An Introduction to Architectural Theory: 1968 to the Present

Good

Scholarly reading

This is not the best introduction on architectural theory, and certainly not the best work of Mallgrave, who is one of the most respected scholars of the field. For a start, there is a problem with the title, as the book covers much more in terms of the actual buildings of the period, than the 'ideas' that were behind them. Then, there is a bit of disjunction and overlap among certain chapters. For instance, chapter 4 on Modernism and High-Tech, including Japanese Metabolism, also includes a discussion of Christopher Alexander! Chapter 7 on the 'Gilded Age of Theory' covers the work of Eisenman and Tschumi, who should have been covered under the following chapter on 'Deconstruction', which again reiterates some of the ideas on 'Postmodernism', also covering Gehry, who has no business being in that chapter. These are some of the many ambiguities of this book, which is supposed to be an introductory work on the theoretical aspects of architecture, and which nevertheless includes some interesting and enlightening details on the relationships that triggered certain movements. A second edition of this book should revise completely the configuration of chapters, and better organize them, weeding out some aspects, and adding others.