A comprehensive and eloquent argument for “new traditional” architecture that preserves the style and character of historic buildings. With contemporary design being redefined by architects and urbanists who are recovering the historic language associated with traditional architecture and the city, how might preservation change its focus or update its mission? Steven W. Semes, winner of the 2010 Clem Labine Award, makes a persuasive case that context matters and that new buildings and additions to old buildings should be harmonious with their neighbors. The Future of the Past was also named one of Planetizen‘s most noteworthy books of 2010 and one of The Atlantic Cities’ “10 Most Compelling Historic Preservation Reads.”
The highly influential writings by an important early advocate for the conservation of historic cities are made available for the first time in English.
The Italian architect, historian, and restorer Gustavo Giovannoni (1873–1947) was a key figure in the fields of architecture, urbanism, and conservation during the first half of the twentieth century. A traditionalist largely neglected by the proponents of modernist architecture following World War II, he remains little known internationally. His writings, however, until now unavailable in English, represent a significant step toward the full appreciation of the historic city and are directly relevant today to the protection of urban historic resources worldwide.
This abundantly illustrated critical anthology is a representative sample of Giovannoni’s seminal texts related to the appreciation, understanding, and planning of historic cities. The thirty readings, which appear with their original illustrations, are grouped into six parts organized around key concepts in Giovannoni’s conservation theory—urban building, respect for the setting or context, a thinning out of the urban fabric, conservation and restoration treatments, the grafting of the new upon the old, and reconstruction. Each part is preceded by an introduction, and each reading is prefaced by succinct remarks explaining the rationale for its selection and the principal matters covered. Six plate sections further illustrate the readings’ main concepts and themes.
The principles of classical architecture applied to the design of interiors, both residential and public. A practicing architect shows how the elements that constitute the classical interior-wall and ceiling treatments, doors and windows, fireplaces, and stairs-can be composed into rooms satisfying both aesthetic and practical criteria. Historic and contemporary examples illustrate both generic and specific solutions for designers working in the classical tradition today.