On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time (The MIT Press) - Softcover

Mohsen Mostafavi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 026263144X ISBN 13: 9780262631440

Publisher: MIT Press, 1993

Synopsis

On Weathering illustrates the complex nature of the architectural project by taking into account its temporality, linking technical problems of maintenance and decay with a focused consideration of their philosophical and ethical implications.In a clear and direct account supplemented by many photographs commissioned for this book, Mostafavi and Leatherbarrow examine buildings and other projects from Alberti to Le Corbusier to show that the continual refinishing of the building by natural forces adds to, rather than detracts from, architectural meaning. Their central discovery, that weathering makes the "final" state of the construction necessarily indefinite, challenges the conventional notion of a building's completeness. By recognizing the inherent uncertainty and inevitability of weathering and by viewing the concept of weathering as a continuation of the building process rather than as a force antagonistic to it, the authors offer alternative readings of historical constructions and potential beginnings for new architectural projects.

About this title

About the Author

Mohsen Mostafavi is Dean of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. David Leatherbarrow is Professor of Architecture and Chairman of the Graduate Group in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 026263144X
• ISBN 13: 9780262631440
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 148