What Architecture Is

Witty, personal, and engaging, this cri de coeur from an esteemed critic takes on the age-old question of what elevates a mere building into an art form

What is it about architecture that distinguishes it from ordinary building? Frustrated with the many cookie-cutter buildings going up around his home in downtown Philadelphia, eminent architectural historian and critic Witold Rybczynski offers an immersive meditation on the question in this extended essay, an insightful and opinionated reflection on the essential qualities of architecture both historical and modern.

The book's structure pays homage to John Ruskin's treatise The Seven Lamps of Architecture; here, Rybczynski identifies his own guideposts: past, an awareness of ancient and modern architectural heritage; order, what emerges out of a careful plan; ornament, the addition of decorative elements; meaning, how buildings speak; beauty, or aesthetics; drawing, as a means to the end; and place, in the sense of both how place influences a structure and how architects create a sense of place. Rybczynski addresses the complicated question of what architecture is through compelling compositions on renowned buildings and designs--Hadrian's Arch, the Eiffel Tower, the Barcelona Pavilion--alongside examinations of lesser-known structures and charming anecdotes. The book is enlivened by fifty of the author's black-and-white drawings, adding another personal touch to this captivating book.

Witold Rybczynski is an architect and emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. His books include Home: A Short History of an Idea and The Story of Architecture.

Review Quotes:
"A pleasure to read. . . . Rejecting the cookie-cutter construction embraced by too many cities, [Rybczynski] offers an immersive, insightful, and opinionated reflection on historical and modern architecture and urban planning."--Mark Favermann, Arts Fuse

"Rybczynski's assessment of what makes a building more than a container for human activity is lucid and refreshingly optimistic. Aspiring architects will be inspired and enlightened."-- Publishers Weekly

"Rybczynski's lifetime of observation and experience gets to the essence of architecture in all its variety."--Hugh Pearman, author of About Architecture

"With its clear-headedness, its open-mindedness, and its straightforward personal touch, What Architecture Is distills the timeless appeal of the most comprehensive, paradoxical, and sociable of the arts."--Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame