Since the early 1800s; African Americans have designed signature buildings; however; in the mainstream marketplace; African American architects; especially women; have remained invisible in architecture history; theory and practice.Traditional architecture design studio education has been based on the historical models of the Beaux-Arts and the Bauhaus; with a split between design and production teaching. As the result of current teaching models; African American architects tend to work on the production or technical side of building rather than in the design studio. It is essential to understand the centrality of culture; gender; space and knowledge in design studios.Space Unveiled?is a significant contribution to the study of architecture education; and the extent to which it has been sensitive to an inclusive cultural perspective. The research shows that this has not been the case in American education because part of the culture remains hidden.
#4066347 in eBooks 2014-07-04 2014-07-04File Name: B00M77WW50
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Quite Boring.By New Yorkerthis is just barely ok. Absolutely boring presentation and writing. I thought it would be more personal -- about how people lived in their homes. Very disappointed in this book.every chapter is devoted to one thing -- one chapter on flushing toilets; one chapter on chairs; one chapter on heat .. etc so there is no flow or connection from chapter to chapter.the writing is monotone. Some reviewers say it is like a lot of lecture notes put into a book -- I think It is more as if a series of college essays on this subject were collected and that makes it even more boring.I am interested in the subject and am still reading it but it is certainly not a page turner.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Fun and informativeBy Mary A FanelliThis is an interesting and well-written book which pretty much illustrates that the more things change; the more they stay the same. The book shows how rich and famous set the standard for comfort and style which was slavishly followed by the wanna-bees before eventually trickling down to the masses and becoming objects of daily life. The author does a great job illustrating how the idea of something nobody absolutely needed- say; a sofa- became the reality of a sofa through trial and error. Then by genius marketing of the simple idea of comfort; with a little sexiness thrown in; turned a sofa into a must-have luxury item for the rich and famous. Thus we see how easily our society is shaped by consumerism today. Seems like were genetically hard wired for it.Its a fun book; and informative. Any student of cultural anthropology or history would enjoy it.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. When sofas were regarded as untowardBy M. A NewmanHow much is too much? Joan DeJean addresses these questions in her history of 17th and 18th century French architecture and design; "The Age of Comfort."The story begins at the grandiose court of Louis XIV. Essentially since the renaissance; rulers had been building bigger and less comfortable edifices. When news of the Florentine Renaissance reached the popes in Rome; they wanted much the same thing only bigger. When France discovered; under its late 15th century kings; the innovations of Italy (during wars with the Holy Roman Empire to gain control of it) they wanted the same thing. Buildings became bigger and more grand and at the same time less comfortable; harder to heat and more and more oppressive.Versailles was the crescendo of these attempts at royal grandeur making. It is very likely that during his lifetime Louis XIV never at hot food in his life; the kitchens were so far removed from the dining room. While it set the standard for regal living quarters; every ruling house built something along its lines; Versailles with its uncomfortable furniture made out of silver; and its lack of comforts sent people in a radical new direction.The novel approach was to build and design for comfort and not just show. This meant houses with flush toilets; smaller easier to heat rooms and more effective chimneys; bathing. Furniture was to be upholstered instead of wood with no padding. The arm chair and the sensual sofa came into vogue.This desire for comfort by the courtiers of Versailles was seen as the thin edge of the wedge in terms of standards declining. Had not one of Louiss mistresses; the formidable Madame de Montespan; this 17th century comfort craze might have died on the vine. Montespan sponsored a generally loosening of standards; if not stays which appalled members of the old order. In their minds good courtiers reflected grandeur in cold rooms; uncomfortable clothing and never had the desire to sit down. While Louis indulged in such revolutionary behavior in private; he took a dim view of this slackening in what was viewed as "standards" and the dangerous innovations proposed by the new generation. Had Montespan not been the kings mistress; she surely would have been dismissed as a "communist" if not a fascist for her instance on bathrooms in lieu of urinating in the corners (the traditional approach).The comfort revolution received a shot in the arm with the death of Louis and the declaration of the regency under Phillip duc DOrleans. He was the person who New Orleans was named after and as one might expect; a firm believer in all forms of comfort to the point of debauchery. The shift of court life to Paris during his time as regent created a vogue for building there that involved not only the aristocracy; but also the new commercial classes; empowered by the easy credit of John Law. The collapse of Laws financial schemes created both new rich and impoverished aristocrats (who got burned by the vagaries of the market).Under the new world of the regent; architecture took on a different character. Influenced by classical forms; it assumed a more human scale. Patronage was; probably for the first time; not just a product of the aristocracy. If one looks at the paintings of De Troy; which are largely genre paintings of bourgeois domestic life; these are quite different from the allegories that featured Louis XIV as a figure from Greek mythology.Probably the most amusing chapter deals with the invention of the sofa. Like comic books; radio; the internet; and chewing gum; the sofa was seen as a threat to public morals and a source of moral turpitude. Moralist would not have one of these new furniture inventions since artists tended to portray them as alters of seduction. While it was too early for a popular movement trying to ban them (one of the advantages of aristocracy is the lack of importance given over to paranoid ranters); members of the clergy predictably tried to limit their use. However; comfort by this point was here to stay; having acquired an new champion during the reign of Louis XV; the middle class born; Madame de Pompadour. Jefferson would latter seek to import ideas of French comfort to his home in Virginia.This is a very entertaining book that shows how conveniences and attitudes evolved today that we take for granted. DeJean brings together a number of trends and attitudes to show how people came to take the idea of comfort not as a sinister movement; but as necessary to human happiness.
