The Old Way of Seeing: How Architecture Lost Its Magic

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The Best Book on the Subject

Maybe I Just Don't Get It?

Good book...

Revealing hidden truth at its finest

YOU'LL SEE IT WHEN YOU BELIEVE IT?

The Old Way of Seeing: How Architecture Lost Its Magic - And How to Get It Back
Jonathan Hale
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criticism | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

This fresh and provocative book answers a question that countless people have asked about our man-made world: How did things get so ugly? We have all admired the natural grace of old buildings and wondered why modern architects seem to have such a hard time creating their equal. We live in a time when only a few gifted and dedicated teams of designers can produce buildings that approach the beauty of these that eighteenth-century carpenters created all by themselves. What went wrong? In this fascinating tour of our buildings and our social history, Jonathan Hale examines the historical moment in the 1830s when builders and architects began to lose their sense of surety about what they were doing. He explores the societal pressures that turned buildings from pure efforts at expression into structures laden with symbols. Most important, he uncovers - in terms the lay reader can easily understand - the principles that animate great architecture, no matter what its style or period. In The

Customer Reviews:

The Best Book on the Subject.......2006-07-17

I have six shelves filled with books on architecture, design, urban planning, and proportion, including several books by Christopher Alexander, Andres Duany, Jim Kunstler, Philip Langdon, Peter Katz, and Jane Holz Kay. This one's my favorite. It's the most accessible and useful. What differentiates it is that it provides abundant photos, with lines overlaying them, that very clearly illustrate the author's point. His writing style is easy and generous. It's been a while since I read it, but I'm pretty sure Hale does not advocate brutal Le Corbusier-inspired design. He might have used one picture to illustrate that these ancient principles can also be used in modern architecture.

Hale focuses on illustrating things like the proportion of individual windows and how their proportion and placement do or do not harmonize with the side of the house they're on. I believe the principles Hale explains perfectly complement those that Andres Duany writes about. The biggest difference is that Duany focuses on design issues at the larger scale of street widths, building heights, and walking distances. I think if Duany added design harmony at the building level, one very coherent, unified theory would be the result.

One take-away of this book for me is this: You're looking at a house or building and something about it pleases you, but you can't put your finger on exactly what. He clearly illustrates what those things are for you, which satisfies your logical left brain. On the other hand, he strongly encourages designers to use their intuitive right brain, which instinctively knows what proportions and details are pleasing in a building. In the end, you design with the right brain by letting it loose to play with form, and then you can fine tune using the regulating lines the left brain loves so much.

Far from advocating the "architect as auteur," Hale reminds us that almost no old houses were built using architects. Ordinary people, like farmers, built things of great beauty just by using the wise right brain to "eyeball" things like proportion, balance, harmony, and placement.

Maybe I Just Don't Get It?.......2006-04-27

I purchased this book on the recommendation of a woodworking magazine writer I have come to respect. Though the book is on architecture I can see how many of the principles apply to furniture making as well. I understand what this author is saying, but sometimes thought that his geometric "hidden" relationships were somewhat stretched. I think I could probably do the same thing with any building if I looked at it long enough. It sometimes felt like a real tough read for me (it certainly helped me go to sleep many nights). Given this book appears out of print and he hefty price I paid for it, I would certainly look elsewhere if you are coming from the same direction I came from on the purchase. An understanding of the golden ratio, shadow lines and looking at some classic pieces (shaker, federal, etc.) will probably yield equal or better benefit to your own furniture design making. Though out of my league, I would stretch to say the same exact thing to an architect.

Good book..........2005-07-07

This book is quite good and contains some surprising revelations on why buildings look the way they do. It's an excellent book but can be vague in some areas as the author attempts to convey some very theoretical concepts.

Revealing hidden truth at its finest.......2003-04-09

Jonathan Hale's book so truly reveals the source of the hidden 'feel' in older buildings as also described by Christopher Alexander in 'A Timeless Way of Building', and which also draws parallels to other aspects of life.

Hale cites the turning point in society away from the honoring our human 'intuition' to the honoring of 'rational' or 'calculating' thinking which so drastically altered the 'feel' and look of architecture, and he puts this date around 1830. Alexis de Tocqueville also described the 'calculating' way of thinking in America which he encountered after that time..and who is also cited by Hale.

Truly worth the read, and it will probably change not only the way you look at buildings from now on, but also the way 'calculating' thinking dominates so many aspects of life now. I personally find when I get back into situations where the people and their decisions operate more from the basis of intuition, I feel a lot more human and natural, and no longer feel obliged to say the 'accepted' things which so many of us find ourselves saying, but not really believing. Hale's book has helped me understand why this is, and made me feel more comfortable with being natural and intuitive.

YOU'LL SEE IT WHEN YOU BELIEVE IT?.......2000-07-12

The "old way of seeing" is a phrase that architect/author Hale coins that describes an aesthetic sense that cannot be easily categorized in terms like Historic, Modernism, or Post modernism. He builds a thorough argument calling for a combination of design that incorporates universal human fondness for pattern with a designer sense of intuition and play. He argues that such "old way of seeing" has been lost in much by both the designer and the wider public and that today's contemporary architecture and built environment is the result. It's not that Hale is a traditionalist or even a Neo-traditonalist... it's just that he argues that most contemporary architecture (and all design for that matter) deals too much with style and superficial symbols than with basic elements of design such as proportion, balance, and structure. At first this may sound like he is supporting a Modernist view of design, but this is not the case, He has some of his severest criticism of the sterility, blandness and generally lack of delight that results from this"form follows function" paradigm.

While Hale appreciates Post Modern's return to architecture as delight, he is equally critical of this movement as well, claiming that it focuses almost entirely on effect and status and symbol. He extends this criticism to todays' "Neo-traditonal" planners including Andres Duany and claims they are superficial and obsessed with codes and regulations which tend to deaden the designs.

The author covers a lot of ground in this subject of architecture, art and design, but it is always interesting reading, with good photos and illustrations, Hale's easy writing style brings to life the issues he talks about, though at times he seems to stretch to make a point. He uses a photo of Audrey Hepburn's face superimposed with lines and diagonals to illustrate the "Golden Section" proportion to the accuracy of 1/1000 of a decimal. I'm tempted to say that some of the points he makes are not particularly objective and are the result of a "You'll see it when you believe it" tendency (like when the believing Catholic sees a miracle of the face of the Virgin Mary in the stains on the side of a building.)

Overall, though this is a ground-breaking book on architecture and design, perhaps the most significant since Venturi's "Learning from Las Vegas" in the 1970's. It's well worth the time and energy to read. Ideas will spin from it long after one finishes the book. Just don't take every word as gospel.

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Young Leaves: An Old Way of Seeing New Writings on Haiku in English Haiku JournalÕs 25th Anniversary Issue
Multiple Authors. Edited by Patricia J. Machmiller and June Hopper Hymas
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Hawaiian Knowing: Old Ways for Seeing a New World
Manulani Aluli Meyer
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General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

For millennia — from before the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaii — the Hawaiian language was one of nuance and erudition. In the 19th century, it was New England missionaries that were the first to transcribe the language — Hawaiian is an oral culture. Hawaiian Knowing explores a form of intelligence not measurable in classrooms or by standardized tests — intelligence grounded in spirit, place, sensory awareness, relationships, utility, language, and the oneness of body and mind.

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Old Way of Seeing How Architecture Lost
Jonathan Hale
Manufacturer: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO@
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VUOL5E

Old Way of Seeing, The : How Architecture Lost Its Magic and How to Get It Back

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Old Way of Seeing, The : How Architecture Lost Its Magic and How to Get It Back
Jonathan Hale
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Oxford Union Murals (Chicago Visual Library)
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To Make It Home: Photographs of the American West
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Customer Reviews:

Even handed.......2007-04-10

A surprisingly even handed treatment of the controversial banker who helped ease Hitler's rise to power and then fell out of favor and landed up in a concentration camp. It's too easy to demonize everyone associated with Hitler and tougher to show how someone like Schacht could see how Hitler could help a devastated Germany after Versailles and the great inflation but not recognize his inherent evil. Those who like a world of stark black and white may not like the book because it shows humanity at a portrait in gray.

Many Shades of Weitz.......2003-01-25

As a biographical note:

John Weitz the author of this book, is the same John Weitz that was a popular US clothing desinger in the second half of the 20th century. He was also an intelligence agent for the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA during and immediately after WWII. Ian Fleming mentioned Weitz as the prototype of his character, James Bond.

Weitz is also the father of Paul and Chris Weitz, the directors of "American Pie", and "About A Boy", and admirably not "American Pie II".

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A fair portrait of the man, but shaky on the facts.......2000-04-14

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Hitler's Banker: Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht
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Hitler's Banker : Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht
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Face, Harmony, and Social Structure continues author P. Christopher Earley's investigations of the differences among people within organizations in different cultures. The concept of "face," as set forth by Earley, is a reflection of the individual's struggle for self-definition and understanding, of which a key component is a positioning of self relative to others is a social setting. Face is at the heart of social behavior and provides a consistent linking mechanism to understand behavior across cultures. Earley uses this concept of face as a basis for examination of cross-cultural organizational behavior from an individual's personal perspective. In this work, he develops a mid-range theory of individual behavior, self-concept, and interpersonal process in an effort to explain cultural differences in organizational settings. He sets up a cross-level model, and then attempts to provide a single coherent force--"face"--as an engine driving the entire system that can be used to integrate various social and organizational mechanisms in predicting people's behavior. This understanding of how and why people behave certain ways is a critical tool for studying the impact of individual behavior on the functioning of organizations. Earley's work represents a new theory of self-presentation and face within a cross-cultural context, integrating a cross-level approach ranging from the individual to the organization and to the societal levels of discussion. Face, Harmony, and Social Structure is a truly interdisciplinary work that brings elements of psychology, sociology, and anthropology to organizational studies. It will be illuminating reading for professionals and scholars of management and organizational behavior, as well as to academics in cross-cultural psychology and anthropology.

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Book Description

By late 1944, with the Allies having successfully landed in France in June 1944 and subsequently expanded their bridgehead to encompass much of Northern France and Belgium in the west and with the Russians inexorably advancing westwards, World War II in Europe was rapidly approaching its finale. However, as evinced by the Ardennes campaign in the west, whilst Germany was facing ultimate defeat, like a wounded animal, it was still capable of inflicting major losses on Allied forces. In the east, it appeared that every inch of soil was defended to the last and some of the most bitter fighting of the entire war occurred during its final six months on the Eastern Front, as the Germans doggedly sought to defend the territory it had conquered in 1940 and that of its erstwhile Allies, such as Hungary. For the Germans, it was not just that the loss of this territory would bring the dreaded Red Army to the very gates of-and later into-Berlin but also it was these areas that much of the raw material required to sustain the war effort was derived. Despite the efforts of the remnants of Hitler's once great Wehrmacht, the Russian army proved unstoppable; sheer weight of numbers and quantity of materiel ensured that the best defence that the Germans could offer proved inadequate and, by May 1945, the fight had reached the very centre of Berlin. Armageddon had literally reached the heart of Hitler's Reich.

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Book Description

What caused the fall of the Roman empire? What did the second amendment to the U.S. constitution mean to the founding fathers? What was the role of black troops in the American Civil War?

History in Dispute addresses these heavily debated questions by offering your students different critical perspectives on major historical events, drawn from all time periods and from all parts of the globe. The intent of this biennial series is to provide students with an enhanced understanding of events only summarized in history texts, help stimulate critical thinking and provide ideas for papers and assignments.

Each volume in the History in Dispute series has a thematic, era or subject-specific focus that coincides with the way history is studied at the academic level. Each volume contains roughly 50 entries, chosen by an advisory board of historians and academics. Entries begin with a brief overview summarizing the controversy. This introduction is followed by two or more signed, point-counterpoint essays of 1,500 to 2,000 words each. Features include excerpts from primary source documents to illuminate the viewpoints presented with each entry; photographs and drawings of individuals, sites, objects or documents pertinent to the event or topic; and a chronological list of events. Volumes include a cumulative subject index.

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History in Dispute: World War I First Series

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Dennis Showalter
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History in Dispute - World War I, Second Series (History in Dispute)

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History in Dispute - World War I, Second Series (History in Dispute)

Manufacturer: St. James Press
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Book Description

What caused the fall of the Roman empire? What did the second amendment to the U.S. constitution mean to the founding fathers? What was the role of black troops in the American Civil War?

Look for coverage of:

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How the Middle East got that way: the seeds of much of the conflict in the Mideast today were planted by Britain and its Allies after World War I, when ... An article from: New York Times Upfront

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How the Middle East got that way: the seeds of much of the conflict in the Mideast today were planted by Britain and its Allies after World War I, when ... An article from: New York Times Upfront
Sam Roberts
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000N6U4P2
Release Date: 2007-02-05

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New York Times Upfront, published by Thomson Gale on January 15, 2007. The length of the article is 2098 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: How the Middle East got that way: the seeds of much of the conflict in the Mideast today were planted by Britain and its Allies after World War I, when they carved up the remains of the Ottoman Empire.(TIMES PAST)
Author: Sam Roberts
Publication: New York Times Upfront (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 15, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 139 Issue: 8 Page: 24(6)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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The Birds of Tikal: An Annotated Checklist for Tikal National Park and Peten, Guatemala (W L Moody, Jr. Natural History Series, No 12)
Randell A. Beavers
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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