Mechanics and meaning in architecture / Lance LaVine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

LaVine, Lance.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture and technology.

Architecture--Technological innovations.

Architecture.

Physical Description:

xix, 207 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2001]

Summary:

In Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture, Lance LaVine shows that in architecture, as practiced and taught today, the technological aspect of the profession -- how weight is distributed, how heat flow is regulated, and how light is permitted to enter -- has been ceded to engineers and other technical specialists. And in doing so, he argues, architects have lost sight of one of architecture's most important purposes, that of providing a literal and figurative window onto the world.As a technology of habitation, architecture should give people both a practical and a metaphorical understanding of their relationship with nature. For LaVine, this knowledge emanates from a sensual understanding of the natural world as a "felt force". At its most basic level, architecture demands an understanding of and response to the natural forces of gravity, climate, and sunlight. At the center of Mechanics and Meaning in Architecture are case studies of four very different houses: a Finnish log farmhouse from the nineteenth century; Charles Moore's house in Orinda, California; Tadao Ando's Wall House in Japan; and Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye near Paris. Through his imaginative readings of structures, LaVine highlights how the architects involved have used the oldest and most fundamental architectural technologies -- walls, floors, ceilings, columns, beams, and windows -- in ways that offer creative responses to the natural world and humanity's place in it. Clearly, architects are comfortable with the practical and aesthetic components of their profession. With this book, Lance LaVine encourages them also to understand what makes their use of technology unique and essential, and to reclaim the naturalworld for meaningful interpretation in their design of buildings.

Contents:

Introduction: The General Problem xv

Part I The Reconciliation of Mechanics and Meaning in Architectural Though

1 A Technology of Habitation 3

2 Architecture's Loss of a Distinct Technological Voice 17

3 Mending the Rift: Twentieth-Century Attempts to Reconcile Mechanics and Meaning 40

4 The Map and the Territory 63

Part II Mechanics and Meaning in Four Houses

5 Finnish Log Farmhouse 89

6 Charles Moore House at Orinda 114

7 Wall House 135

8 Villa Savoye 155

Conclusion: Metaphorical Technology 178.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-199) and index.

ISBN:

0816634769

0816634777

OCLC:

45162034