JOHN SUMMERSON Introduction by Kent Bloomer
Heavenly Mansions
and other Essays on Architecture
Brilliantly written essays on the aesthetic principles and enduring motives of architecture.
A classic of architectural history and theory, Heavenly Mansions interprets architecture as a reflection of the age in which it flowers, and traces the alternating themes of fantasy and functionalism as exemplified in various styles and in the works of a number of influential men, including Wren, Viollet-le-Duc, William Butterfield, and Le Corbusier. Succinctly summarizing 800 years of viewpoints about architecture, it ranges from Gothic architecture to the Renaissance to the influence of modern abstract art on twentieth-century architecture.
- "Each essay is a voyage of discovery. What is so interesting and what makes Mr. Summerson the architectural critic of his generation . . . is [an] aversion to dogma. . . . It is supremely well worth reading."—Spectator
The late SirJohn Summerson taught at Oxford and Cambridge. Kent Bloomer is professor of architecture at Yale.
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