Product Description

Writing from inside the discipline of architecture, rather than from the more common extrapolations from the history of painting and philosophy, Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Louise Pelletier focus on the implications of the tool of perspective (and the hegemony of vision) for architectural representation. Their primary thesis is that tools of representation have a direct influence on the conceptual development of projects and generation of forms, and that there are alternatives to the reductive working methods of most contemporary practice.

The book examines textual evidence across a broad historical period, concentrating on the relationship between drawing and architectural space in the period from the seventh century to the twentieth century. The book discusses such issues as optical correction and the nature of architectural drawing in selected treatises, revealing the complexity and potential contradiction inherent in any linear history of representation. The authors' ultimate aim is to probe the possibilities of the constructed world--that is, architecture--as a poetic translation, rather than prosaic transcription, of its representations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #395208 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 525 pages

Review


"This is a book of extraordinary historical breadth that astutely explores cultural continuity and transformation within architectural representation."
—Parachute

About the Author
Alberto Pérez-Gómez is Saidye Rosner Bronfman Professor of the History of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in History and Theory at the School of Architecture, McGill University. Louise Pelletier is Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the School of Architecture, McGill University.

Customer Reviews

esoteric architectural representation
Perez-Gomez wrote a very important book, the research on thearchitectural representation, and its roots, is enlightning, anddisturbing, in the sense that he pushes us to rethink our reflexes of perceptions and representation of architecture.