Main entry:

Cesal, Eric J., 1977-

Title & Author:

Down detour road : an architect in search of practice / Eric J. Cesal.

Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2010.

Description:

ix, 227 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: Reflections from detour road -- The aimless architect -- The case for empowerment -- Where we get power (kings, not sorcerers) -- Camping in the front yard -- The financial architect (or, A brief economic history of architecture) -- Great architecture is like pulling teeth -- The value architect -- Horse apples and cow pies -- The risk architect -- I'm an architect -- The paid architect -- The best idea in history -- The idea architect -- The basis of all things -- The knowing architect -- You're an architect, aren't you? -- The named architect -- How to become a famous architect -- The citizen architect -- How to make a golf course "green" -- The green architect -- The difference between hookers and architects -- The sober architect (or, A doctor, a lawyer, and an architect walk into a bar) -- Epilogue: Finding love at a hardware store.

Summary:

What does it say about the value of architecture that as the world faces economic and ecological crises, unprecedented numbers of architects are out of work? This is the question that confronted architect Eric Cesal as he finished graduate school at the onset of the worst financial meltdown in a generation. Down Detour Road is his journey: one that begins off-course, and ends in a hopeful new vision of architecture. Like many architects of his generation, Cesal confronts a cold reality. Architects may assure each other of their own importance, but society has come to view architecture as a luxury it can do without. For Cesal, this recognition becomes an occasion to rethink architecture and its value from the very core. He argues that the times demand a new architecture, an empowered architecture that is useful and relevant. New architectural values emerge as our cultural values shift: from high risks to safe bets, from strong portfolios to strong communities, and from clean lines to clean energy.This is not a book about how to run a firm or a profession; it doesn't predict the future of architectural form or aesthetics. It is a personal story--and in many ways a generational one: a story that follows its author on a winding detour across the country, around the profession, and into a new architectural reality.

ISBN:

9780262014618 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
0262014610 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Architectural practice.
Arkitektur praktik.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 268898
Call No.: BIB 200775
Status: Available