Architecture As Signs And Systems

The observer-designer-theorists who analyzed the Las Vegas strip as an archetype in "Learning from Las Vegas" now turn their iconoclastic vision onto their own remarkable partnership and the rule-breaking architecture it has spawned for this fascinating retrospective of their life work.

The observer-designer-theorists who analyzed the Las Vegas strip as an archetype in "Learning from Las Vegas" now turn their iconoclastic vision onto their own remarkable partnership and the rule-breaking architecture it has spawned for this fascinating retrospective of their life work.

Foreword by Arthur Drexler. Introduction by Vincent Scully.

Denise Scott Brown is best known as part of one of the most acclaimed architectural partnerships in modern architectural history, Denise Scott Brown & Robert Venturi. Together with Venturi, she ran the firm Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates (VSBA). Their architectural and urban planning designs, theories and publications caused a revolution in the world of architecture. Their most famous theoretical work, co-authored with Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas, became a global phenomenon that marked the 20th century. Scott Brown & Venturi were also a married couple. However, in the traditional male-dominated architectural world, men were automatically put in leadership positions while the role of women was always underplayed, although they worked in equal partnership and made the same contribution. The role of Denise Scott Brown in joint projects, in the eyes of the public, was for decades diminished, while Venturi was brought to the forefront and celebrated as a genius. She never received due recognition for her work. This book is entirely dedicated to Denise Scott Brown and gives her the credit she deserves. It informs readers about her life, analyzes her projects in both architecture and urban planning, and offers a better understanding of her theories. The seven chapters provide a comprehensive insight into the world of legendary Denise and complete the knowledge necessary to understand her as a true and authentic diva of architecture, an innovative urban planner, theorist and passionate professor. Chapter 8 is a comprehensive conclusion that rounds off the monograph through a shorter review of numerous topics covered in the previous chapters. At the very beginning of the book is a letter that Denise wrote to the author. Her words are an authentic testimony of her life after 1967. The book is richly illustrated with a total of 274 photographs, urban planning layouts and various project illustrations.

Interdisciplinary work at the gateway to design

For centuries, across nations, dialogue between the domestic and the foreign has affected and transformed architecture. Today these dialogues have become highly intensified. The Domestic and the Foreign in Architecture examines how these exchanges manifest themselves in contemporary architecture, in terms of its aesthetic potential and its practice, which, in turn, are impacted by broad economic, cultural and political issues. This book traces how diverse cultural encounters inevitably modify conventional categories, standards and codes of architecture, such as domestic identity, its political and economic representations and the negotiations with what is deemed foreign. Theoretical reflections by distinguished scholars are accompanied by interviews with some of the most influential architects practicing today, as well as stunning visual presentations by professional photographers.

This book provides a clear-sighted analysis which suggests that architectural design may yet shape and order the future of cities. A clear argument that emerges is that to retain their future agency, architects must understand the contours and ecologies of practice that constitute the global system of architectural production.