November 2023 MBR The Architecture Shelf

The Architecture Shelf

Universal Principles of Architecture
Cruz Garcia, author
Nathalie Frankowski, author
Rockport Publishers
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
www.quartoknows.com
9780760380611, $40.00, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Architecture-Architectural-Relationships/dp/0760380619

Synopsis: Divided into Archetypes, Methods, Conditions, Relationships, and Imaginaries, each of the five sections comprising "Universal Principles of Architecture: 100 Architectural Archetypes, Methods, Conditions, Relationships, and Imaginaries" introduces in 20 principles architecture at different scales and stages of the design process. Through an inclusive and holistic approach, "University Principles of Architecture" refers to initial design ideas, creative design approaches, reflections on the effects of the built and destroyed environments, and architectural desires and aspirations to transform the world and engage with the cosmos.

Because architecture is the converging point where many fields of knowledge, ideas, forms, approaches, methods, sensibilities, and materials meet, "Universal Principles of Architecture" provides a flexible and dynamic space where the material, conceptual, and social take shape.

Written, illustrated, and designed by critically acclaimed architects, educators, and co-authors Cruz Garcia and Nathalie Frankowski of WAI Architecture Think Tank, "Universal Principles of Architecture" deftly combines accessible writing with otherworldly images like the ones they have displayed in exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou Metz, Museum of Modern Art New York, Neues Museum Nuremberg, and Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology Lisbon.

Intended as an intergenerational and transdisciplinary reference volume, "Universal Principles of Architecture" presents an ambitious overview of what architecture has been and can be in a world full of urgent challenges and abundant opportunities for social and ecological responsibility, and design creativity.

Critique: This large format (8.25 x 0.75 x 10 inches, 2.3 pounds), beautifully illustrated, hardcover edition of "Universal Principles of Architecture: 100 Architectural Archetypes, Methods, Conditions, Relationships, and Imaginaries" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college and university library Architecture collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for architecture students, academia, working architects, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Universal Principles of Architecture: 100 Architectural Archetypes, Methods, Conditions, Relationships, and Imaginaries" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).

Editorial Note #1: Founded by Puerto Rican architect, artist, curator, educator, author, and theorist Cruz Garcia and French architect, artist, curator, educator, author, and poet Nathalie Frankowski, WAI Architecture Think Tank is an internationally recognized studio invested in the development of new curricula and experiments that support public engagement with architecture. They are particularly interested in decolonization and anti-racist reconstruction of the role of architecture in the construction of new worlds. Garcia and Frankowski are Associate Professors at Iowa State University, where they are Design for Critical Futures Fellows in Activism and Emancipatory practice respectively, as well as faculty at the Advanced Architectural Design program at Columbia University. Their work has been part of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial and exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou Metz, Neues Museum Nuremberg, Museum of Modern Art New York, and the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology Lisbon. They are authors of Universal Principles of Architecture. (www.waithinktank.com).

Editorial Note #2: All the titles in the Rockport Universal series offer comprehensive and authoritative information and edifying and inspiring visual examples on multidisciplinary subjects for designers, architects, engineers, students, and anyone who is interested in expanding and enriching their design knowledge.

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