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Summary And Critique Of Book The Understanding Architecture

Technical Report · October 2019

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.36615.01446

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Zaid.M. Al-Zrigat
Hashemite University
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 The Hashemite University

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture

Course Description
First Semester (Fall) 2019/2020
Course Title
Theories and Criticism in Architecture

Course Number Program & Level

170404420 Master Programme

Number of Credit & Contact Hours + Student Work Load

Credit: 3 - Contact: (3) - Work load (SWL): (12) hours weekly

Pre-requisite Courses
17040770* or Concurrent: Scientific Research Method.

Course Instructors
Dr. Shatha Abu Khafajah Office No: 407, Contact: [email protected]

Subject:

Summary Of Book The Understanding Architecture

7 – Oct – 2019

Student name :

Zaid Zreqat

ID. Number :

1970168

Contact :

[email protected]

Instructor :

Dr. Shatha Abu Khafajah

This book provides an impressive introduction to architecture and architectural history
by presenting in a structured way clear insight into how architecture is influenced by
the climate, culture, society, technology, and need of time and place and understand not
only the architecture of the past and the present, but also the future and democratic
society and the aim are to help people make sense of the experience architecture and
the built environment and look how building are to survive for any length of
time(sustainability) and Identifying styles and period of building .what is meant by a
variety of terms architecture, and relation the space of a building with
idea communicate them public and relation types of material with the problems of
grouping building, then focus is on much example realism and use of research methods.

The strengths of the text, the method used in the theme of text by the author (It is about
raising questions, rather than giving answers) - raise questions and then indicates which
paths might lead to possible answers- and emphasis on questions basis of society and
everything that had been taken for granted: religion, the monarchy, aesthetics and
history, and our aim is accessibility, for architecture is part of everyone’s lives, The
combination is distinctive in using technical terms used.

Also, ordinary terms and the ability to perforce to make do with photographs (good
representation), and highlights on carefully chosen and well-illustrated examples (One
further example illustrates how buildings sharing common stylistic features arise out of
very different circumstances), taken from many parts of the world, the reader is both
informed and given how to analyses and understand the architecture around them. In
addition, help people make sense of the experience of architecture and the built
environment by introducing some of the complexities of the subject and to make these
complex issues clearer, and provide interested in the built environment and new
developments with some of the skills necessary to take part in these processes.

Then Arrange visits to buildings not generally accessible to members of the public. An
excellent opportunity contributing to saving historic buildings, by giving instructions
and procedures to obtain the necessary approvals to (express our aspirations and our
sense of optimism about the future, without losing a sense of historical continuity) and
the author's use of a clear and understandable language and author focused on
explaining the book in a sequence so that the reader easily understood and facilitated
without any complexity possible to affect the clear vision of the goal on which this text
was built, then the book suites the intended audience – students and architects in
general- where the format is clear and easy to follow.

The weaknesses are centered the character of the text is written and
predominantly lack poverty examples use and the book is non-contemporary, his ideas
are non-appropriate for the present era (The focus of most cases and examples was on
the historical and ancient character) and The author repeats and highlights the same
subject within the same content in more than one chapter (repetition of terms).

I agree with the writer in part, the scope of the subject is enormous and buildings do
not need to be aesthetically pleasing, intellectually stimulating or architect-designed to
warrant further study and I approve of highlight on Issues: as conservation, ethnicity,
feminism, planning, and urbanism, which are at the heart of many of the debates on
architecture and We are faced with the problems of urban congestion, pollution, and
resource exhaustion and the term ‘architecture’ is quite different today from what it was
when the history of architecture. And what is meant by a variety of terms such as
‘buildings with movement’, ‘buildings that speak’ and ‘sick buildings’ and the factors
that influence the design of the exterior of a building and relation built environment
surrounding us?, and related terms of aesthetics and emotional ( Le Corbusier).

Then focus on Relation between polite architecture and Vernacular architecture

and commercial architecture and Narrative architecture and Saracenic architecture
and trabeated architecture and schematic architecture then indo-Islamic architecture
and classical architecture and post-modern architecture and domestic architecture
and victorian architecture and post-Fordism architecture). Integral relationship), and
increased emphasis on the importance of the individual architect (The heroic approach
to architecture reinforces the idea that it is the individual architect who makes history
and so the history of architecture is the history of great architects and great buildings)
and What are unique to this period are the capacity and the technology to overcome
these problems in the face of vested interests if there is the will. and
Recognizing periods and styles (revival)-classical architecture and gothic are important
steps to becoming familiar with architecture, for they enable us to build up a vocabulary
and discuss the subject with more confidence and To understand a building of any
period- Styles are not homogeneous or static but complex and changing amalgams of
old and new forms- Architecture in different periods and places tends to vary in style
and reflect the different social, economic and cultural contexts, and approve with
say: Studying the past enables us to understand today more clearly
and searching analysis of not only how things should be built, but what should be built.

The Main idea; This dualisms between art (non- function) and architecture (function) -
buildings relate to their function is part of their extrinsic meaning- and The technical
and rational theory of architecture tends to seek answers either in terms of new
technological or constructional developments or as the result of applying logic to
technological or practical problems I support of statement; the scale (colossal) of the
space creates a sense of awe in those visiting the building. Depends on the number of
people using it, the furnishings and objects in it, the neighboring spaces, and our
expectations. Finally, I tend to think about solving the complexity and chaos of cities,
separating industrial areas, commercial centers, cultural centers (with their theatres,
concert halls, and cinemas) and residential districts.

I do not agree with Historians, writers and critics of architecture only identified reasons
for architectural change, cause (they evaluated the architecture of their day and the past
according to their particular criteria), and buildings just do fit neatly into a particular
stylistic category, can history be divided clearly into discrete periods and this, in
turn, cause affects our understanding of architecture about why new building types and
styles and to examine social, political, philosophical, technological and economic
changes that were taking place. Then I don't support his idea Modernist buildings
tended not to respond to particular cultures or particular
environments, because depending on the understanding of the ordinary citizen and me
opposite with his sentence, historiography is just an issue of changing tastes, cause New
 challenges and ideas encourage us to ask different questions, questions that had hardly
been thought of previously, or if they were, only by a very few, and I disagree
dramatically with the appearance of the term fast-track (his means starting the
construction on-site before the design is complete), cause affects the final product of
the design process but the modifications and changes to the design by the designer
himself or the customer. Finally, I do not support to draw historical conclusions from
personal likes and dislikes. Because we do not like a particular building style, it does
not mean that that style was not historically important, or that the architects involved in
producing such work were mistaken in their aims.

I can learn from this book, we need to try to be as objective as possible, while
recognizing that our ability to be so is affected by our present assumptions and the limits
of our historical period and place and theories of architectural change are linked to
approaches to the discipline of architectural history and to value judgments in
architecture, then difficult to distinguish the priority of construction over aesthetics and
designing for modern needs and using modern materials would lead to the development
of new appropriate forms and studies should concentrate on recurring ideas and themes,
for similarities of approach can be found between the past and current architectural
practice , In addition the idea forms of buildings are a mix of practical, expressive and
symbolic functions, and we discuss these in more depth as we explore the space,
interiors and forms of buildings and we need to be aware of the way buildings define
and enclose space, and how the experience of space relates to the materials used and
that when writing my research tend to make a link between the basic topics that explain
the book to increase awareness and understanding, and the use of historical examples
in understanding the topic and compared with modern examples in terms of ironies to
support the idea of the topic and Using the questioning method is useful and helps to
expand awareness to attract the reader's attention , combination is distinctive in
use technical terms used. Also, ordinary terms because Makes reading style distinctive
and attracts the researcher and stimulates brain cells to link and analysis. Then to
avoid repetition of terms in explaining all chapters and to avoid emphasis is on the use
of biblical text heavily with the use of few optimizations (examples).

One of the most important criticisms and reflections suffered by the book, by Dr.joe-
Architectural Professor at Harvard University- this 285-page guide to architecture has
a lot of valuable info for the nonprofessional. Photos (black and white) are interspersed
to go with descriptions on the same page. A valuable feature is the book's glossary,
defining hundreds of architectural terms, figures, and styles. Malarky (Author and
architectural critic (, I purchased this as a textbook, but after reading it cover-to-cover
I would recommend it for the layperson with a curiosity about architecture. It explains
in not-too-much detail the basic concepts of architecture, without overwhelming the
reader with technical jargon (and for the little jargon that is included, there is a nice
glossary in the back). I never thought an overview of the materials used to build
structures through the last few centuries would be this interesting, nor a discussion of
how important light is in space. If you can find it for cheap, I say it would make a great
gift for the adult or (even high schooler) with a budding interest in architecture.

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