Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture
Summary
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Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture by Charles Jencks
The second half of the 20th Century witnessed an outburst of theories and manifestoes that explored the possibilities of architecture: it's language, evolution and social relevance. The many 'crises in architecture' and emerging urban and ecological problems questioned the current orthodoxy: Modernism was criticised, questioned and overthrown, only to be extended, subverted and revivified. The result was a cascade of new theories, justifications and recipes for building. This anthology, first edited in 1997, brought together a coherent collection of texts that tracked these important shifts from all the major architectural thinkers and practitioners. In this new edition of the book, over twenty additional extracts are published that present an entirely new axis for architectural thinking. Whereas much of the 20th-Century thought was dominated by the 'perceived crisis' in Modernity, 'the new paradigm' or 'complexity paradigm' has been excited by the possibilities of Emergence in the Science of Complexity and Chaos theory. The reach of complexity is expressed through the primacy of Benoit Mandelbrot's theories on geometry, with an extract from his manifesto on fractals; and furthered through an outline of Emergence by Steven Johnson. It is also handled through texts that focus on the diagram and are demonstrated in its more applied form through passages dealing with the global city and culture. Essential for the student and practitioner alike, Theories and Manifestoes since its first edition has established itself as the touchstone book for architectural thought. It features seminal texts by Reyner Banham, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Colin Rowe and Robert Venturi. This is now ejected with greater currency with extracts from: Cecil Balmond, Foreign Office Architects, Daniel Libeskind, MVRDV, Lars Spuybroek, UN Studio and West 8.
"..a fascinating overview of how the outlook of architects has changed over the past half century." (Prospect Magazine, April 2006)
Charles Jencks was born in Baltimore in 1939 and studied under the modern architectural historians Siegfried Geidon and Reyner Banham at Harvard and the Architectural Association in London. Known for his books questioning modern architecture and defining successive movements, he now divides his time between lecturing, writing and garden-design products in the UK, Europe and USA. His own innovative work includes dramatic and award-winning landscaping project, landform, for the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. He is a trustee of the Maggie's Centres, the charity he co-founded with Maggie Keswick in 1995, which has quickly established itself as an important architectural patron, commissioning architects to design innovative recuperative centres for cancer care.
Karl Kropf is an urbanist engaged in both theoretical research and practice, focusing on the morphogenesis and dynamics of urban form. With a background in the sciences, history and design, he is head of spatial planning and research at Roger Evans Associates and a member of the Urban Morphology Research Group. He has worked for a number of firms, including Skidmore Owings and Merrill in San Francisco, and as a consultant in France and the UK.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780470014691 |
| ISBN 10 | 0470014695 |
| Title | Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture |
| Author | Charles Jencks |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons Inc |
| Year published | 2005-12-16 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |
