Latin American Architecture: Six Voices (Studies in Architecture & Culture): 5 (Studies in Architecture and Culture) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0890969019 ISBN 13: 9780890969014

Publisher: Texas A & M University Press, 2000

Synopsis

The countries of Latin America exist within a framework of individuality supported by a unity based on the similar factors of urban population, rural morale, and ethnic conformation. The area is isolated even as it is centrally located in geographical terms, almost in a time warp of culture that mixes the modern with the arcane, the elite with the poor, and the primitive with the sophisticated. The common history, common destiny, and common role in the world inherent to the major countries of Latin America―Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela―justify the efforts of regional architects to create a continental identity. Latin American Architecture: Six Voices is a compilation of profiles of architects, one from each of the six major countries. The essays capture the political and social changes that altered the face of Latin American countries and how the architects who work there continually attempt to balance the old with the new, intimating at the same time the continuity and cultivation of a tradition so persistent in Latin American architecture. In doing so, the artists reveal the two major schools of development: minimalist and tectonic tradition. Michael L. Tribe and Pablo J. Rodriguez P., along with editors Malcolm Quantrill and Kenneth Frampton, focus on prominent figures in Latin American architecture such as Colombia's Rogelio Salmona, Mexico's Ricardo Legoretta, and Venezuela's Jesús Tenreiro-Degwitz. Their intent is to correct an imbalanced treatment of the region's architecture at the hands of international critics, who lauded Latin America as the proving ground of modernism in the late 1940s but then quickly lost interest. A refreshing look at some less-famous architects, whose skill is equal to if not greater than that of some stars of the ""developed world,"" Latin American Architecture provides an ideal introduction for the architecture student or anyone interested in architecture as a reflection of culture.

About this title

About the Author

Malcolm Quantrill is Distinguished Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University.Kenneth Frampton is Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in New York City.Pablo J. Rodriguez P. is founder of the architectural firm TEKTON Arquitectura in Caracas, where he practices and teaches architecture.Michael L. Tribe is an associate with Peter Gisolfi Associates of Westchester, New York, where he designs residential, institutional, and commercial projects.

From the Back Cover

In architecture, as in much of the rest of its culture, Latin America offers at once a coherent regional ethos and great national individuality. The common history, common role in the world, and common destiny architects probably face justify their efforts to create a continental identity in the major countries of Latin America.

Latin American Architecture profiles architects from six of the major countries -- Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela -- six voices "speaking" for the region. The essays capture the political and social changes that have altered the face of Latin American countries and show how these architects continually attempt to balance the old with the new, intimating at the same time the continuity and cultivation of a tradition so persistent in Latin American architecture. In doing so, the artists reveal the two major schools of development: minimalist and tectonic tradition.

This handsomely illustrated book focuses on prominent figures in Latin American architecture. A critic from each country profiles the work of a representative architect of that nation: Colombia's Rogelio Salmona, Mexico's Ricardo Legorreta, Venezuela's Jesus Tenreiro-Degwitz, Uruguay's Eladio Dieste, Chile's Christian De Groote, and Argentina's Clorindo Testa.

Taken together, the studies in this volume correct an imbalanced treatment of the region's architecture at the hands of recent international critics, who lauded Latin America as the proving ground of modernism in the late 1940s but then quickly lost interest.

A refreshing look at some less-famous architects, whose skill is equal to if not greater than that of some stars of the "developed world", Latin AmericanArchitecture provides an ideal introduction for the architecture student or anyone else interested in architecture as a reflection of culture.

Edition details

• Publisher: Texas A & M University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0890969019
• ISBN 13: 9780890969014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Quantrill Malcolm William