New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave - Softcover

Pearson, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520232895 ISBN 13: 9780520232891

Publisher: University of California Press, 2001

Synopsis

New Organic Architecture is a manifesto for building in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and kinder to the environment. It illuminates key themes of organic architects, their sources of inspiration, the roots and concepts behind the style, and the environmental challenges to be met. The organic approach to architecture has an illustrious history, from Celtic design, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, to the work of Antoni Gaudí and Frank Lloyd Wright. Today there is a response to a new age of information and ecology; architects are seeking to change the relationship between buildings and the natural environment. In the first part of his book, David Pearson provides a history and assessment of organic architecture. The second part comprises statements from thirty architects from around the world whose work is based on natural or curvilinear forms rather than the straight-line geometrics of modernism. Each statement is accompanied by full-color illustrations of one or several of the architects' built projects.

About this title

About the Author

David Pearson is an architect and planner actively involved in inner city and new community planning--both in Britain and the U.S. For more than ten years he has been active in the field of ecological design. With degrees both from the University of London and the University of California, Berkeley, he works, lectures, and travels widely. He founded the Ecological Design Association and is the editor of EcoDesign, the association's journal. His The Natural House Bookwas revised and updated in 1998.

From the Back Cover

New Organic Architecture is an important book. It would be significant if it were only seen as the defining work on contemporary organic architecture. I know of no other volume that brings together the works and words of such a wide range of currently practicing organic architects. The beginning sections of the book do a masterful job of both summarizing the main principles of organic architecture and setting the movement in its historical context. But I believe that the significance of New Organic Architecture goes beyond its role in cataloguing the current arc of a long-standing movement. David Pearson grasps what too few people see: that organic architecture fills the void at the heart of the current ecological building movement." --Carol Venolia, Architect, author of Healing Environments

"David Pearson's New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave is a remarkable book. Visually it makes the connection between the organic in nature and in design. Verbally, without getting bogged down in the usual architectural jargon, it offers a broad and comprehensive review of sources,and current work with statements by architects themselves. This is an inspirational book for a broad audience. It is seminal - a seed that will flower into new ideas, and a new vision of what is possible - in the same way that Bernard Rudofsky's Architecture Without Architects did thirty years ago. The layout - connecting pictures of architecture and nature, with pithy quotes and descriptions interweaving history, philosphy,design, and culture is like a filed of wildflowers in full bloom. This book is much needed, and I predict will have a long and successful run."ÑSim Van der Ryn

From the Inside Flap

"New Organic Architecture is an important book. It would be significant if it were only seen as the defining work on contemporary organic architecture. I know of no other volume that brings together the works and words of such a wide range of currently practicing organic architects. The beginning sections of the book do a masterful job of both summarizing the main principles of organic architecture and setting the movement in its historical context. But I believe that the significance of New Organic Architecture goes beyond its role in cataloguing the current arc of a long-standing movement. David Pearson grasps what too few people see: that organic architecture fills the void at the heart of the current ecological building movement."—Carol Venolia, Architect, author of Healing Environments

"David Pearson's New Organic Architecture: The Breaking Wave is a remarkable book. Visually it makes the connection between the organic in nature and in design. Verbally, without getting bogged down in the usual architectural jargon, it offers a broad and comprehensive review of sources,and current work with statements by architects themselves. This is an inspirational book for a broad audience. It is seminal - a seed that will flower into new ideas, and a new vision of what is possible - in the same way that Bernard Rudofsky's Architecture Without Architects did thirty years ago. The layout - connecting pictures of architecture and nature, with pithy quotes and descriptions interweaving history, philosphy,design, and culture is like a filed of wildflowers in full bloom. This book is much needed, and I predict will have a long and successful run."—Sim Van der Ryn

Reviews

"Organic" has long served as a catchall term in architecture, haphazardly applied to topics as disparate as cave dwellings, 19th-century Gothic Revival, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Frank Gehry. Pearson (The Natural House Book) strives to place organic architecture in historic perspective, define the elements that bond and energize its proponents worldwide, and showcase the latest and best examples of organic building. He succeeds up to a point: the prose is flowing and inspirational, the illustrations abundant, and the selection of architects laudably diverse. The text, however, resounds with partisan rhetoric more typical of a manifesto than a critical survey. Over half the book is an anthology of architects' statements, which is interesting but doesn't make for a coherent overview of the contemporary scene. James Wines's Green Architecture (LJ 10/15/00) draws a more complete and balanced picture of the increasingly influential trend toward organic design and environmental sustainability, making it a first choice for public and academic libraries. This book, notwithstanding the above reservations, is highly recommended as a supplemental resource. David Soltesz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0520232895
• ISBN 13: 9780520232891
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224