by Jane Burry and Mark Burry. Thames and Hudson, 2010, 272 pages, $55 Technological advances have transformed mathematics from a loyal handmaiden to architects to a muse, largely because of the advent of accelerated desktop computing and advanced design software. Sophisticated software frees today’s architects from endless calculations, making complex forms like Mobius strips and water bubbles almost as easily achievable as conventional rectilinear forms—a phenomenon that was unimaginable a decade ago. This book—about the increased role of mathematics as a driving force in design—by husband and wife Jane and Mark Burry, is thoughtful, engaging, and richly-illustrated. Most of their
When a small project grows, you may face compensatory and consequential damages. Like poison ivy on a job site in the summer, an architect’s legal obligations to the owner can sometimes grow overnight. This phenomenon is well known as “scope-creep” to us lawyers who solve problems for design professionals. A classic example is the kitchen/bathroom renovation that grows and grows when the owner decides he or she wants to do a gut renovation of the entire house with you running the show. What a boost to the ego, (and one’s bank account). But wait. You probably documented your scope of
Three new books by thoughtful architect-urbanists, usefully read together, explore the current state of urban design. Each author investigates historic and current trends in the evolution of specific American locations, and posits approaches for responding to local character and shaping future growth. Click the image above for details about each book mentioned in this review. Lars Lerup left his native Sweden to come to America in 1966, and has lived in Houston for over 20 years, serving as dean at the Rice School of Architecture from 1993 to 2009. In One Million Acres and No Zoning, he notes the implications
Edited by Ricky Burdett and Devan Sudjic. London: Phaidon Press, 2011, 432 pages, $69. Seldom does a book make me actively angry, but Living in the Endless City did. When it arrived with the heft and size of a concrete block, I thought it was an architectural sample. Actually, it is a collection of essays by 38 contributors from conferences on world cities held by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank‘s Alfred Herrhausen Society. The book focuses on Mumbai, Sao Paolo and Istanbul. As such, it is a companion piece to an earlier effort published by the same sponsors called The
By James S. Russell, Island Press, 312 pages, 2011, $35 James Russell argues in this well-researched and persuasive book that cities will need to become agile: to adapt to the climate changes already in progress and to reduce the potential for a global environmental catastrophe as the world races towards a population of more than 10 billion. Transitioning to energy-efficient buildings is one form of agility open to all cities. Adopting planning measures that preserve more of the natural environment, supported by diverse forms of transportation and not just highways, is another strategy within the control of state and local
An island nation where the cool and the ordinary flourish together. Flexibility has long been a guiding principle of Japanese architecture. Consider Japan’s ongoing use of sliding doors or screens to shape fluid interiorspace. These four very different books about Japanese architecture since the 1980s reveal new twists in that heritage of design, many brought about by surprising fusions of vernacular materials and new technology. All of them balance accounts of quintessential Japanese architectural developments—a house with a Shintoshrine at its heart, for example—with an array of ideas applicable globally. Click the image above for details about each book mentioned
By Jonathan Coulson, Paul Roberts, and Isabelle Taylor. Routledge, 2010, 264 pages, $125 This ambitious history chronicles campus design from the founding of the first European universities in the 11th century until last year. Although buildings for higher education are often among the most significant ones we build, surprisingly few good studies of them exist. There are numerous books on individual campuses, some good ones on architects who design college buildings (such as Robert A. M. Stern on Campus), and plenty of guides for facilities managers (even this one has a chapter on how to plan a campus). But only
November 2011 Five Los Angeles cultural institutions shed new light on mid-20th-century design efforts. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980—a collaboration among 60 cultural institutions across Southern California—is a grand bazaar, as eclectic, wide-ranging, and uneven as the period of art it celebrates. Initiated by the Getty Foundation, which provided $10 million in grants, this effort engages venues of radically different scales and aspirations to focus on the evolution of the Los Angeles art scene in the decades after World War II. With nearly every institution in on the act—from major museums to university galleries—art takes on a fluid
November 2011 Getting an architecture degree is expensive. Is it worth it in a recession? If bookshelves are to be believed, it has become fashionable to knock the way schools teach architecture. The latest this fall is humorous—The Real Architect’s Handbook: Things I Didn’t Learn in Architecture School, from Guy Horton and Sherin Wing. It dispenses cheeky wisdom such as, “If you already have a B.Arch., consider further education in a different field. Your M.Arch. can’t make a real contribution to the field if you’re just showing off software skills.” Illustration: Dan Page These writers might be on to something.
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