Nurturing Dreams: Collected Essays on Architecture and the City

by Fumihiko Maki, Eduard F. Sekler (Foreword), Mark Mulligan (Editor)

Born in Tokyo, educated in Japan and the United States, and principal of an internationally acclaimed architectural practice, celebrated architect Fumihiko Maki brings to his writings on architecture a perspective that is both global and uniquely Japanese. Influenced by post-Bauhaus internationalism, sympathetic to the radical urban architectural vision of Team X, and a participant in the avant-garde movement Metabolism, Maki has been at the forefront of his profession for decades. This collection of essays documents the evolution of architectural modernism and Maki's own fifty-year intellectual journey during a critical period of architectural and urban history. Maki's treatment of his two overarching themes -- the contemporary city and modernist architecture -- demonstrates strong (and sometimes unexpected) linkages between urban theory and architectural practice. Images and commentary on three of Maki's own works demonstrate the connection between his writing and his designs. Moving through the successive waves of modernism, postmodernism, neomodernism, and other isms, these essays reflect how several generations of architectural thought and expression have been resolved within one career.

Genres: Architecture

273 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Milo Bitters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just picked this book up off the shelf of my classroom because the title looked sweet to me. Surprisingly, it was a great way to dip my brain's toes into numerous modern architectural topics & debates. It shared important perceptual and experiential architectural thoughts that have been lacking for me at school so far. I️ was much the wiser upon turning the last page. This book is wide ranging and hopeful, wise, and personal. Calming to read under a yellow tree or in the back seat of a red tram car. I️ really appreciate Maki's personal tone in his essays, and his sensitivity to his experiences and bias. He has a very keen memory and an interesting career that is chronicled well in the introductory essays and informs the latter. It is a welcoming book: surely not only for architecture students. I️ wish that I️ could develop in the time periods he has; Maki continually expresses his concern for the future of architecture and the generations of architects after him. I'm not sure exactly how/why the historical eras of his life make this wide collection of essays utopian, but it is. He just seems like a very lucky guy. Of course he only shares the best of his thoughts though.
I'm not sure if this review is cohesive at all. it's a good book ok. that is the gist im trying to get at.