How Buildings Learn
Written: Oct 25 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Chronicles the change in form and structure of buildings as people use them
Cons: Many buildings these days get plowed down before they have any chance to learn anything
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| vacuum's Full Review: Stewart Brand - How Buildings Learn: What Happens ... |
"How Buildings Learn" by Stewart Brand is an excellent discussion of what happens to buildings after they are built. So much of architectural thought and design hinges on the master attempts of the architect to impose his will upon space and form, and hardly any thought goes into what happens after the act of creation to see how buildings are molded and changed by the people who use them.
Very careful and illuminating photography is used throughout to show buildings from the same vantage point at different stages in their lives, and Brand points out how over time people adapt the spaces they inhabit to meet changing needs. Especially fun to look at are the cases where two buildings identical at construction time are traced through time to widely diverging end appearances. ("Separated at birth").
I've had a chance to study some of this up close and personal. The house we live in is next door to two twins and a third close cousin, and it was tremendously interesting to visit one of them at an open house to see which architectural details were preserved and what odd corners of the house were re-used to good effect.
In addition to very good photography, "How Buildings Learn" has a lovely long annotated bibliography that is an excellent starting point for future reading. My copy came from the Ann Arbor District Library and is back on their shelves now.
[Also reviewed in Vacuum #17]
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
vacuum
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Member: Edward Vielmetti
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 38 members
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