Allen, Edward, ea..
The Responsive House
, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1974. The cover says “Do Your Own Thing”. In recognizing that residential buildings are owner designed and built, this collection of essays from a conference admits to the prevalence of the tenant-as-architect and suggests ways architects can work with them.
Arnell, Peter and Bickford, Ted.
A Tower for Louisville: The Humana Competition
, Rizzoli, New York, 1982. This book can provide an insight into competitions and into the variety of solutions to a single site in the urban context.
Arnheim, Rudolf.
Art and Visual Perception,
University of California Press, Berkeley, 1974. Analysis of the psychology of perception as it relates to two-dimensional picture composition.
Bachelard, Gaston.
The Poetics of Space
, trans. Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, Boston. Phenomenological study that provides powerful associations of the house and the body and the mind.
*Bacon, Edmund N.. Design of Cities, Penguin Books, 1976. A primer on the history of urban planning with an analysis of a variety of cities throughout the world. Emphasizes decision making and the awareness and analysis of space.
Blake, Peter.
Form Follows Fiasco
, Atlantic, Little Brown, Boston, 1974. An indictment of the modernists and a plea for architecture on the human scale. The Table of Contents reveals a list of the fantasies of the modernists.
*Bloomer, Kent C. and Moore, Charles W..
Body, Memory, and Architecture
, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1977. A major source for understanding the hepatic sensibilities. My own understanding derives from reading this text.
Brolin, Brent C..
The Failure of Modern Architecture
, Van Nostrand Reinhold,New York,1976. Another indictment of modern architecture’s functional aesthetic as well as its political and social designs. Makes a case for contextual architecture with historical and symbolic references.
*Brown, Elizabeth Mills. New Haven, A Guide to Architecture and Urban
Design
, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1976. A must for designing building tours with a revealing history of the city and its buildings.
Ching, Francis D.K..
Architectural Graphics
, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,1975. Illustrated text for architectural drawing and graphic codes.
———.
Architecture, Form, Space, and Order
, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,1979.
The strength of this text lies in its illustrations of the concepts rather than in its verbal descriptions.
———.
Building Construction Illustrated,
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1975.
Cole, John W. and Wing, Charles.
From the Ground Up
, Little, Brown, Boston, 1976. A construction primer with a natural energy focus by the father of retrofit.
Collins, George R..
Visionary Drawings of Architecture and Planning
If you think that practical considerations are all that architects concern themselves with, these drawings will explode your traditional ideas about architectural drawings.
Cook, Peter.
Experimental Architecture
, Universe Books, New York, 1970. Futurist type architecture is categorized and analyzed Architecture for unusual and temporary environments. A must for the “most outrageous house” activity.
Dondis, Donis A..
A Primer of Visual Literacy,
MIT Press, Cambridge, 1973. An excellent guide for two-dimensional composition.
Doxiadis, C.A..
Anthropopolis, City for Human Development
, W.W.Norton, New York, 1974. Urban Planning, with perspectives from social scientists and physicians.
Engel, Heinrich.
Structural Systems
, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1981. A visual approach to some very sophisticated technical ideas without the encumbrance of complex mathematics. Good examples for model projects.
Fletcher, Bannister.
A History of Architecture,
18th ea., Scribners, New York, 1975. A definitive, scholarly history of Architecture throughout the world. The 1,390 pages includes a glossary of terms and provides many examples with excellent drawings to explain the characteristics of particular styles. Each chapter is divided by period and country and is analyzed for the geographical, geological, climatic, historical, social, and religious influences followed by a description of the characteristics of the period and styles.
Glimcher, Arnold B..
Louise Nevelson,
E.P.Dutton, New York,1972. Louise Nevelson is a sculpture whose work is architectonic. She combines regular, abstract, modern forms with traditional ornamental moldings.
Gregory, R.L..
Eye and Brain,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978. Definitive text on the psychology of perception that differs from Arnheim in that he does not only investigate art.
*Group for Environmental Education,
Our Man-Made Environment, Book Seven
, 1970. Designed for middle school students with worksheets and activities with an excellent text and graphics.
Harris, Cyril M..
Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture
, Dover Publications, New York, 1977. Good to have if you are working with the traditional vernacular styles.
Guidoni, Enrico,
Primitive Architecture
, Harry N. Abrams, New York,1978. Contains the roots of an analysis of what is universal in architecture. It goes beyond the limits of the material to fantasy, allegory, association, emotion, and meditation.
Hersey, George L..
High Victorian Gothic,
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland,1972. An impeccable, scholarly analysis of an architectural style that is dramatic, metaphorical, and emotional.
———.
Architecture, Poetry, and Number, in the Royal Palace at Caserta
, MIT Press, Cambridge,Massachusetts,1983. The art historian applies his skills of scholarly research in tracing the roots and derivations of a single building.
———.
Pythagorean Palaces: Magic and Architecture in the Italian Renaissance
, Ithaca, N.Y.,1976. A scholarly and cryptic exploration of the Renaissance conception of geometry and proportion.
Hohauser, Sanford.
Architectural and Interior Models
, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1970. Professionally oriented, but may provide some ideas on materials, resources, and how-to.
Halprin, Lawrence and Burns, Jim. Taking Part, MIT Press, Cambridge,1974. Creative process, group design, and models that can be used in the classroom.
Hubbard, William.
Complicity and Conviction, Steps Toward An Architecture of Convention,
MIT Press, Cambridge,1980.
Izzo, Alberto and Gubitosi, Camillo.
Frank Lloyd:Three-quarters of a Century of Drawings
, Horizon Press, New York, English language edition, l977. Although his writings reflect ideas and values that belong to the 19th century, this 20th century architect’s drawings evoke a complexity and variety of design and meaning that any Post Modernist would enjoy.
Jacobs, Harold.
Mathematics: A Human Endeavor,
W.H.Freeman, San Francisco,1970. Difficult concepts and skills are presented in a readable
format with illustrations from the comic strip
B.C.
, by Hart.
Jacoby, Helmut.
New Techniques of Architectural Rendering
, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,1981.
Jencks, Charles, ea..
Free Style Classicism,
St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1982. Contemporary discussion that expands the definition of classical to include other forms of traditional design.
———. Late Modern Architecture, Rizzoli, New York, 1980.
Study of a transitional phase to Post-Modernism.
———.
Modern Movements in Architecture
, Anchor/Doubleday, Garden City New York,1973. If you think traditional styles proliferate and are confusing, take a look at the chart on page 20. He has primarily an aesthetic focus, but does reveal an interesting social and political analysis as well.
———. Post-Modern Architecture, Rizzoli, New York,1977. Linguistic analysis with architecture being seen as the communication of symbolic cultural codes.
Kline, Morris.
Mathematics in Western Culture
,Oxford University Press, London, 1953. Includes chapters on painting, mathematica1 perspective and Renaissance ideas of harmony and proportion.
* Lobell, John.
Between Silence and Light
, Shambhala, Boulder, Colorado, 1979. Louis I. Kahn was a poetic architect. His writings are enlightening to read. The collections within this book can easily be utilized in the classroom. Photos and drawings of his buildings are included, with the Yale Center for British Art being listed among them.
March, Lionel and Steadman, Philip.
The Geometry of Environment
, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1974. The introduction and early chapters provide useful reading but the later chapters contain higher level mathematics.
McHarg, Ian L..
Design With Nature
, Doubleday/Natural History Press, Garden City, N.Y.,1971. A sensitive and comprehensive study of large scale planning with the compatibility of design solutions and the health of the planet and its inhabitants in mind.
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Old and New Architecture: Design Relationship,
The Preservation Press, Washington, D.C.,1980. Can be read to supplement the new historical awareness championed by the Post-Modernists. Its message is Historic Preservation, but is as good an understanding of the need for contextual relations for new construction in the city.
*Nevelson, Louise.
Atmospheres and Environments
. Catalog from the artists retrospective at the Whitney Museum.
Nicolaides, Kimon.
The Natural Way to Draw
, Houghton, Mifflin, Boston,1969.
Pennick, Nigel.
The Ancient Science of Geomancy
, Thames and Hudson, London, 1979. Recollects the art of siting and orienting buildings in relationship to the cosmos. An insight into the values and associations in buildings that you never dreamed of.
Pevsner, Nikolaus.
A History of Building Types
, Princeton/Bollingen, 1976. Focusses on the functional typology of buildings, e.g. Theaters, Libraries, Museums, Factories, Railway Stations, etc.
*Nuttgens, Patrick.
The World’s Great Architecture
, Excalibur, New York, 1980. A popular survey accessible to students and teacher alike.
*Pluckrose, Henry.
Let’s Use the Locality
, Mills and Boon, London,1971. A teachers’ manual of activities by a British educator.
Pollitt, J.J..
Art and Experience in Classical Greece,
Cambridge University Press,1972.
Porphyrios, Demetri.
Classicism is Not a Style
, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1982. Contemporary view of the debate on historical reference in architecture.
Ruskin, John.
The Seven Lamps of Architecture
, Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, New York,1981. Polemic by the nineteenth century critic. The seven lamps are: Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. Valuation and association in architectural—analysis begin here.
*Salvadori, Mario. Why Buildings Stand Up, McGraw—Hill, New York, 1980. A very readable explanation of structural concepts in architecture, not out of the students reach.
*Sanoff, Henry.
Design Games
, William Kaufman, Los Altos, Calif., 1979. A set of problem solving activities for children based upon the man-made environment.
Spolin, Viola.
Improvisations for the Theater
.
Stenhaus, H..
Mathematical Snapshots
, Oxford University Press, London,1950.
Stevens, Peter S..
Patterns in Nature,
Atlantic-Little, Brown, Boston,1974. A synthesis of art and science that introduces a myriad of patterns of organization not mentioned in this essay.
Stone, Harris.
Workbook of an Unsuccessful Architect,
Monthly Review, New York,1973. A New Haven architect reflects on the vagaries and frustrations of the profession.
Summerson, John.
The Classical Language of Architecture
, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1963. Concise and readable explanation of the Greek and Roman Orders with references to their use throughout history.
Tafuri, Manfredo.
Theories and History of Architecture,
Harper and Row, New York, 1980. A structuralist criticism that posits the limits of the profession to examine and criticize itself.
Venice Bienalle. Architecture 1980: The Prescence of the Past,Rizzoli,1980. The European art establishment accepts the Post-Modernists. A catalogue from the exhibition.
Venturi, Robert.
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture
,Museum of Modern Art, New York,1966.
The manifesto of the Post-Modernists,calling for historic and other cultural symbolic cultural codes in contemporary building design. It signals the departure of a generation of architects from the Modernists’ rigid functional aesthetic.
———, Brown, Denise Scott, and Izenour, Steven.
Learning From Las Vegas
, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1972. Venturi and others apply the principles and categories of Post-Modern Eclecticism to the Las Vegas strip. A controversial appeal for ‘common’ architecture with popular appeal.
(Pollio), Marcus Vitruvius.
The Ten Books on Architecture
, Dover Publications, New York,1960. Probably the earliest known treatise on architecture. An insight into classical principles, early functional typology, and the Greek Orders.
Wheeler, Karen Vogel; Arnell, Peter; and Bicford, Ted.
Michael Graves Buildings and Projects 1966-1981
, Rizzoli, New York,1982. A monograph of the eclectic CDntempOrary architect, includes furniture andbuilding interiors.
Wingler,Hans.
Bauhaus
, MIT Press, Cambridge,1969. A history of the German school that is the home of many of the founders of 20th century modernism;includes a thorough documentary and portfolio.
*Wurman, Richard Saul and Gallery, John Andrew.
Man-Made Philadelphia
, MIT Press, Cambridge,1972. A comprehensive analysis with excellent maps and graphics that can provide ideas for local history projects in the classroom.
Yale Architectural Journal.
Perspecta9/10
, New Haven, 1965 Sections of Yenturi’s book first appeared here. There is an article by Hersey about the design for the State Capitol in Hartford.
Zeier, Franz.
Paper Construction
, Scribners, New York,1980. Great ideas for working with advanced students. Provides a working understanding of the combination of geometric forms.
Starred listings can be used for student reading.