World's greatest architect : making, meaning, and network culture / William J. Mitchell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchell, William J. (William John), 1944-2010.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture and society--History--21st century.

Architecture and society.

Cities and towns.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (165 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Artifacts (including works of architecture) play dual roles; they simultaneously perform functions and carry meaning. Columns support roofs, but while the sturdy Tuscan and Doric types traditionally signify masculinity, the slim and elegant Ionic and Corinthian kinds read as feminine. Words are often inscribed on objects. (On a door: "push" or "pull.") Today, information is digitally encoded (dematerialized) and displayed (rematerialized) to become part of many different objects, at one moment appearing on a laptop screen and at another, perhaps, on a building facade (as in Times Square). Well-designed artifacts succeed in being both useful and meaningful. In World's Greatest Architect, William Mitchell offers a series of snapshots -- short essays and analyses -- that examine the systems of function and meaning currently operating in our buildings, cities and global networks. <br /><br />In his writing, Mitchell makes connections that aren't necessarily obvious but are always illuminating, moving in one essay from Bush-Cheney's abuse of language to Robert Venturi's argument against rigid ideology and in favor of graceful pragmatism. He traces the evolution of Las Vegas from Sin/Sign City to family-friendly resort and residential real estate boomtown. A purchase of chips leads not only to a complementary purchase of beer but to thoughts of Eames chairs (like Pringles) and Gehry (fun to imitate with tortilla chips in refried beans). As for who the world's greatest architect might be, here's a hint: he's also the oldest.

Contents:

Kicking the bottle

Paper wonders

Viva Venturi

Sin no more

Loveliest of trees

Alberti's anniversary

The Net has a thousand eyes

Surveillance cookbook

Forget foreign wars

Everyday low

Texas chain store

Right place at the wrong time

Best practices

Mama don't take my megapixels

Instruments and algorithms

Theory of black holes

Elegy in a landfill

Theory of everything

Deep focus

Dappled things

- Morphology of the biopic

Little blue coupe

Bicycle socialism

Faux book

Man of steel

It's not easy

Imagined Wall Street

The eagle flies

Architectural assassination

Urban plastination

Civic immunology

World's greatest architect.

Notes:

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

0-262-26540-0

1-282-89916-3

9786612899164

0-262-28821-4

1-4356-6291-1

OCLC:

646755968