Robert Harbison (1940–2021)
Auteur van Eccentric Spaces
Over de Auteur
Robert Harbison is Professor of architecture at London Metropolitan University. His many books include Eccentric Spaces, The Built, the Unbuilt and the Unbuildable, and Reflections on Baroque.
Werken van Robert Harbison
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 1940-09-06
- Overlijdensdatum
- 2021
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Land (voor op de kaart)
- UK
- Geboorteplaats
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Leden
Besprekingen
Travels in the History of Architecture door Robert Harbison
https://archidose.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-travels-in-history-of.html
lesser known examples of major periods of building
The permanence of loss and the paradox of restoration drive this meditation, which contemplates works of literature, art, and architecture. This is a sorting through of pieces in museum drawers, rubble on ancient and near-contemporary sites, and pages of chaotic writings. It raises the question of what constitutes a ruin. The inescapable conclusion is that the past is irrevocably lost and can never be recreated: the present always intrudes.
My attention first fixed on this book because its typographical composition (fonts and technopaegnia) quite clearly pays an homage to the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and indeed, author Harbison treats the Hypnerotomachia at some length in the fifth chapter of the volume. Still, I didn't really learn anything more about the Hypnerotomachia here. Many works of literature are discussed in the course of the book, but I suspect that in most cases, Harbison is more effective at advertising the virtues of these books than he is at illuminating anything for those familiar with them. I was especially encouraged by his musings on Salammbo, a book I've been long intending to read in any case.
The actual topic of Eccentric Spaces is the ways in which various arts (practical and expressive) reflect human imaginings of space. In the course of discussing topics such as gardens, machines, cities, and catalogs, Harbison turns often to paintings, sculptures, novels, and, of course, architecture to develop his points. Throughout, however, he engages in a form of criticism more aphoristic than analytical: he offers assessments, not arguments. But that can produce droll maxims like this one:
"Every pilgrim must watch his pocket, and translating a spiritual progress to a feasible journey, everyone ends up in hotels." (128)
I think the most successful chapters were perhaps the opening one on gardens and the penultimate one on maps. The latter in particular attained a sort of rapture of cartographic contemplation. For a text so trained on the sense of vision involved in appreciating spaces, it is in fact completely devoid of graphic illustrations. Paradoxically, that's probably how it should be, although image searching on the Internet makes the volume much more usefully readable for most people now than it would have been when it was published in 1977.… (meer)
The actual topic of Eccentric Spaces is the ways in which various arts (practical and expressive) reflect human imaginings of space. In the course of discussing topics such as gardens, machines, cities, and catalogs, Harbison turns often to paintings, sculptures, novels, and, of course, architecture to develop his points. Throughout, however, he engages in a form of criticism more aphoristic than analytical: he offers assessments, not arguments. But that can produce droll maxims like this one:
"Every pilgrim must watch his pocket, and translating a spiritual progress to a feasible journey, everyone ends up in hotels." (128)
I think the most successful chapters were perhaps the opening one on gardens and the penultimate one on maps. The latter in particular attained a sort of rapture of cartographic contemplation. For a text so trained on the sense of vision involved in appreciating spaces, it is in fact completely devoid of graphic illustrations. Paradoxically, that's probably how it should be, although image searching on the Internet makes the volume much more usefully readable for most people now than it would have been when it was published in 1977.… (meer)
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paradoxosalpha | Jan 31, 2016 |
paradoxosalpha | Jan 31, 2016 | Lijsten
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Statistieken
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- 464
- Populariteit
- #53,001
- Waardering
- 3.7
- Besprekingen
- 5
- ISBNs
- 38
- Talen
- 2