000			02518cam a2200277 i 4500
999			_c269786 _d269786
003			pucpr
005			20190612095617.0
008			170310s2017 maua b 001 0 eng c
020			_a9780674976108 _qcloth : alk. paper
040			_apucpr _beng _cpucpr _dpucpr _erda
049			_aCARIBET
050	0	0	_aNA1995 _bG69 2017
082	0	0	_a720 _223
100	1		_aGraaf, Reinier de, _d1964-
245	1	0	_aFour walls and a roof : _bthe complex nature of a simple profession / _cReinier de Graaf. _htxt
264		1	_aCambridge, Massachusetts : _bHarvard University Press, _c2017
300			_axii, 513 p. : _bill. ; _c25 cm. _fbook
336			_atext _2rdacontent _btxt
337			_aunmediated _2rdamedia _bn
338			_avolume _2rdacarrier _bnc
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references.
520			_aArchitecture, we like to believe, is an elevated art form that shapes the world as it pleases. Four Walls and a Roof challenges this notion, presenting a candid account of what it is really like to work as an architect, buffeted by external forces that make a mockery of any pretense to visionary authority. Reinier de Graaf draws on his own tragicomic experiences in the field to reveal the world of contemporary architecture in vivid snapshots. He takes us from suburban New York to the rubble of northern Iraq, from the corridors of wealth in London, Moscow, and Dubai to garbage-strewn wastelands that represent the demolished hopes of postwar social housing. We meet oligarchs determined to translate ambitions into concrete and steel, developers for whom architecture is mere investment, and the layers of politicians, bureaucrats, consultants, and mysterious hangers-on who lie between any architectural idea and the chance of its execution. He introduces us to histories of modern architecture that determine--at least as much as individual inspiration--what architects design. And he questions the hubris of those who believe they are the solution to the overwhelming problems of booming megacities. Perhaps the most important myth de Graaf debunks is success itself. To achieve anything, architects must serve the powers they strive to critique, finding themselves in a perpetual conflict of interest. Together, he shows, architects, developers, politicians, and consultants form an improvised world of conflict and compromise that none alone can control.-- _cProvided by publisher
650		0	_aArchitectural practice.
650		0	_aArchitecture.
942			_2lcc _c6 _hNA1995 _kGeneral _mG69 2017