MTU Library Catalogue

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A history of architecture : settings and rituals / Spiro Kostof and Greg Castillo.

By: Kostof, Spiro.
Contributor(s): Castillo, Greg.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2007ISBN: 9780195083798 .Subject(s): Architecture -- HistoryDDC classification: 720.9
Contents:
Part One: A Place on Earth -- The study of what we built -- The cave and the sky: Stone Age Europe -- The rise of the city: architecture in Western Asia -- The architecture of ancient Egypt -- Bronze Age cities: the Aegean and Asia Minor -- The Greek temple and Barbarian alternatives -- Polis and Arkropolis -- The Hellenistic realm -- Rome: Caput Mundi -- The world at large: Roman concurrences -- Part Two: Measuring Up -- The triumph of Christ -- The mediterranean in the early middle ages -- The birth of nations: Europe after Charles -- The French manner -- The urbanization of Europe, 1100 - 1300 -- Edges of medievalism -- The renaissance: ideal and fad -- Spain and the new world -- Istanbul and Venice -- The popes as planners: Rome, 1450-1650 -- Absolutism and Bourgeoisie: European Architecture, 1600-1750 -- Part Three: The Search for Self -- Architecture for a new world -- Architectural art and the landscape of industry, 1800-1850 -- The American experience -- Victorian environments -- The trials of modernism -- Architecture and the state: interwar years -- The end of modernism -- Designing the fin-de-siecle.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 720.9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00114723
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 720.9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00114724
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 720.9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00082376
General lending MTU Cork Centre Architectural Education Lending 720.9 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00204606
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

When the late Spiro Kostof's A History of Architecture appeared in 1985, it was universally hailed as a masterpiece--one of the finest books on architecture ever written. Now, updated and expanded, this classic reference continues to bring to readers the full array of civilization's architectural achievements. Insightful, engagingly written and graced with close to a thousand superb illustrations, the Second Edition of this extraordinary volume offers a sweeping narrative that examines architecture as it reflects the social, economic, and technological aspects of human history. The scope of the book is astonishing. Kostof examines a surprisingly wide variety of man-made structures: prehistoric huts and the TVA, the pyramids of Giza and the Rome railway station, the ziggurat and the department store. Kostof considered every building worthy of attention, every structure a potential source of insight, whether it be prehistoric hunting camps at Terra Amata, or the caves at Lascaux with their magnificent paintings, or a twenty-story hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part One: A Place on Earth -- The study of what we built -- The cave and the sky: Stone Age Europe -- The rise of the city: architecture in Western Asia -- The architecture of ancient Egypt -- Bronze Age cities: the Aegean and Asia Minor -- The Greek temple and Barbarian alternatives -- Polis and Arkropolis -- The Hellenistic realm -- Rome: Caput Mundi -- The world at large: Roman concurrences -- Part Two: Measuring Up -- The triumph of Christ -- The mediterranean in the early middle ages -- The birth of nations: Europe after Charles -- The French manner -- The urbanization of Europe, 1100 - 1300 -- Edges of medievalism -- The renaissance: ideal and fad -- Spain and the new world -- Istanbul and Venice -- The popes as planners: Rome, 1450-1650 -- Absolutism and Bourgeoisie: European Architecture, 1600-1750 -- Part Three: The Search for Self -- Architecture for a new world -- Architectural art and the landscape of industry, 1800-1850 -- The American experience -- Victorian environments -- The trials of modernism -- Architecture and the state: interwar years -- The end of modernism -- Designing the fin-de-siecle.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • A Place On Earth
  • 1 The Study of What We Built
  • 2 The Cave and the Sky: Stone Age Europe
  • 3 The Rise of the City: Architecture in Western Asia
  • 4 The Architecture of Ancient Egypt
  • 5 Bronze Age Cities: The Aegean and Asia Minor
  • 6 Greek Temple and ""Barbarian"" Alternatives
  • 7 Polis and Akropolis
  • 8 The Hellenistic Realm
  • 9 Rome: Caput Mundi
  • 10 The World at Large: Roman Concurrences
  • Measuring Up
  • 11 The Triumph of Christ
  • 12 The Mediterranean in the Early Middle Ages
  • 13 The Birth of Nations: Europe after Charles
  • 14 The French Manner
  • 15 The Urbanization of Europe
  • 16 Edges of Medievalism
  • 17 The Renaissance: Ideal and Fad
  • 18 Spain and the New World
  • 19 Istanbul and Venice
  • 20 The Popes as Planners: Rome 150-1650
  • 21 Absolutism and Bourgeoisie: European Architecture 1600-1750
  • The Search For Self
  • 22 Architecture for a New World
  • 23 Architectural Art and the Landscape of Industry
  • 24 The American Experience
  • 25 Victorian Environments
  • 26 The Trials of Modernism
  • 27 Architecture and the State: Interwar Years
  • 28 At Peace with the Past: The Last Decades
  • 29 Designing the Fin-de-Siecle

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Kostof is about to join the distinguished but slim ranks of architectural TV celebrities when he will host a Spring 1987 PBS Television series ``America by Design.'' At the base of his fame is this substantial and impressive volume that has been ten years in the making. Kostof's History ... is much larger than S.F. Kimball and G.H. Edgell's A History of Architecture (1946), larger than Hamlin's Architecture Through the Ages (1953), and larger even than Banister Fletcher's History of Architecture (8th ed., 1975); it is not, of course, necessarily better. Neither does it eclipse their works. On the contrary, it restores their importance and authority but also-like the buildings Kostof so lovingly describes-transcends them by situating itself in the context of our time. In several aspects, Kostof's History can be said to be postmodern. His program is to transcend the more typical sequential narrative of historical periods and styles: ``1. the material aspect of every building should be looked at in its entirety; 2. the building should be thought of in a broader physical framework and not just in terms of itself; 3. all buildings of the past, regardless of size or status or consequence, should ideally be deemed worthy of study. And finally, the extramaterial elements that affect the existence of buildings should be considered indispensable to their appreciation.'' Kostof does very well by this self-imposed program, and also with the parallel examinations of non-Western architecture. His cross-cultural chapters are among the most exciting and intelligent. On the other hand, Kostof's aim is ``to put aside the invidious distinctions between architecture and building.'' His inclusion of vernacular architecture, for which he passionately pleads, is in the end quite limited, and his chapter on the `American Experience' is in this respect remarkably routine. His last chapter on postmodernism is comparatively shy and tentative. Kostof's book is erudite, very readable, and a rich contribution to the field. It is very well illustrated with photographs and drawings throughout-the drawings by Richard Tobias are fine and exciting. An important acquisition for public and academic libraries.-B. Jacob, University of Minnesota

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Spiro Kostof was Professor of Architectural History at the University of California at Berkeley, and was a former president of the Society of Architectural Historians. Greg Castillo was Kostof's research assistant and literary executor.