Background
Smithson, Peter Denham was born on September 18, 1923 in Stockton-on-Tees, England. Son of William Blenkiron and Elizabeth (Denham).
(Until recently the ideas of Alison and Peter Smithson hav...)
Until recently the ideas of Alison and Peter Smithson have been known mainly to those professionally involved in architecture and urban design. This is so because they have presented their ideas usually in project form, accompanied by elliptical texts designed to prevent the building up of rigid thought patterns in the minds of those studying them. Ordinariness and Light, by contrast, is an extended exploration of their theories and work over the past seventeen years, in which not only their aesthetic but also their political and emotional concerns are made plain. The book brings together a previously unpublished long text of 1952-53, "Urban Re-identification," and a sequence of later essays and statements. All this material has been revised for the present volume, and provided with a linking commentary. The general theme is "the invention of an architecture structured by notions of association." The authors argue that the form of the city and the town must correspond to the human needs of the present; looser knit than in the past, even the quite recent past; more open and changing. And for city and town to correspond to this pattern of society there must be better systems of physical communication, and new form-concepts through which society can recognize and realize its new self. The arguments, examples, and illustrations in the book show how a very small shift in our way of looking at the ordinary things that go to make up cities and towns could restore to them their rich classic connotations. Houses would once more feel like places of adventure, as well as security; roads would be made to give a sense of cohesion and connection, as well as of release. For the Smithsons, to sense an "ordering" in things is to feel liberated and free to use them. Ordinariness and Light will enable all who are exercised about the deterioration of urban life to share their dream of cities that can breathe. It may help, perhaps, to generate in society at large that kind of committed participation that their notion of "ordering" implies.
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("When le Corbusier assembled Vers Une Architecture," writ...)
"When le Corbusier assembled Vers Une Architecture," write the Smithsons, "he gave to young architects everywhere a way of looking at the emergent machine-served society, and from that, a way of looking at antiquity and a rationale to support his personal aesthetic. Viollet-le-Duc had performed the same service to architects before le Corbusier: the role they played is traditional to the development of architecture. In this essay, based on material written between 1955 and 1972, we try to do the same as these architects before us. "We write to make ourselves see what we have got in the inescapable present...to give another interpretation of the same ruins...to show a glimpse of another aesthetic." The Smithsons gained an international reputation in the early 1950s, both for their buildings and for being instrumental in the development of the "thoughtful" approach to modern architecture. Their theoretical accommodation of the economic and social context in which the architect/urbanist works was set out as succinctly as possible in Urban Structuring, published in 1967. Team 10 Primer, first published in a special issue of Architectural Design in 1962, and subsequently brought up to date and published by The MIT Press in book form in 1968, documented the Smithsons' search with other leading architect/urbanist/teachers for a technique of working together, a skill or way of thinking that past cultures obviously had but that seemed to be lost to the builders in our present cities. Without Rhetoric—concerned with architectural form and its material embodiment—is a parallel volume to Ordinariness and Light (The MIT Press, 1970), which contained those essays concerning urban form written over the years 1952-1960. Architecture tends to be long-lasting, which makes thoughtful architects cautious, anxious to try to understand, to respond intelligently. They tend to dig into things, so that their intuition has as sound a base as possible to work on. Without Rhetoric is a refinement of the results of twenty years of such digging, intended to give the reader a real feeling for these particular architects' interests and obsessions. Among the many subjects discussed in word and image are The New Brutalism...the role of advertising in shaping what we think we need...The Rocket, a statement on the present state of architecture...Mies van der Rohe, a homage...some meditations on Braun...The use of repetition....
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(This book comprises edited essays, notes and letters span...)
This book comprises edited essays, notes and letters spanning thirty years -- many previously unpublished -- richly illustrated with documentary drawings and photographs. The theme of the collection, developed through the Smithsons' reactions to the work of Mies van der Rohe and Charles and Ray Eames, is the influence across generations of architects, transforming over time the way the 'art of inhabitation' is practiced. The influence of Mies on the Smithsons' work is widely recognised; perhaps more surprising is the profound and subtle influence of the Eames' work on the Brutalist Smithsons. The book presents a fascinatingly intimate account of the way Mies and the Eames revolutionised architecture and design, as felt by two articulate and thoughtful practitioners, rather than the views of cultural historians.
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(»Der Schwerpunkt unserer Aufmerksamkeit«, heißt es bei Al...)
»Der Schwerpunkt unserer Aufmerksamkeit«, heißt es bei Alison und Peter Smithson, »hat sich verlagert: von Gebäuden als Objekten auf die Auswirkungen der Gebäude zur räumlichen Ausformulierung des Territoriums. So wie der Wohnungsbau die wichtigste Aufgabe der Architekten der Klassischen Moderne war, sollte die räumliche Ausformulierung des Territoriums die wichtigste Aufgabe unserer Zeit sein. «Im Sinne dieser Forderung entwickelt »Italienische Gedanken - weitergedacht« die in dem 1996 erschienenen ersten Band untersuchte Beziehung zwischen Gebäuden und ihrer Umgebung, zwischen Architektur und natürlicher und gebauter Welt produktiv weiter: im Zeichen eines architektonischen Entwerfens, das Klarheit und Komplexität, Anschaulichkeit und Einfachheit in einen neuen Zusammenhang bringt. Ebenfalls erhältlich: Alison und Peter Smithson, Italienische Gedanken. Beobachtungen und Reflexionen zur Architektur (Bauwelt Fundamente, Bd. 111) ISBN 3-7643-6386-X
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(Italienische Gedanken: Peter Smithson zwischen 1976 und 1...)
Italienische Gedanken: Peter Smithson zwischen 1976 und 1990 in Siena und Urbino am International Laboratory for Architecture and Urban Design in Urbino gehaltene und von Alison Smithson für dieses Buch redigierte Vorlesungen erörtern und kommentieren in der Tradition von Francesco di Giorgio und vor allem Le Corbusier architektonische Themen der Moderne, die in den Projekten und realisierten Bauten der Smithsons weiterentwicklet und umgesetzt sind - mit neuen Ideen zu Haus, Wohnung und Stadt.
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(Alison and Peter Smithson, founders of Team X and authors...)
Alison and Peter Smithson, founders of Team X and authors of the classic Team X Primer, are among the most influential architects of the postwar decades. Their reevaluation of modernism shifted the focus of architecture and urbanism toward the particularities and uniqueness of human associations, urban patterns, and climatic conditions. Many of their ideas, both social (cluster and human association) and architectural (Brutalism, the nature of materials), profoundly influenced later generations of academics, students, and practitioners. As the social ideals of earlier times become an integral part of the reassessment of the built environment of recent years, the Smithsons continue to gain in significance. This unprecedented and long-overdue publication is the first comprehensive book available on the enormous legacy of the Smithsons. The architectural works in this book, which span from the mid-1940s to the mid-1990s, include all of their major projects, such as Hunstanton Secondary School, Golden Lane Housing, Sheffield University, the Economist Building, and the "House of the Future." Introductions to groups of projects highlight the Smithsons' ongoing areas of inquiry; each project is accompanied by an original text, photographs, drawings, and plans. The rich and careful documentation on each project ensures that this volume will record the work of these important architects for posterity.
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( The definitive text on globalization, this book provide...)
The definitive text on globalization, this book provides an accessible, jargon-free analysis of how the world economy works and its effects on people and places. Peter Dicken synthesizes the latest ideas and empirical data to blaze a clear path through the thicket of globalization processes and debates. The book highlights the dynamic interactions among transnational corporations, nations, and other key players, and their role in shaping the uneven contours of development. Mapping the changing centers of gravity of the global economy, Dicken presents in-depth case studies of six major industries. Now in full color throughout, the text features 228 figures. Companion websites for students and instructors offer extensive supplemental resources, including author videos, applied case studies with questions, lecture notes with PowerPoint slides, discipline-specific suggested further reading for each chapter, and interactive flashcards. New to This Edition: *Every chapter thoroughly revised and updated. *All 228 figures (now in color) are new or redesigned. *Addresses the ongoing fallout from the recent global financial crisis. *Discussions of timely topics: tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility; global problems of unemployment, poverty, and inequality; environmental degradation; the Eurozone crisis; and more. *Enhanced online resources for instructors and students.
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Smithson, Peter Denham was born on September 18, 1923 in Stockton-on-Tees, England. Son of William Blenkiron and Elizabeth (Denham).
Stockton-onTees Grammar School, University of Durham and Royal Academy Schools, London.
Milan Triennale 1968, Venice Biennale 1976. Assistant at L.C.C. 1949-1950. In private practice as architect with Alison Smithson since 1950. Visiting Professor, of Architecture, Bath University 1978-1989.
(Italienische Gedanken: Peter Smithson zwischen 1976 und 1...)
("When le Corbusier assembled Vers Une Architecture," writ...)
(»Der Schwerpunkt unserer Aufmerksamkeit«, heißt es bei Al...)
(This book comprises edited essays, notes and letters span...)
( The definitive text on globalization, this book provide...)
(Alison and Peter Smithson, founders of Team X and authors...)
(Until recently the ideas of Alison and Peter Smithson hav...)
(Some scuffing on spine, corners bumped, white cover shows...)
(Book by Levine, Peter)
(1)
Principal works include Hunstanton School, Economist Building, London, Robin Hood Gardens, G.L.C. Housing in Tower Hamlets, Garden Building St. Hilda's College, Oxford, Amenity Building, University Bath, Second Arts Building 6 East, University Bath, Arts Barn, University Bath, 1978-1990, Porch at Ansty Plum, Porches at Tecta, Lauenforde, 1992-1999, Hexenbesenraum, Karlshafen, 1991-1996, Hexenhaus Bridge and Pier, 1997, Hexenhaus Tea-House, Panorama Porch, Tecta, Lauenforde, 1997-1998, Hexenhaus Lantern Pavilion, 2001-2003, exhibitions include House of the Future, 1956, Milan Triennale, 1968, Venice Biennale, 1976, Tichleindeckdich, Cologne and Berlin, 1993, On the Floor-Off the Floor, Cologne, 1998, The Lattice Idea, 1999, 2000, Madrid, 2000. Author: Ordinariness and Light, 1970, Urban Structuring Studies, 1971, Without Rhetoric, 1979, The Heroic Period of Modern Architecture, 1981, The Shift, 1982, Monographs, The 1930's, 1985, Italian Thoughts, 1993, Changing the Art of Inhabitation, 1994, Bath Walks Within Walls: Oxford and Cambridge Walks (all with A. Smithson) Book Work, 1995, Italienische Gedanken, 1996, The Charged Void: Architecture, 2002. Co-author (with K. Unglaub): Flying Furniture, 1999.
Son of; married Alison Margaret Gill, 1949 (deceased August 1993). 3 children.