Bleak Houses

Disappointment and Failure in Architecture

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Architecture
Cover of the book Bleak Houses by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin, The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin ISBN: 9780262321259
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: February 7, 2014
Imprint: The MIT Press Language: English
Author: Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
ISBN: 9780262321259
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: February 7, 2014
Imprint: The MIT Press
Language: English

Why some architects fail to realize their ideal buildings, and what architecture critics can learn from novelists.

The usual history of architecture is a grand narrative of soaring monuments and heroic makers. But it is also a false narrative in many ways, rarely acknowledging the personal failures and disappointments of architects. In Bleak Houses, Timothy Brittain-Catlin investigates the underside of architecture, the stories of losers and unfulfillment often ignored by an architectural criticism that values novelty, fame, and virility over fallibility and rejection.

As architectural criticism promotes increasingly narrow values, dismissing certain styles wholesale and subjecting buildings to a Victorian litmus test of “real” versus “fake,” Brittain-Catlin explains the effect this superficial criticality has had not only on architectural discourse but on the quality of buildings. The fact that most buildings receive no critical scrutiny at all has resulted in vast stretches of ugly modern housing and a pervasive public illiteracy about architecture.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Why some architects fail to realize their ideal buildings, and what architecture critics can learn from novelists.

The usual history of architecture is a grand narrative of soaring monuments and heroic makers. But it is also a false narrative in many ways, rarely acknowledging the personal failures and disappointments of architects. In Bleak Houses, Timothy Brittain-Catlin investigates the underside of architecture, the stories of losers and unfulfillment often ignored by an architectural criticism that values novelty, fame, and virility over fallibility and rejection.

As architectural criticism promotes increasingly narrow values, dismissing certain styles wholesale and subjecting buildings to a Victorian litmus test of “real” versus “fake,” Brittain-Catlin explains the effect this superficial criticality has had not only on architectural discourse but on the quality of buildings. The fact that most buildings receive no critical scrutiny at all has resulted in vast stretches of ugly modern housing and a pervasive public illiteracy about architecture.

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Why Are We Waiting? by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Power and Care by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Missed Information by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Playing Smart by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Trees of the Brain, Roots of the Mind by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Reading Heidegger's Black Notebooks 1931–1941 by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Reforming U.S. Financial Markets by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book The Road to Democracy in Iran by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Positive Computing by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book The Systemic Image by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Inter/vention by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Transient Workspaces by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
Cover of the book Faster, Smarter, Greener by Timothy J. Brittain-Catlin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy