Invitation to Architecture: Discovering Delight in the World Built Around Us

276 Pages·2014·8.84 MB·English

by  Max Jacobson

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Discovering
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What Is
archItecture?
(and Why Does It Matter?)

in This engaging, original work Max
Jacobson and Shelley Brock explore these and
many other questions as they present a compel-
ling case for the importance of architecture in
our day-to-day lives.
The book begins with a discussion of the many
ways architecture influences us, from our activi-
ties as young children to our everyday interests
and interactions as adults. Focusing not only on
the “great” buildings of the world but also on the
whole range of architectural works from indigenous
structures to contemporary buildings, Jacobson and
Brock explain what differentiates “architecture”
from mere “building.”
The core of the book is an exploration of the
role of durability, utility, and beauty in architecture.
These three concepts (originally coined by Vitruvius
during the Roman empire as firmitas, utilitas, and
venustas) remain at the heart of what architecture
strives for and are as relevant today as they were
over 2,000 years ago.
INVITATION
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ArchITecTure

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Discovering
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max jacobson

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Text © 2014 Max Jacobson with Shelley Brock
Illustrations © 2014 by Max Jacobson and Shelley Brock
All rights reserved.
Pp
The Taunton Press, Inc.
63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506
Newtown, CT 06470-5506
e-mail: [email protected]
Editor: Peter Chapman
Copy editor: Seth Reichgott
Indexer: Jay Kreider
Cover and interior design: carol singer | notice design
Layout: carol singer | notice design
Illustrators: Max Jacobson and Shelley Brock
The following names/manufacturers appearing in Invitation to Architecture are trademarks:
7-Eleven®, Barbie®, Frisbee®, Jello®, Mattel®, Sim-City®, YouTube™

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobson, Max, 1941-
Invitation to architecture : discovering delight in the world built around us /
Max Jacobson.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-62113-837-2 (hardback)
1. Architecture. I. Title.
NA2550.J33 2014
720--dc23
2014005503
PRINTED IN ThE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
AckNOwledgmeNTs
Our mOst influential teachers during our architectural educations
included Christopher Alexander, Richard Peters, and Daniel Solomon at UC Berke-
ley, and Kenneth Frampton, Peter Testa, and Richard Plunz at Columbia University.
Since then there have been many architects whose work we have found inspir-
ing: Renzo Piano, Carlo Scarpa, Steven holl, Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan, and
Lou Kahn, to name just a few; while some of our most challenging influences (and
spurs to our thinking) have been Palladio and Peter Eisenman.
We have been privileged to work with and learn from William McDonough in
New York, Beverley Spears in Santa Fe, and, for 35 years, the JSWD architectural
firm with Murray Silverstein, Barbara Winslow, and helen Degenhardt in Berkeley.
The writers that most directly inspired, informed, and engaged us as we worked
on this book (besides Vitruvius) include Jane Jacobs, Mario Salvadori, Gaston Bach-
elard, John Ruskin, Stanley Abercrombie, Vincent Scully, Stewart Brand, Lisa hes-
chong, Paul Goldberger, Michael Pollan, Forrest Wilson, and Robert Mark.
We are especially grateful to the several friendly critics who agreed to read our
developing manuscript for their insightful comments and encouragement: Chuck
Miller (our first reader, who urged us to send the early manuscript to The Taunton
Press), Murray Silverstein, Lorraine Lupo, Juri Komendant, Jen Taylor, and Rene
Watkins. And a special thanks to helen Degenhardt who gave us the critical, tempo-
ral, and physical space (in the house and office) to work on this project.
We did the drawings in a variety of styles to illustrate the range of sketches that
are useful in design thinking and also included a couple of guest drawings: Karen
Fiene’s memories of childhood building with blankets and chairs, and Forrest Wil-
son’s wonderful personified sketch of Gothic cathedral structure.
Thanks to David Miller, who so generously toured us through his firm’s Bullitt
Center in Seattle. And thanks to the staff of The Taunton Press—especially our edi-
tor Peter Chapman, who encouraged us to develop our rough draft into a book.
Finally, we want to dedicate this book to our students who, over many years,
often asked questions that we felt we could answer, but most important, asked ques-
tions we couldn’t, inviting us to become students alongside them.

TAble Of cONTeNTs
Introduction…2
chapter one
Awakening to Architecture…16
chapter two
What Is Architecture (and What Isn’t)?…54
chapter three
Firmitas: The Strength of Architecture…92
chapter four
Utilitas: The Usefulness of Architecture…144
chapter five
Venustas: The Beauty of Architecture…196
Coda…256
Index…265
INTrOducTION

INTrOducTION
this bOOk is an invitatiOn tO architecture: an invitation
to recall your first encounters with it, to explore its presence in your
immediate environment, to examine the elements that transform mere
building into architecture, and to discover how it shapes our lives in
ways we may not be aware of. We write for all who want to know more
about what architecture offers to our lives.
This book is also offered as a guide to those who are already inter-
ested in the design of buildings and who wonder whether architecture
might be a career choice worth considering. They may want an oppor-
tunity to learn whether architecture is a possible profession for them
before committing to a college major. This volume should help them
decide. The same is true not only of undergraduates but also of adults
who are considering a return to college to finish a degree in architec-
ture or who have decided to change careers. This book will be helpful
to a homeowner, as well as to a member of a design committee who as
a layperson is working on a project with an architect and welcomes a
deeper understanding of how the designer thinks and works.
We emphasize the appreciation and understanding of architecture
for a very wide cross section of the population because we know that
although only a few will go on to become practicing architects, every-
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