Widely regarded as one of the most significant prophets of modern architecture; Adolf Loos was a star in his own time. His work was emblematic of the turn-of-the-century generation that was torn between the traditional culture of the nineteenth century and the innovative modernism of the twentieth. His essay ‘Ornament and Crime’ equated superfluous ornament and ‘decorative arts’ with underclass tattooing in an attempt to tell modern Europeans that they should know better. But the negation of ornament was supposed to reveal; not negate; good style; and an incorrigible ironist has been taken too literally in denying architecture as a fine art. Without normalizing his edgy radicality; Masheck argues that Loos’s masterful “astylistic architecture†was an appreciation of tradition and utility and not; as most architectural historians have argued; a mere repudiation of the florid style of the Vienna Secession. Masheck has reads Loos as a witty; ironic rhetorician who has all too often been taken at face value. Far from being the anti-architect of the modern era; Masheck’s Loos is ‘an unruly yet integrally canonical artist-architect’. He believed in culture; comfort; intimacy and privacy and advocated the evolution of artful architecture. This is a brilliantly written revisionist reading of a perennially popular architect.
#2801004 in eBooks 2012-04-24 2012-04-24File Name: B00D5RGQOY
Review
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Excellent in every way. A joy to read and packed with practical advice for all musiciansBy Bernard M. PattenIt is a great pleasure to read a book that has something intelligent to say and that says it so well. Though; I have no intention of developing a career in music; I found the avuncular advice excellent and practical. Every piano player should play every time they can; before whatever audience is there; and for any reason or for no reason whatsoever. Stewart Gordonrsquo;s advice to be ldquo;Be Preparedrdquo; ndash; advice repeated several times; caused me to rethink and to develop my repertoire so that I can play from memory several pieces; both classical and pop; on demand. Something about this book and piano teaching in general does bother my sleep. That is the lack of scientific data on what is good and what is not so good about practicing. The way we really get to know something is by measurement. Measurement began our might said the Irish poet Yeats and he was right. So how do we know for sure that Hannon exercises are good? The truth is that we donrsquo;t. There has never been a prospective; controlled; study to show whether exercises are good; bad; or indifferent to develop excellent playing of pieces. My neurological training would dictate that doing Hannon will do one thing for sure and that is develop the ability to play Hannon. Whether that ability to play Hannon spills over into concert performance is pure conjecture; unproven and probably a waste of time. The brain does best when practice time most closely simulated performance playback. If you wanted to learn French; you wouldnrsquo;t study Russian. If you wanted to learn touch typing; you wouldnrsquo;t study auto mechanics. The stuff you learn in Russian will spill over into learning French; but not that much. Time and energy are better spent learning what you need to do.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Excellent and Helpful BookBy PCJonesExcellent and Helpful BookThis is a must-read for any aspiring piano major and their parents. The book is well written and quite thorough. I have recommended it to all my advanced pre-college students.