Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The first section of the book consists of six rigorously argued essays that investigate the language of modernism, language and drawing, "masculine and feminine" architecture, language metaphors, science in architecture, and the social properties of architecture. The second part provides a vocabulary of key words, providing rich analyses of critical terms such as Character, Form, History, and Space. Each investigation locates a word's modern meaning within a framework of historical enquiry and theoretical discussion, setting out clearly the term's invention and treatment by architects, historians, philosophers, critics, and the people who actually use buildings.

This wholly original study changes and enriches the way we think and talk about architecture, and will prove indispensable to anyone concerned with architecture and culture in the modern era.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Academic discourse are the words that immediately come to mind when reading this work. Forty (history of architecture, Bartlett Sch. of Architecture, UK) is keenly interested in the relationship between architecture and language as complex social practices. Part 1 consists of six original essays inquiring into "the spoken and written language of modern architecture." These essays consider the language of modernism, language and drawing, masculine and feminine architecture, language metaphors, science in architecture, and the social properties of architecture. Part 2 is a "dictionary" of essays exploring the historical framework and theoretical meaning of 18 words that form the "core vocabulary of modernist architectural criticism." The scholarly text is well documented with footnotes and black-and-white illustrations. Recommended for large academic and specialized library collections.DJay Schafer, Bay Path Coll. Lib., Longmeadow, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.