Why Architecture Matters - Paul Goldberger
The best way to understand architecture? Walk the streets, Paul Goldberger advises. But to inform those perambulations, take along the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic’s concise WHY ARCHITECTURE MATTERS (Yale Univ., $16). A guide to the basic elements of buildings, Goldberger’s lively primer discusses scale, proportion, light, space, texture, and materials, giving these general features specific contexts and exploring their emotional effects. Architecture matters, he demonstrates, when it goes beyond the purely functional (though even the humblest shed makes an impact on its surroundings) to partake of the qualities of art. Goldberger surveys buildings around the world, pointing to how they reflect social ideas, embody values, stand as cultural icons, and serve as the common ground on which different generations can meet. He includes D.C. in his tour; see what he thinks of the Hirshhorn, the National Gallery, and the National Building Museum.
