Architecture displays the values involved in its inhabitation; construction; procurement and design. It traces the thinking of the individuals who have participated in it; their relationships; and their involvement in the cultures where they lived and worked. In this way; buildings; their details; and the documents used to make them; can be read closely for cultural insights.Introducing the idea of reading buildings as cultural artefacts; this book presents perceptive readings by eminent writers which demonstrate the power of this approach.The chapters show that close readings of architecture and its materials can test commonplace assumptions; help architects to appreciate the contexts in which they work; and indicate ways to think more astutely about design. The readings collected in this innovative and accessible book address buildings; specifications and photographs. They range in time from the fifteenth century ndash; examining the only surviving drawing made by Leon Battista Alberti ndash; to the recent past ndash; projects completed by Norman Foster in 2006 and Herzog and De Meuron in 2008. They range geographically from France to Puerto Rico to Kazakhstan and they range in fame from buildings celebrated by critics to house extensions and motorway service areas.Taken together; these essays demonstrate important research methods which yield powerful insights for designers; critics and historians; and lessons for students.
#3950805 in eBooks 2012-11-12 2012-11-12File Name: B00ABKGT68
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. The birth of the comic operaBy P. McCauleyThese plays offer up a bold mixture of political satire; lyrical poetry; social issues; family values; colonialism; gender roles and racial discrimination; with a number of popular folk tunes and ballads interspersed throughout. Its no wonder that The Beggars Opera ended up creating its own genre: the comic opera.The Beggars Opera takes place in Londons underworld; following thieves and prostitutes; as the local fence and informant Peachum attempts to have his new son-in-law (the highwayman Macheath) hanged. Macheath repeatedly seduces women to help him evade capture and escape; but is constantly betrayed at each turn by his fellow criminals. In the end the Beggar (the playwright) has to be asked to come out and save his hero; so as to give the audience a happy ending.The sequel Polly takes place in the West Indies; as Polly Peachum attempts to find her now transported husband Macheath in the middle of a revolt. This play was in fact banned by the Lord Chamberlain before it was ever performed. It survived in published form and was not performed on the stage until over forty years after Gays death.While these plays are enjoyable enough to read and study as a text; they were definitely written to be enjoyed as a performance.