The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays

Used book with a little bit of history, which I don't mind. Clean, with dust jacket. Hardcover, slightly larger than the paperback that I lost.

This is a collection of essays on architecture by Colin Rowe. The best essay in this book is the first one, Mathematics of The Ideal Villa. That essay gave an eye popping look at the geometry analysis comparing Palladio's Malcontenta and Lecorbusier's Garches villas. I felt the rest of the essays were becoming less appealing to me as I continued to read on.

An essential book for the study of the history of architecture.

thanks!

Colin Rowe's essays are exceptionally insightful and truly enlightening. These essays were written decades ago but they're still enormously valuable and still very fresh. The first essay, from which the book takes its title and probably Rowe's most famous, is an analysis of the geometrical and proportional similarities between Le Corbusier's villa at Garches and Palladio's Villa Malcontenta. A brief but dense tour de force. Perhaps his next most famous essay is "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal," written with Robert Slutzky. Also a real eye-opener. In other essays he discusses the curious relationship between the Chicago frame and modern architecture; neo-classicism and modern architecture; mannerism and modern architecture; La Tourette; 19th century thinking about architectural character and composition; and the architecture of utopia. These essays make you think, look at things differently, look at things you hadn't noticed, and they ultimately enlarge your understanding of architecture and your architectural field of vision. I'm grateful to Colin Rowe for that. After reading this book I bought his three-volume collection of essays, "As I Was Saying." I just had to have more. The essays in this book put your mind to work but Rowe's writing is also quite engaging. He's a genuinely independent thinker and a rigorous one too. These are wonderful essays and the book is highly recommended.