|
Thomas Gordon Smith and the Rebirth of Classical
Architecture For the past two decades, Thomas Gordon Smith has played a central role in the revival of classicism in contemporary architecture in America. In the late 1970s he became a key figure in the development of Post-Modernism but after contributing to that movement's seminal exhibition at the 1980 Venice Biennale he rejected the ironical approach of Robert Venturi and the decontextualization of Charles Moore, to develop an architecture which draws freely on the twenty-five centuries of the classical tradition. His conviction in the enduring relevance of the tradition to contemporary life has resulted in buildings which in terms of materials and function are just as much a product of the modern world as a High-Tech office building or a Decon museum extension; but in addition to admirably fulfilling the job for which they were intended, they also have the rare quality of engaging us intellectually. This extensively illustrated monograph presents Thomas Gordon Smith's buildings and projects for the first time. A biographical essay explores the polymathic range of his other activities, including his influential role as an educator, commentator on Vitruvius, historian of the Greek Revival, painter of frescoes, and designer and collector of furniture. "Richard John admirably conveys the fey quality of Smith's work, skipping around the edges of Antiquity, at once faun-like and sacerdotal, Etruscan and Early Christian, exuding innocence, strangeness, and abandon, and always suggesting a variety of religious experiences." VINCENT SCULLY, Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, Yale University "Thomas Gordon Smith, perhaps the most intellectually stimulating of the traditional and classical architects at work today in the U.S.A., has found in Richard John the ideal biographer. As in the plot of a first class detective story, we follow the careful construction of a career through the analysis of a complex weave of contrasting social, intellectual, and architectural conjunctions, including Thomas Gordon Smith’s meetings with figures as varied as Paolo Portoghesi, Christian Norberg Schulz, Philip Johnson and Stanley Tigerman. The result, rich with illustrations of stunning beauty, is one of the most remarkable biographies of any modern architect." DAVID WATKIN, Hon. FRIBA, Professor of the History of Architecture, University of Cambridge This book is now out of print, but sometimes copies are available via Amazon |