About this item
Highlights
- A captivating exploration of the ever-evolving world of architecture and the untold stories buildings tell.
- About the Author: Though honored as a writer--with the National Book Award for the Whole Earth Catalog, Eliot Montroll Award for The Media Lab, Golden Gadfly Award for his years as editor of CoEvolution Quarterly--Steward Brand is primarily an inventor/designer.
- 256 Pages
- Architecture, Reference
Description
About the Book
Like people, buildings change with age, forced to adapt to the needs of current occupations. This provocative examination of buildings that have adapted well, and some that haven't, calls for a dramatic rethinking in the way new buildings are designed, one that allows structures to grow and change easily with the environment. Photos.Book Synopsis
A captivating exploration of the ever-evolving world of architecture and the untold stories buildings tell. When a building is finished being built, that isn't the end of its story. More than any other human artifacts, buildings improve with time--if they're allowed to. Buildings adapt by being constantly refined and reshaped by their occupants, and in that way, architects can become artists of time rather than simply artists of space. From the connected farmhouses of New England to I.M. Pei's Media Lab, from the evolution of bungalows to the invention of Santa Fe Style, from Low Road military surplus buildings to a High Road English classic like Chatsworth--this is a far-ranging survey of unexplored essential territory. Discover how structures become living organisms, shaped by the people who inhabit them, and learn how architects can harness the power of time to create enduring works of art through the interconnected worlds of design, function, and human ingenuity.Review Quotes
"It's about time somebody wrote this book. This quirky, thoughtful volume, bursting with curiosity and intelligence, may make our everyday world more visible to more Americans. Architecture is too important to be left to architects alone."
--Mixed Media
"A stunning exploration of the design of design ... How Buildings Learn will irrevocably alter yor sense of place, space, and the artifacts that shape them."
--Michael Shrage, Wired
"Penetratingly original."
--Philip Morrison, Scientific American
"An extremely attractive volume that will forever alter the way we respond to the buildings around us. We may also hope it will alter the way architects design buildings."
--Harold Gilliam, San Francisco Chronicle
"A fascinating and indefinable book ... How Buildings Learn is a hymn to entropy, a witty, heterodox book dedicated to kicking the stuffing out of the proposition that architecture is permanent and that buildings cannot adapt."
--Stephen Bayley, The Times (London)
"The book's diagnosis is clear and to the poiny, and its illustrations of how buildings change are both fascinating and instructive. This is, in short, one of the rare books that every architect should read."
--Thomas Fisher, editor, Progressive Architecture
"A book of good sound-bites and laser-sharp insight ... No architecture students should complete their preliminary studies without reading it from cover to cover."
--Patric Hannay, The Architects' Journal
About the Author
Though honored as a writer--with the National Book Award for the Whole Earth Catalog, Eliot Montroll Award for The Media Lab, Golden Gadfly Award for his years as editor of CoEvolution Quarterly--Steward Brand is primarily an inventor/designer. Trained as a biologist and army officer, he was an early multimedia artist. He has created a number of lasting institutions, including New Games Tournaments, the Hackers Conference, and The WELL, a bellwether computer conference system. He is co-founder of Global Business Network, a futurist research organization fostering "the art of the long view."