1 comments about The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful--and Their Architects--Shape the World.

1. It took me some time to figure out what the Edifice Complex meant.
   
   
   I first thought, being an "English Patient" in the realms of
   
   
   English-speaking world, edifice complex meant something like "Sports
   
   
   Complex". Later I found out that it was a derivitive of Oedipus Complex,
   
   
   that there is a psychology in a poweful man, an urge to make a mark, a
   
   
   desire to control, and an ambition to build. To build big and high.
   
   
   
   
   
   I found this book particulary interesting because it focuses on the
   
   
   side of clients, their hidden chambers of obsessions, disguised in
   
   
   the form of political beliefs, orchestrated and realized by the hands
   
   
   of architects. Plenty of different types of influential clients and
   
   
   their episodes are portrayed.
   
   
   
   
   
   Some stories are old (or well known)and some stories are new. To the old
   
   
   stories, like that of Hitler/Mitterrand/Hussein, Sudjic gave a different
   
   
   bent, to the new and lesser knowns, like that of
   
   
   Mao/Rockerfeller/Agnelli/ US Presidents, Sudjic wrote electrifying lines.
   
   
   
   
   
   Another remarkable aspect of the book is the political skills of many
   
   
   past and current star architects. Johnson/ Pei/ Piano/
   
   
   Koolhaas/ Gehry (and many more mentioned in the book) are illustrated as
   
   
   true Machiavellian architects of this century that have tongue and pen to
   
   
   realize the dreams of their Princes.
   
   
   
   
   
   In the conclusion, Sudjic sums up by showing what kind of prevailing
   
   
   architectural garments are out there for different political strategists.
   
   
   The author also kindly guides us to the further readings that pertain to
   
   
   the subject matter of the book.
   
   
   
   
   
   One thing that made my head skew: Why are Blair and Libeskind beaten
   
   
   when, in contrast, following French President and English Architect
   
   
   mentioned in the book are promoted? Does it explain Sudjic's political
   
   
   stance and his allies? Just a thought...

No comments about The Urban Order: An Introduction to Urban Geography.

No comments about Site Planning and Design for the Elderly: Issues, Guidelines, and Alternatives.

No comments about Urban Spaces No. 5 (Urban Spaces).

2 comments about Learning from China: The Tao of the City.

1. This book went straight to my heart! Fingerhuth has masterfully connected the ancient philosophy of Taoism with the needs of today's modern urban cities. In a fresh, innovative and personal way, he takes us to a place "beyond" modernism, to a new consciousness of the intimate relationship between our urban environments and their surrounding landscapes. This book proposes a gestalt for the city of today that takes into consideration the sensitivities, complexities and idiosycrasies of the post-modern human being. I highly recommend this book to the city-dweller who longs for a more human envoronment in which to live but also to the urban planner whose job it is to create urban spaces in which we can live, breathe and begin to feel at home.



2. This book illustrates how each time and society expresses the core values of its philosophy in the way it develops cities. The many fantastic pictures visualize the concepts of the book in a thought inspiring manner. For me this book was a journey through time and around the world, accompanied by the personal experience and philosophy of the author, which felt like having a personal talk and discussion.

5 comments about Breathing Cities: the Architecture of Movement.

1. Although it's not consistently successful, this book contains many thought-provoking essays and photographic studies, all of which acknowledge the growing interest in the way cities work. It's a confusing book because it mixes ideas from artists, architects, philosophers and geographers, so the changes of pace are often hard to take. Many of the artists make work which is rather allusive and oblique, although I found nearly all of the art projects fascinating. Overall it's one of the better, and more accessible introductions to ideas which have been developed by philosophers such as Paul Virilio and Gilles Deleuze. If you want to know what they are about, read this book first.



2. Anyone choosing this book on the basis of the title will be disappointed, since it has nothing to do with architecture and nothing to do with transportation. Instead, this book consists of 22 collections of photographs, all of which take unorthodox approaches to photography in urban settings. We have such things as photos of the pattern of pipes on the ceilings of Paris subway stations, an artificial mountain in the Netherlands made of garbage, snapshots someone found laying in the street, fictitious typed letters between a photographer and some imaginary character, street markings that have been spray-painted by municipal workers, and so on. Despite the editor's introductory essay, I'm mystified as to why this book exists.



3. Anyone choosing this book on the basis of the title will be disappointed, since it has nothing to do with architecture and nothing to do with transportation. Instead, this book consists of 22 collections of photographs, all of which take unorthodox approaches to photography in urban settings. We have such things as photos of the pattern of pipes on the ceilings of Paris subway stations, an artificial mountain in the Netherlands made of garbage, snapshots someone found laying in the street, fictitious typed letters between a photographer and some imaginary character, street markings that have been spray-painted by municipal workers, and so on. Despite the editor's introductory essay, I'm mystified as to why this book exists.



4. In Breathing Cities, projects from various disciplines are presented which closely examine the nature of urban flux. The British architect, Richard Rogers, remarks on the topic that "the buildings of the future will be less immobile than the temple of the past and more like moving, thinking, organic robots." Archigram as well also remarked once that "When it rains in Oxford Street, the architecture is no more significant than the rain." The work of various architects and artists is compiled under the headings "People","Goods", "Geography", "Information" and "Ideologies". The photographers Martyn Rose und Takashi Homma and the artists Langlands & Bell und Nathan Coley use the examples of London, Berlin and Tokyo to present their approach to "breathing cities". The architectural group "Foreign Office", the architect Zaha Hadid, the architectural historian Mark Cousins and the philosopher Simon Glendinning as well as other contributors reflect on the phenomenon of architecture in movement, each from their own particular point of view. In this highly valuable book, it is not the lifeless 'nice' side of the city which is focused on but the city as a living organ with all its "processes of digestion and excretion."

   Read more in a-matter.




5. In Breathing Cities, projects from various disciplines are presented which closely examine the nature of urban flux. The British architect, Richard Rogers, remarks on the topic that "the buildings of the future will be less immobile than the temple of the past and more like moving, thinking, organic robots." Archigram as well also remarked once that "When it rains in Oxford Street, the architecture is no more significant than the rain." The work of various architects and artists is compiled under the headings "People","Goods", "Geography", "Information" and "Ideologies". The photographers Martyn Rose und Takashi Homma and the artists Langlands & Bell und Nathan Coley use the examples of London, Berlin and Tokyo to present their approach to "breathing cities". The architectural group "Foreign Office", the architect Zaha Hadid, the architectural historian Mark Cousins and the philosopher Simon Glendinning as well as other contributors reflect on the phenomenon of architecture in movement, each from their own particular point of view. In this highly valuable book, it is not the lifeless 'nice' side of the city which is focused on but the city as a living organ with all its "processes of digestion and excretion."

   Read more in a-matter.

No comments about Comparative Planning Cultures.

3 comments about Everyday Urbanism.

1. Everyday Urbanism draws attention to the otherwise neglected ways of promoting street-life and the informal economy, especially in the US where there is an increasing need with the fragmentation of the urban/suburban fabric and economically declining, though often socially strong and active as in the case of LA neighborhoods.
   The collection of essays range from cases in LA where it successfully occurs,innovative design ideas towards stimulating street-life, vendoring and its accessories, to sustainable informal trash recycling systems in LA neighborhoods, to careful observation methods which may inform local level urban design and planning.
   It is a unique text in terms of introducing this idea of being aware of and celebrating everyday life (especially in the western world) within the design disciplines of architecture, urban design/planning and landscape architecture.



2. An excellent introduction to the thought of urban conception as a way of life, or even better of living. Michel de Certeau and the others would love to read it.



3. Everyday Urbanism is a wonderful collection of thoughts, projects and stories about the contemporary urban life in America (more specifically Southern California). Rather than speak about grand utopian visions, Everyday Urbanism investigates specific urban conditions. Each author brings their own perspective and dimmension to this interesting and entertaining compilation.

1 comments about Building Chicago: Suburban Developers and the Creation of a Divided Metropolis.

1. Building Chicago: Suburban Developers And The Creation Of A Divided Metropolis by Ann Durkin Keating (Associate Professor of History, North Central College, Naperville, Illinois) is a painstakingly researched and skillfully presented history of Chicago's various suburbs, ranging from their mid-nineteenth century origins as a means to escape cholera outbreaks to their post World War II proliferation, down to the present day. A candid, accessible account filled with technical details, legal tug-of-war, and an often-overlooked piece of history about one of America's most famous cities, Building Chicago is a strongly recommended addition to American History and Urban Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collection.

2 comments about Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech.

1. This book about the architectural development of MIT should be interesting and informative to both academics, MIT alumuni as well as the casual individual interested in historic preservation. Designing MIT is both clearly written and wonderfully illustrated. I would rate is as a MUST BUY.



2. continue to be seen as a lackluster urban university scattered among classrooms, office buildings, and dormitories in Boston's Back Bay section. The architect chosen for this unprecedented, highly-visible, and risky large-scale architectural undertaking was William Welles Bosworth, a MIT graduate in architecture recommended by John D. Rockefeller. Yet, Bosworth continually had to reckon with the influence of other prominent architects who had put forth their own visionary plans. Among these were Ralph Adams Cram, who had designed West Point's campus; Steven Child, a student of Frederick Law Olmstead; and the chairman of MIT's Dept. of Architecture, Desire Despradelle. Jarzombek tells the story of how Bosworth managed to remain true to his own plans rooted in his neoclassicism while accommodating the ideas of other architects and the preferences of the powerful patrons. This complex, historic project is followed with plentiful old photographs and architectural drawings from MIT's archives. The author, a professor in MIT's Dept. of Architecture, gives equal treatment to the diverse individuals who had a role in the shaping of the project, the architectural concepts of the time, and Bosworth's work and resolutions of issues along the way. Needless to say, the architectural project succeeded in putting MIT into the forefront of U. S. science and engineering universities. And Bosworth's cluster of impressive buildings continues to play a central role in MIT's staying in this position.