Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies - Softcover

Banham, Reyner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520260155 ISBN 13: 9780520260153

Publisher: University of California Press, 2009

Synopsis

Reyner Banham examined the built environment of Los Angeles in a way no architectural historian before him had done, looking with fresh eyes at its manifestations of popular taste and industrial ingenuity, as well as its more traditional modes of residential and commercial building. His construct of "four ecologies" examined the ways Angelenos relate to the beach, the freeways, the flatlands, and the foothills. Banham delighted in this mobile city and identified it as an exemplar of the posturban future. In a spectacular new foreword, architect and scholar Joe Day explores how the structure of Los Angeles, the concept of "ecology," and the relevance of Banham's ideas have changed over the past thirty-five years.

About this title

About the Author:

Reyner Banham (1922-1988) was Sheldon H. Solow Professor of the History of Architecture at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Joe Day leads deegan day design llc and serves on the design faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Review:

“In one volume [Banham] does the near-impossible: He makes us see this fragmented city [of Los Angeles] as a breathing whole.” -- Ariel Swartley, Los Angeles Magazine Published On: 2009-03-01

“Still as penetrating now as when Banham completed his observations on the city in 1971.”, La Observed Published On: 2009-04-24

“Banham wrote like a blissed-out lover, surrendering to his feelings of derangement and wonder while keeping his eyes wide-open.”, Los Angeles Times Published On: 2009-06-21

“Banham's book has remained au courant.”, Palisadian Post Published On: 2009-06-18

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0520260155
• ISBN 13: 9780520260153
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 296