Architecture and the Phenomena of Transition: The Three Space Conceptions in Architecture

Giedion, S.

ISBN 10: 0674043375 / ISBN 13: 9780674043374

Published by Harvard University Press:, 1971

About this Item

First published in 1941, this book is the fifth edition, revised and enlarged, the third printing from 1971, 897 pages, illustrated. "A milestone in modern thought, this book has been reissued many time since its first publication in 1941. In this revised edition of Mr. Giedion's classic work, major sections have been added and there are 81 new illustrations. The chapters of leading contemporary architects have been greatly expanded. There is new material on the later development of Frank Lloyd Wright and the more recent buildings of Walter Gropius, particularly his American Embassy in Athens. A new essays "Changing Notions Of The City" traces the evolution of the structure of the city throughout history and examines current attempts to deal with urban growth." FINE HARDCOVER, FINE- DUST JACKET. Dust jacket protected with a clear plastic acid-free jacket. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

Seller Inventory # 009675

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Architecture and the Phenomena of Transition: The Three Space Conceptions in Architecture
• Publisher: Harvard University Press:
• Publication Date: 1971
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674043375
• ISBN 13: 9780674043374
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine-
• Seller catalogs:
  • ARCHITECTURE.

About this title

Synopsis

In this his last work, published posthumously, the eminent architectural critic and historian Sigfried Giedion presents three conceptions of space which he views as representing the great stages in Western architecture. The first originated in the ancient high civilizations - Egypt and Mesopotamia - and continued through the design of the Greek temples and assembly places. The emphasis was on the volume in space and on interplay between volumes. Giedion's second conception - the development of interior space - was formulated and reached full glory in Rome with further manifestations in Gothic cathedrals and extensions into the architecture of the late nineteenth century. With the twentieth century emerged the third space conception, a fusion of the first two which interrelated the space-emanating powers of volumes and the sculptural form of interior and exterior space. Linking one concept with another are the phenomena of transition. One expression of the transition between the first space conception and the second is the circular form exemplified in the temples of Malta, the tholos tombs, and the tumuli. To find the sources of the third space conception, the author declares, one must examine the fundamentals of modern construction. Structural possibilities had to be developed and tested before architects could give them a spatial form, and it was the existence and use of new building materials, especially iron and steel, that made this conception possible.

About the Author

Sigfried Giedion was the first secretary-general of the International Congress of Modern Architecture. He taught at the University of Zurich, MIT, and Harvard, where he became chairman of the Graduate School of Design.