Words and Buildings

A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture

£24.95
£24.95
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A wholly original study of the complex relationship between architecture and language that has changed and enriched the way we think and talk about the built environment

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The words we use when we talk and write about architecture describe more than just bricks and mortar they direct the ways we think of and live with buildings. This groundbreaking book is the first thorough examination of the complex relationship between architecture and language as intricate social practices.

Words and Buildings is a wholly original study that will change and enrich the way we think and talk about architecture. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with architecture and culture in the modern era.

Rigorously argued chapters investigate the language of modernism, language and drawing, masculine and feminine architecture, language metaphors, science in architecture and the social properties of architecture.

A vocabulary of key words such as Character, Form, History and Space, locates each words modern meaning within a historical and theoretical framework, and clearly sets out its development and relevance for architects, historians, philosophers, critics and the users of buildings themselves.
Extent: 336 pp
Format: Paperback with flaps
Illustrations: 216
Publication date: 2004-03-01
Size: 24.5 x 19.5 cm
ISBN: 9780500284704
Introduction Part One: The Language of Modernism (six chapters) Part Two: A Modernist Lexicon (explores 19 keywords pertaining to modernism)

Press Reviews

Essential reading … will change and enrich the way we think and talk about buildings
Sunday Telegraph

A forceful, clear and sophisticated exposition
Robert Harbison, The Architects’ Journal

Architects should be made to read 'Words and Buildings
Architecture Today

Unusually clear and accessible … Students of all kinds will love this book
The Architectural Review

About the Author

Adrian Forty is a Professor of Architectural History at The Bartlett, the Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London, now retired. He is also the former Programme Director of the masters programme in Architectural History. In 2003, he was awarded the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education. Forty is the author of many highly regarded books on architecture and design, including Objects of Desire, also published by Thames & Hudson.

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