why architecture matters. by architecture critic paul goldberger, a book that continues to sell.
“architecture begins to matter when it brings delight and sadness and perplexity and awe along with a roof over our heads. ~pg
why architecture matters is not a work of architectural history or a guide to the styles or an architectural dictionary, though it contains elements of all three. the purpose of why architecture matters is to “come to grips with how things feel to us when we stand before them, with how architecture affects us emotionally as well as intellectually”—with its impact on our lives. “architecture begins to matter,” writes paul goldberger, “when it brings delight and sadness and perplexity and awe along with a roof over our heads.” he shows us how that works in examples ranging from a small cape cod cottage to the “vast, flowing” prairie houses of frank lloyd wright, from the lincoln memorial to the highly sculptural guggenheim bilbao and the church of sant’ivo in rome, where “simple geometries . . . create a work of architecture that embraces the deepest complexities of human imagination.”
architecture (and design) is an affair of the eye, and the distinguished pulitzer winning critic, raises our awareness of fundamental things like proportion, scale, space, texture, materials, shapes, light, and memory. published in 2009, this book which is continuing to sell in paperback, has a good shot at becoming a true “perennial”.
in paperback from amazon > $ 13.94 usd [ paul goldberger ]