Ideas that shaped buildings /
Fil Hearn.
- xiv, 356 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-350) and index.
Preface: Architectural Theory Is Everybody's Business -- Introduction: Contours of Theoretical Development -- Underpinnings (Relevant to All Theory) -- Of Architecture and Architects -- Standards of Judgment and Design Justifications -- The Uses of the Past -- Conventions (Theory before 1800) -- Images of the Ideal and Classical Design Method -- The Orders: Evolving Rules for Formal Beauty -- The Alternative Aesthetic: Breaking the Rules -- Proportion: The Orders and Architectural Spaces -- Principles (Theory from 1800 to 1965) -- Rational Design Method -- Generative Planning as the Basis of Design -- Honest Structure as the Framework of Design -- Truth to the Medium: Using Materials -- Decoration and the Integrity of Design -- Restoration: The Care of Inherited Buildings -- Design of Cities -- Convolutions (Theory since 1965) -- Rationales beyond Rationalism -- New Directions in Design Method -- Time Line of Treatises / John Hearn. I. 1. 2. 3. II. 4. 5. 6. 7. III. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. IV. 15. 16.
"In Ideas That Shaped Buildings Fil Hearn identifies and codifies into theoretical systems the operative tenets of architectural theory from ancient Rome to the present. With this strikingly original synthesis of architectural history and theory, he constructs an intellectual armature on which virtually any architectural concept, past or present, can be positioned. Dealing mainly with the treatises that have been highly influential historically, he organizes their concepts thematically and analyzes their development through time. Straightforward and concise, Ideas That Shaped Buildings is readily accessible to architecture students, practicing architects, and the general public - indeed anyone interested in understanding the design rationale of buildings. Its overarching message is that, far from being constricting, proper knowledge and application of architectural theory is enabling and inspiring, and makes creative freedom possible by providing the conceptual awareness needed to devise a design."--BOOK JACKET.