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Ideas That Shaped Buildings

by Fil Hearn
The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003
312 pp., illus. 121 b/w. Paper, $18.95
ISBN: 0-262-58227-9.

Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)

recluse@lis.net.au

The title of this book, Ideas That Shaped Buildings, is somewhat of a misnomer, and the write-up on the back cover does little to rectify this. A title such as Ideas That Shaped Buildings in Western Culture: (with a subtitle) An Investigation of Written Theoretical Treatises on Architectural Theory would have been far more accurate. Why be so pedantic about titles? Because readers pay good money for books, and only after they get part way into this text do they realise the book is not what they wanted.

The book deals only with Western architecture from ancient Rome to the present, and it investigates only, written treatises on architectural theory. These include manuscripts prior to Guttenberg and printed works after. Hearn certainly acknowledges that all buildings are underpinned by theory of some sort, but he pays scant attention to great buildings that were based on such theories that may have been transmitted orally or through other non-written means. "Indeed, in some cases the buildings themselves serve as nonverbal representations of theory" (p. 19). One would hope so!

Just for the moment I will ask the reader to "suspend disbelief" and imagine that the title is something like I have suggested. This being the case, we have a detailed, scholarly exploration of ideas and theoretical concepts that shaped the Western-built environment of the last two millennium. Hearn develops a new take on the formulation of a coherent theory of Western architecture. The book is a valuable resource for students, architects, and tertiary level art-history teachers. However, there is no index? I found this omission extremely frustrating when trying to quickly access various areas of importance. There are two pages at the end of the book with a title Index––this section simply lists the names of the so-called greats of western architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright, Vitruvius, Le Corbusier, Alberti, Ruskin et al. I dragged out one of my old student textbooks, Architecture Through The Ages to compare: Its index spans some 25 pages with thousands upon thousands of entries. This omission of an index is a serious oversight if the book is intended for student readership.

The book is divided into four parts: Part One—Underpinnings (Relevant to All Theory). Part Two—Conventions (Theory before 1800). Part Three—Principles (Theory from 1800 to 1965). Part Four—Convolutions (Theory since 1965). The work is presented systematically and analyses the theoretical concepts of architecture and their development through time. It is well illustrated with numerous black and white photographs and drawings.

Let us now "unsuspend our disbelief". This book makes no mention of non- Western buildings, save a reference in Viollet-le-Duc’s treatise to bamboo structural concepts in Asia and, of course, Frank Lloyd Wright’s debt to Japanese aesthetics. Even considering the possibility of publisher’s space-restrictions, not to at least acknowledge some of the masterpieces of architecture of other cultures is an unforgivable and insular lacuna.

Asian buildings, some with associated complete cities, such as those of Borabador and Angkor Wat, Mayan temples, and the Egyptian pyramids are just a few of the buildings that employed sophisticated structural techniques and complex design philosophy based upon profound theory. Specifically, theories developed through religious and spiritual insights and over aeons of observation of the heavens and cyclic passage of time through solstices, equinoxes, moon phases, and so on. Buildings of ancient Chinese and more modern Islamic cultures are based on theory just as are their Western counterparts. Without a thorough investigation, how can we assume that these theories were not written down?

Quoting from the back cover, "[H]e constructs an intellectual armature on which virtually any architectural concept, past or present, can be positioned", this is at best highly contentious and, at worst, simply nonsense. It is ridiculous to make such a claim when the theoretical basis regarding half of the world’s architecture is not represented (nor known to the author?), for example, Islamic buildings. Their building design and theory cannot be separated from their spiritual culture and belief systems. Further, the new Genetic Architectures (see Leonardo Reviews, January 2004) challenge almost everything we understand about buildings. These are not the morphed, computer stretched buildings of Gehry (p. 331) but totally new design possibilities never before attempted.

In sum, for those looking for a fresh, detailed exploration of the theories behind Western architecture, and if you do not mind the absence of an index, then this book will provide an informative and useful read and reference source.


 

 




Updated 1st November 2004


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