Changing Ideals In Modern Architecture, 1750-1950 (second Edition)

By (author) Collins Peter
Short description/annotation
This text is an attempt to deal comprehensively with all the various theories and ideas which, during the course of the last two hundred years, have made modern architecture what it is today.
Description
Explains what revivalism, rationalism, eclecticism, and functionalism meant to those who practiced them, explores the influence of the other arts and sciences on architectual theory, and analyzes notions that are commonly used in discussions about modern architecture. Infused with a deep sympathy for the 19th century, this text suggests that many 19th century ideas can be of real value to practising architects, particularly now that technology has made it possible to put them into effect properly. This second edition should be of interest not only to those who specialize in architecture and have read the standard work of Hitchcock, Giedion, Pevsner, and Joedicke - but also to those with a general interest in modern history and the philosophy of art.
Review quote
"Even now, after so much of its substance has been elaborated by subsequent scholarship, Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture remains a pioneering achievement. It still provides an ideological history of the modern movement, covering an extremely wide trajectory and one which is animated throughout by a sharp critical bias. Its challenging originality stems from the way in which Collins constantly begs the question as to the fundamental nature of tectonic modernity as this has evolved over the last two centuries." Kenneth Frampton, from the Introduction