A nice book that presents a rounded introduction to some of the primary concerns of the domain of architecture. Ching gently guides us through his cleA nice book that presents a rounded introduction to some of the primary concerns of the domain of architecture. Ching gently guides us through his clear and fairly intuitive categorisations: elements, form, form & space, organisation, circulation, proportion & scale, principles. The book is filled with clarifying sketches and diagrammatic examples that span the ages and the cultures; the linework is pleasing. These are some of the rudiments of architecture. The ideas are accessible and the diction steady. A friendly exposition....more
Invisible Cities is simultaneously foreign and familiar, magical and real. It is a journey through cities; cities whose names we do not recognise, to Invisible Cities is simultaneously foreign and familiar, magical and real. It is a journey through cities; cities whose names we do not recognise, to be sure, but who, if we are keen-eyed, we may catch a glimpse of in our day-to-day, on our commute, or in our daydreams. These are cities that may lay within your city. Present and absent does not prove to be a relevant dichotomy; everything turns on the eyes - the eyes of the eyes, but also of the skin, nose, and mind. Or else we are invited to further Marco Polo's stories, to addend the novel, to look, sense and write ourselves - for a city is always several.Â
Calvino masterfully explicates and indicates the subtle threads that bind cities; he shows us the cities hidden within cities. For cities have their own logic, quite abstract from that of the syllogism. The logic or reason of the City is often a sort of logic of chaos, or a chaotic principle - no less complex, ordered, multi-faceted and profound than that of the stars....more
Some nice Ruskin excerpts presented in an altogether slightly muddled fashion. The first of two chapters focuses on an identification of the Gothic, oSome nice Ruskin excerpts presented in an altogether slightly muddled fashion. The first of two chapters focuses on an identification of the Gothic, or rather a demarcation of gothicness. The chapter is quite compelling; he places an emphasis on the beauty of changefulness and what amounts to a sort of philosophy of authenticity, manifested by an admiration of grotesqueness, naturalism and rudeness, all of which seem to me different facets of a generalized appreciation of that which is, de facto. His style of writing is pleasant and gentle.
The chapter on iron is less cogent, and is in fact a transcribed lecture. His lines of focus in this chapter are less clear, less strong, and don't bear much relation to each other let alone the earlier section of the book. I did enjoy his quasi-socialist tirade on labour, however, the rest of the chapter seems unimportant at best.
The book did nonetheless succeed in piquing my desire to read some of his more formidable works!...more
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