Composed of ten essays and an epilogue that trace the history of
contemporary form as an evolving poetic of structure and construction,
the book's analytical framework rests on Frampton's close readings of
key French and German, and English sources from the eighteenth century
to the present.
Kenneth Frampton's long-awaited follow-up to his classic A Critical
History of Modern Architecture is certain to influence any future
debate on the evolution of modern architecture. Studies in Tectonic
Culture is nothing less than a rethinking of the entire modern
architectural tradition. The notion of tectonics as employed by
Frampton--the focus on architecture as a constructional
craft--constitutes a direct challenge to current mainstream thinking on
the artistic limits of postmodernism, and suggests a convincing
alternative. Indeed, Frampton argues, modern architecture is invariably
as much about structure and construction as it is about space and
abstract form.
Composed of ten essays and an epilogue that trace the history of
contemporary form as an evolving poetic of structure and construction,
the book's analytical framework rests on Frampton's close readings of
key French and German, and English sources from the eighteenth century
to the present. He clarifies the various turns that structural
engineering and tectonic imagination have taken in the work of such
architects as Perret, Wright, Kahn, Scarpa, and Mies, and shows how both
constructional form and material character were integral to an evolving
architectural expression of their work. Frampton also demonstrates that
the way in which these elements are articulated from one work to the
next provides a basis upon which to evaluate the works as a whole. This
is especially evident in his consideration of the work of Perret, Mies,
and Kahn and the continuities in their thought and attitudes that linked
them to the past.
Frampton considers the conscious cultivation of the tectonic tradition
in architecture as an essential element in the future development of
architectural form, casting a critical new light on the entire issue of
modernity and on the place of much work that has passed as avant-garde.
A copublication of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies and The
MIT Press.
