The 1990's have seen an obsession within architecture for complete abstract theory. This book represents the backlash against the theorizing and discusses the nature of materials used within architecture and their position within the design process. The discussion begins with the material imagination of the Symbolist writers and artists at the end of the 19th century. Here, the materials of the industrialized culture were transformed to create artificial or substitute worlds analogous to the profound psychological withdrawal characteristic of the decadent imagination. The book argues that material metaphor can contribute to a new architecture, understood through an imaginative engagement with its physical structure and not with reference to abstract architectural theory.
- ISBN10 0471489514
- ISBN13 9780471489511
- Publish Date 17 February 2004
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Out of Print 4 February 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Imprint Wiley-Academy
- Format Paperback
- Pages 128
- Language English