Combining design thinking with academic methods of inquiry, Piotrowski traces ancient to modern architectural histories and—through critical readings of select buildings—examines the role of nonverbal exchanges in the development of an accumulated Western identity. Unlike studies that organize around the traditional scheme of periodization in history,
Architecture of Thought uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate a wide spectrum of cultural pr
Trade Review"Ambitious in its historical and geographical scope, Architecture of Thought traces conflicting religious, political, and symbolic complexities in architecture that have been overlooked. Against the rational systems of Western thinking, with their emphasis on language, human intentionality, and forces of power, Andrzej Piotrowski probes places, buildings, and spatial practices that have eluded architectural history. This is timely and innovative analysis that will be of interest to historians and to practitioners of architecture and design." —Bronwen Wilson
"Architecture of Thought is written with passion as well as learning. Andrzej Piotrowski draws material from amazingly diverse sources, in a refreshing approach to familiar and unfamiliar architecture alike." —Charles Burroughs
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: The Moving Target of Architecture
1. Architecture and Medieval Modalities of Thought
2. Colonization and Symbolic Reality in Mesoamerica
3. Structures of Tolerance and Religious Domination
4. Technologies of Thought in Victorian England
5. High Modernism According to Le Corbusier
Closing Remarks: The West
Notes
Illustration Credits
Index
