Heavenly Mansions and other essays on architecture

by John Summerson

A classic of architectural history and theory, Heavenly Mansions interprets architecture as a reflection of the age in which it flowers, and it traces the alternating themes of fantasy and functionalism as exemplified in various styles and in the works of a number of influential men, including Christopher Wren, Viollet-le-Duc, William Butterfield, and Le Corbusier. It gives an account of John Wood and the unique English Town-Planning Tradition begun early in the eighteenth century, and of J.M. Gandy, whose two curious books of designs paralleled the Romantic Age of literature and were yet unmistakably prophetic of cubism. Succinctly summarizing 800 years of viewpoints about architecture, it ranges from Gothic architecture to the Renaissance to the influence of modern abstract art on twentieth-century architecture. This work is invaluable to students of art, architecture, and the humanities in general.

Genres: Architecture, Art

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Sir John Newenham Summerson CH CBE was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sum...


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Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked out this book from the library since it came up in a search for Eileen Gray and had “mansions” in the title. I only read the chapter on Le Corbusier and found it quite interesting (especially since I’m not an art nor an architectural student.)

“Just as Picasso’s work is, as he has said, a sum of destructions, so, in a sense, is Le Corbusier’s…Just as in a painting by Picasso…the appearance of a thing is torn to pieces, broken into bits and reconstituted in a ridiculous jigsaw which has, nevertheless, a perfect logic of its own…” p. 189