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Architecture of the Absurd : : how "Genius" Disfigured a Practical art

Silber, John, 1926- Book - 2007 724.6 Si 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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Call Number: 724.6 Si
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
4-week checkout
724.6 Si 4-week checkout On Shelf

"Have you ever wondered why the Guggenheim is always covered in scaffolding? Why the slashes on the exterior of Libeskind's Jewish Museum, supposed to represent Jewish life in prewar Berlin, reappear, for no reason, on his Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto? Or why Gehry's design for an MIT lab for sensitive research has glass walls? Not to mention why, for $44.2 per square foot, it doesn't keep out the rain? You're not alone." "In Architecture of the Absurd, John Silber dares to peek behind the curtain of "genius" architects and expose their willful disdain for their clients, their budgets, and the people who live or work inside their creations."
"In his twenty-five years as President of Boston University, Dr. Silber oversaw a building program totaling more than 13 million square feet. Here he constructs an unflinching case, beautifully illustrated, against the worst trends in contemporary architecture. He challenges architects to derive creative satisfaction from meeting the practical needs of clients and the public. He urges the directors of our universities, symphony orchestras, museums, and corporations to stop financing inefficient, overpriced architecture, and calls on clients and the public to tell the emperors of our skylines that their pretensions cannot hide the naked absurdity of their designs."--BOOK JACKET.

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i liked it submitted by downing on August 7, 2022, 12:11pm Interesting premise

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PUBLISHED
New York : Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co., c2007.
Year Published: 2007
Description: 97 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781593720278
1593720270

SUBJECTS
Architecture -- Human factors.
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Absurd (Philosophy) in art.
Architects and patrons.
Architecture and society.