Iconography and Electronics Upon a Generic Architecture: A View from the Drafting Room - Softcover

Venturi, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262720299 ISBN 13: 9780262720298

Publisher: MIT Press, 1998

Synopsis

Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture and Learning from Las Vegas (the latter coauthored with Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour) are among the most influential books by any architect of our era -- the one celebrating complexity in architecture, the other the uses of symbolism in commercial and vernacular architecture and signage. This new collection of writings in a variety of genres argues for a generic architecture defined by iconography and electronics, an architecture whose elemental qualities become shelter and symbol.The voice is personal -- eloquent in expounding on the unglamorous side of practice; sometimes vituperative and corrective in addressing clients, theoreticians, and critics; often amusing and humorous in looking back on past projects and opportunities; instructive in describing early influences and tastes; and reflective in assessing his own impact on the profession.The essays include Venturi's 1950 M.F.A. thesis, published here for the first time -- a work that foreshadows many of the themes that were later to make him a controversial and ground-breaking architect and writer -- and a series of vintage Venturi aphorisms.

About this title

Review:

-- Martin Filler, "The New York Times Book Review"

" This absorbing new collection of Mr. Venturi's exceptionally literate articles, lectures, letters and aphorisms written over the past two decades offers rewarding insights into a creative intelligence as wide-ranging and iconoclastic as ever." -- Martin Filler, "The New York Times Book Review"

& quot; This absorbing new collection of Mr. Venturi's exceptionally literate articles, lectures, letters and aphorisms written over the past two decades offers rewarding insights into a creative intelligence as wide-ranging and iconoclastic as ever.& quot; -- Martin Filler, The New York Times Book Review

"This absorbing new collection of Mr. Venturi's exceptionally literate articles, lectures, letters and aphorisms written over the past two decades offers rewarding insights into a creative intelligence as wide-ranging and iconoclastic as ever."--Martin Filler, "The New York Times Book Review"

Synopsis:

This is a collection of writings in a variety of genres, which argue for a generic architecture defined by iconography and electronics, an architecture whose elemental qualities become shelter and symbol. The voice of the essays is personal, expounding the unglamorous side of the practice. The essays are sometimes vituperative and corrective in addressing clients, theoreticians and critics, sometimes amusing in looking back on past projects and opportunities and reflective in assessing the authors own impact on the profession. The collection of articles, lectures, letters and aphorisms have been written over a period of 20 years and include Venturi's 1950 MFA thesis.

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0262720299
• ISBN 13: 9780262720298
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 390