Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture

By: Jencks, Charles

The second half of the 20th Century witnessed an outburst of theories and manifestoes that explored the possibilities of architecture: it's language, evolution and social relevance. The many 'crises in architecture' and emerging urban and ecological problems questioned the current orthodoxy: Modernism was criticised, questioned and overthrown, only to be extended, subverted and revivified. The result was a cascade of new theories, justifications and recipes for building. This anthology, first edited in 1997, brought together a coherent collection of texts that tracked these important shifts from all the major architectural thinkers and practitioners. In this new edition of the book, over twenty additional extracts are published that present an entirely new axis for architectural thinking. Whereas much of the 20th-Century thought was dominated by the 'perceived crisis' in Modernity, 'the new paradigm' or 'complexity paradigm' has been excited by the possibilities of Emergence in the Science of Complexity and Chaos theory. The reach of complexity is expressed through the primacy of Benoit Mandelbrot's theories on geometry, with an extract from his manifesto on fractals; and furthered through an outline of Emergence by Steven Johnson. It is also handled through texts that focus on the diagram and are demonstrated in its more applied form through passages dealing with the global city and culture. Essential for the student and practitioner alike, Theories and Manifestoes since its first edition has established itself as the touchstone book for architectural thought. It features seminal texts by Reyner Banham, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Colin Rowe and Robert Venturi. This is now ejected with greater currency with extracts from: Cecil Balmond, Foreign Office Architects, Daniel Libeskind, MVRDV, Lars Spuybroek, UN Studio and West 8.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470014695
• ISBN13: 9780470014691
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture

good collection of essays and ideas about the meaning of Architecture through different authors along the 20th century. It's not a dictionary nor gives the whole understanding of the overlaping of styles, but shows condensed points of view about various topics.

important writings at a glance

This little green book is like an encylopedia of contemporary famous architects' writings and is a good source for students or layman with not much architectural theory background.