Awards

• Runner-up for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award: Architecture 2003.
• Winner of <PrizeName>Silver Award Winner for Architecture in the 2003 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards</PrizeName> 2003
• Winner of Silver Award Winner for Architecture in the 2003 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards 2003
• Winner of Silver Award Winner for Architecture in the 2003 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards</PrizeName> 2003

Overview

Identifying the operative ideas in architectural theory from ancient Rome to the present and codifying them into coherent theoretical systems; for students, practitioners, and the general reader. In Ideas That Shaped Buildings, Fil Hearn identifies and codifies into theoretical systems the operative tenets of architectural theory from ancient Rome to the present. With this strikingly original synthesis of architectural history and theory, he constructs an intellectual armature on which virtually any architectural concept, past or present, can be positioned. Dealing mainly with the treatises that have been highly influential historically, he organizes their concepts thematically and analyzes their development through time. Straightforward and concise, Ideas That Shaped Buildings is readily accessible to architecture students, practicing architects, and the general public—indeed anyone interested in understanding the design rationale of buildings. Its overarching message is that, far from being constricting, proper knowledge and application of architectural theory is enabling and inspiring, and makes creative freedom possible by providing the conceptual awareness needed to devise a design. After an introductory history of the development of architectural theory, the text is divided into four parts. The first deals with issues relevant to all theories of architecture. The second, treating theory from antiquity to 1800, focuses on the prescriptive conventions inherent in the classical tradition. The third, treating theory after 1800, focuses on the inspirational principles prompted by rationalist perceptions of the Gothic tradition. The fourth, treating theory since 1965, deals with rationales beyond rationalism and the influence of computers on design method and design formulation. The concepts discussed are illustrated with theoretical drawings and images of actual buildings.

Full Product Details

9780262582278

Table of Contents

Reviews

Hearn is a good tour guide. -- Michael J. Crosbie, Architectural Record Tutors and students will be blessing Fil Hearn for his little book ... compact, erudite, literate. -- Jeremy Melvin, Architects Journal There has long been a need for this book, and it should sell well for many years. -- Peter Kaufman, Library Journal The product of many years of classroom experience, this compendium is likely to become a much assigned text... -- Publisher's Weekly Fil Hearn's Ideas That Shaped Buildings lucidly summarizes two thousand years of theorizing about architecture in an easy-to-read primer wisely organized both chronologically and thematically. Offering a comprehensive overview of the canon of design thinking from Vitruvius to Venturi, it will be a useful introductory text for architecture students, architects, and cultured readers interested in surveying Western civilization's most influential architectural ideas. --Roger K. Lewis, FAIA, Professor, University of Maryland School of Architecture

Fil Hearn's Ideas That Shaped Buildings lucidly summarizes two thousand years of theorizing about architecture in an easy-to-read primer wisely organized both chronologically and thematically. Offering a comprehensive overview of the canon of design thinking from Vitruvius to Venturi, it will be a useful introductory text for architecture students, architects, and cultured readers interested in surveying Western civilization's most influential architectural ideas. Roger K. Lewis , FAIA, Professor, University of Maryland School of Architecture Hearn is a good tour guide. Michael J. Crosbie Architectural Record The product of many years of classroom experience, this compendium is likely to become a much assigned text... Publisher's Weekly There has long been a need for this book, and it should sell well for many years. Peter Kaufman Library Journal Tutors and students will be blessing Fil Hearn for his little book... compact, erudite, literate. Jeremy Melvin Architects Journal Fil Hearn's *Ideas That Shaped Buildings* lucidly summarizes two thousand years of theorizing about architecture in an easy-to-read primer wisely organized both chronologically and thematically. Offering a comprehensive overview of the canon of design thinking from Vitruvius to Venturi, it will be a useful introductory text for architecture students, architects, and cultured readers interested in surveying Western civilization's most influential architectural ideas. --Roger K. Lewis, FAIA, Professor, University of Maryland School of Architecture

Tutors and students will be blessing Fil Hearn for his little book...compact, erudite, literate. -Jeremy Melvin, Architects Journal There has long been a need for this book, and it should sell well for many years. -Library Journal The product of many years of classroom experience, this compendium is likely to become a much assigned text... -Publisher's Weekly Hearn is a good tour guide. -Michael J. Crosbie, Architectural Record

Author Information

Fil Hearn is Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Director of Architectural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

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