Architecture of Defeat
Description:
Kengo Kuma, one of Japan’s leading architects, has been combining professional practice and academia for most of his career. In addition to creating many internationally recognized buildings all over the world, he has written extensively about the history and theory of architecture. Like his built work, his writings also reflect his profound personal philosophy.
Architecture of Defeat is no exception. Now available in English for the first time, the book explores events and architectural trends in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in both Japan and beyond. It brings together a collection of essays which Kuma wrote after disasters such as the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11 and the earthquake and tsunami that obliterated much of the built landscape on Japan’s northern shore in a matter of minutes in 2011. Asking if we have been building in a manner that is too self-confident or arrogant, he examines architecture’s intrinsic―and often problematic―relationship to the powerful forces of contemporary politics, economics, consumerism, and technology, as well as its vital ties to society.
Despite the title, Architecture of Defeat is an optimistic and hopeful book. Rather than anticipating the demise of architecture, Kuma envisages a different mode of conceiving architecture: guided and shaped by more modesty and with greater respect for the forces of our natural world.
Beautifully designed and illustrated, this is a fascinating insight into the thinking of one of the world’s most influential architects.
Best prices to buy, sell, or rent ISBN 9781138390843
Frequently Asked Questions about Architecture of Defeat
The price for the book starts from $36.73 on Amazon and is available from 12 sellers at the moment.
If you’re interested in selling back the Architecture of Defeat book, you can always look up BookScouter for the best deal. BookScouter checks 30+ buyback vendors with a single search and gives you actual information on buyback pricing instantly.
As for the Architecture of Defeat book, the best buyback offer comes from and is $ for the book in good condition.
The Architecture of Defeat book is in very low demand now as the rank for the book is 2,229,708 at the moment. A rank of 1,000,000 means the last copy sold approximately a month ago.
The highest price to sell back the Architecture of Defeat book within the last three months was on December 27 and it was $6.91.