The Style of Substance: Architecture for a Post-Material Culture explores the possibilities of an architecture of substance in a world where the furnishings, controls, and tools of living and work spaces are on a trajectory to become unspecialized, to shrink, and even to dematerialize. Consider how buildings have evolved their language and grammar almost biologically, […]

  Handwashing sink in entry hall: Villa Savoye, Poissy, France, Le Corbusier, 1929  Photo: Author ( Excerpt from my book The Style of Substance :  Architecture for a Post-Material Culture )   Those who desire or appreciate architecture sometimes forget that the building does not do all the work. Many people (certainly, those in the critical press) […]

Garden houses of wood, grass, paper, and mud:  Katsura Palace, Kyoto, Japan.  Photo: Author   ( Excerpt from my book The Style of Substance : Architecture for a Post-Material Culture )   The following is a proposal of possibility and not a truth for all, or against other possibilities.  Buildings of timeless beauty are compelling […]

Brunelleschi: Pazzi Chapel at San Lorenzo Florence 1- The First Modern Architect Many have credited the origin of Renaissance architecture with the career of Filippo Brunelleschi. His professional response to overwhelming technological and social complexity may have new relevance. Until Brunelleschi, the use of a technology of standardization was nearly unknown. Medieval building had been […]