Donald Langmead - Böcker

The most influential 20th century architects espousing modernism are brought together in critical discussion and independent profiles. This is accomplished through a short but discriminating examination of each architect's design work, an essay outlining the historical course and events that confirms his or her vital position, and a substantial bibliography at the completion of each profile. This sourcebook examines the life and creative activities of such founding architects as Wright, Eisenman, Van der Rohe, and Kahn, as well as their disciples. This volume will be of interest to social and cultural historians, scholars, students of all ages, architects, and the appreciative lay audience.The architects and or firms chosen for the sourcebook were selected as a result of many years of research that required extensive reading of materials by respected experts. From such research, the editors were able to determine the individuals or groups who have been most influential in charting the course of a Westernized modern architecture. From evidence of their productive activities—proof in timber—there is a consensus that each made a unique contribution. The nature and measure of the contribution is discussed within each profile. Those whose reputations are based on paper only, with few buildings to prove their worth, are not included. The editors believe that architecture is an experiential art: all the senses must participate, and that requires the actual built product.

This self-taught Dutch architect was among the most widely copied architects of the 1930s and 1940s. His international influence is all the more amazing when one considers that most of his architecture was built in the provincial town of Hilversum. Travel, word-of-mouth, and literature spread the news of his humane, modern approach to building design. The more than 1,200 bibliographic entries in this work are presented alphabetically by decades and further by genres. Each is summarized, described, and evaluated in the context of a critical overview of Dudok's career. Architectural scholars and students will profit from this comprehensive guide to the international literature on one of the most emulated champions of modern architecture.For too long, much was made in the English-language architectural literature of Germany's pioneer role in developing Modernism. That contribution was undeniably valuable, but the Dutch were unfairly overlooked; however, Dudok's work was not. Hilversum became a magnet for young foreign architects in the 1930s. He cast his spell upon much of continental Europe, the United States and Britain, and throughout the 1940s his style was so widely mimicked that a new adjective was coined: dudoky. This volume will reintroduce the importance of Dudok's work to today's scholars and students.

A critical guide to the English-language literature, Dutch Modernism demonstrates the importance of the Dutch contribution to 20th-century architecture. Holland's valuable role in the creation of modernism (1900-1940) was all but ignored until 30 years ago; it is significant that more than a third of the English-language literature has appeared since 1975. This guide is comprehensive; it summarizes, describes, and evaluates 1,250 references in the light of contemporary theory and practice. This work is of interest to scholars, students, and practitioners.The introduction outlines Holland's unique place in the development of international Modernism, 1900-1940, and explores the phenomenon of its eventual recognition in Britain and the United States. Although not an exhaustive study, this work presents all the areas of study and helpfully evaluates most entries, saving the user time and energy. A number of Dutch publications have been included, some because they are seminal theoretical works and others because they are rich in images. As a guide to English-language sources, Dutch Modernism reaches a wider audience than earlier Dutch and Italian bibliographies.

J.J.P. Oud was a famed modern architect; his European contemporaries are Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In Leiden in 1917, Oud, with the Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg and the expatriate Hungarian Vilmos Huszár, and fellow Hollanders Jan Wils and Bart van der Leck formed a collaboration between artists and architects a movement they called De Stijl. The loose knit group slowly disintegrated, but in terms of architectural style the movement sought a unity between art and society that flirted with Constructivism, developed theories of Neoplasticism, and what Oud called Cubism. Although these intellectualized theories seldom resulted in architectural realities, the realized projects were spectacular and they include Oud's director's hut at the Oud-Mathenesse housing development, 1923, and the facade of the Café De Unie, Rotterdam, 1925. This annotated bibliography documents not only the literature on Oud but also Oud's own writings. A biographical essay, this book examines the place afforded Oud in the international literature of architecture and traces his career which spanned fifty-seven years.Architectural students and scholars will benefit from this guide to the major archives, minor collections, and listing of Oud's projects and the books in his own professional library. Bibliographic entries are alphabetically arranged, by books and monographs and by journals, within chronological divisions. Entries are cross-referenced to a works list and index.

This guide summarizes and evaluates the available literature concerning the Dutch artistic movement De Stijl, which was headed by art critic and painter Theo van Doesburg and was comprised of such architects and artists as J.J.P. Oud, Piet Mondrian, Rovbert van 't Hoff and Georges Vantongerloo. The loose-knit group took its name from the avant garde journal they first published in October 1917: De Stijl (The Style). Although it was limited to Holland, De Stijl promoted ideas about a universal art, combining tenets of theosophy, an holistic view of the oneness of all things, including arts and culture, and socialism. This bibliography examines publications that deal with the movement and with affiliated groups and individual members.Art historians and scholars of modern and of Dutch art and architecture will appreciate this comprehensive tool for further research. Within individual sections for the movement and for its members, entries are chronologically arranged with separate categories for books, monographs and catalogs, and periodicals. A final section analyzes and presents the contents of the journal De Stijl.

Soon after 1900 in both North America and Europe the evolution from the tradition of Mediterranean and Gallic architectural styles to modernism began. This phenomenon was due, in part, to American industrial architecture and the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright's building and architectural treatises of 1898-1908, with the additional help of Dutch propaganda on his behalf, significantly influenced European practitioners and theorists. European architecture within and outside of Holland reflects an adaptation of Wright's theories along with the structural determinism of American industrial buildings. With new evidence and fresh analysis culled from Dutch and American archives, personal correspondence, and professional material, this study examines the weight of Wright's works and words and those of the Dutchmen H.P. Berlage, Theo van Doesburg, Jan Wils, J.J.P. Oud, William Dudok, and Hendrik Theodor Wijdeveld.This new insight on the effects of Wright's architectural theories and designs, coupled with an extensive guide for further research, will attract art and architecture scholars and historians on both sides of the Atlantic and will also be of interest to social historians, artists, and architects. Events and new theories, including the assertion that Hendrik Theodor Wijdeveld was the catalytic source behind Wright's Taliesin Fellowship established in 1932, are presented in clear accessible language. Tied to the text are numerous visual presentations of significant designs and buildings.

Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the 20th century's best-known architects. Over 40 years after his death, historical and critical comment and debate are increasing and controversy continues to surround him. This volume is a chronologically arranged, annotated bibliography of English- and foreign-language sources including over 3,500 primary entries, with thousands more connected references, presented alphabetically by decades and genres.The book documents not only the literature on Wright from 1886 to the present, but also his own extensive writings. It covers source books, monographs, anthologies, exhibition catalogues, book and exhibition reviews, periodical articles, and obituaries. All references are indexed by personal names, buildings, and projects. There is also a photo-essay comprised entirely of images published here for the first time, and a comprehensive chronology of the architect's life and career, which spanned 70 years and produced about 450 buildings and almost 550 unrealized architectural projects. The book will be of great value to scholars, students, and practitioners.

This book provides an informal biography of the wunderkind who became one of America's greatest living artists and most well-known architects.Many are familiar with the art and architectural design work of Maya Lin, but the compelling details of her personal background are less well known. This book not only focuses upon Lin's substantial achievements throughout her life, but also presents Maya Lin's "prehistory," describing family events in China that led to her parents' flight to the United States.Author Donald Langmead guides readers through Lin's ancestry and family connections in precommunist China; her childhood and youth in Athens, Ohio; the story behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC; her career after 1982 (by decades); and emphasis on environmental conservation. Written for a young adult and general readership, Maya Lin: A Biography provides an up-to-date description of how she became one of the most famous and respected artists in America.