't meant as a hatchet job on architects. I just wanted to explain the circumstances that architects operate in . If you listen to architects, the client appears as an idea, an abstraction; but the unsanitized reality is dirtier. The truth is that clients are influenced by motives like wanting to elevate themseves and put down other people, while architects will just do anything to be able to build. It's a two-way relationship in which both sides use and abuse each other. With someone like Philip Johnson, you can read the work as a way of satirizing the clients he flattered to their faces and abused behind their backs.
And this applies doubly for interior designers.
Provocative, and the book contains no glossy photos to distract from the discussion. Sudjic also mentions Tom Wolfe's From Bauhaus to Our House (which is in my own library and which I've mentioned in this blog before), as one of the rare books on the architect/client relationship and it's impact on society. That's a short and fun read for anyone wishing literacy in modern culture.
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