Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. Debate in architecture : Introduction: To students: why architectural theory is vital : Theory in architectural education ; Defining architectural theory ; The future of architectural theory -- Debating a discipline: architecture, argument, and the concept of the dialectic : The aspirations of architects ; The concept of the dialectic ; Dialectics: a few examples ; Dialectics in architecture -- Part 2. Dialectical readings in architecture : Tectonics : Simplicity and complexity : "Where do we stand?" / Marcel Breuer, 1935 ; Excerpts from Complexity and contradiction in architecture / Robert Venturi, 1966 ; "On simplicity" / Vittorio Gregotti, 1996 -- Ornament and austerity : "Ornament and crime" / Adolf Loos, 1908 ; "Ornament and crime: the decisive contribution of Adolf Loos" / Reyner Banham, 1957 ; Ornament is no crime / Joseph Rykwert, 1975 -- Honesty and deception : "The lamp of truth" / John Ruskin, 1849 ; Excepts from Discourses on architecture / Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1863 ; "Truth to the medium: using materials" / Fil Hearn, 1996 -- Material and immaterial : Excepts form The art of building in ten books / Leon Battista Alberti, 1486 ; Excerpts from The eyes of the skin / Juhani Pallasmaa, 1996 ; Excerpts from Immaterial architecture / Jonathan Hill, 2006 -- Use : Function and form : "The tall office building artistically considered" / Louis Sullivan, 1896 ; Excerpts from Architecture and disjunction / Bernard Tschumi, 1983 ; "Function" / Adrian Forty, 2000 -- Function and form (part 2) : Excerpts from An American architecture / Frank L. Wright, 1955 ; "Post-functionalism" / Peter Eisenman, 1976 ; "Purpose, function, use" / Richard Hill, 1999 -- Body and building : Excerpts from The ten books on architecture / Marcus Vitruvius, 25 B.C.E. ; Excerpts from Le modulor / Le Corbusier, 1948 ; "Hidden lines: gender, race, and the body" / Lance Hosey, 2001 -- Proportion and organization : Excerpts from The four books on architecture / Andrea Palladio, 1570 ; "The plan of the modern house" / Le Corbusier, 1930 ; "The mathematics of the ideal ville" / Colin Rowe, 1947 -- Site : Context and building : Excerpts from The radiant city / Le Corbusier, 1935 ; The death and life of great American cities / Jane Jacobs, 1961 ; "Contextualism: urban ideals and deformations" / Tom Schumacher, 1971 -- Context and building (part 2) : Excerpts form The ten books of architecture / Marcus Vitruvius, 25 B.C.E. ; Excerpts from Learning from Las Vegas / Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, 1972 ; "Context" / Adrian Forty, 2000 -- Natural and constructed : Excerpts from An essay on architecture / Marc-Antone Laugier, 1753 ; "Territory and architecture" / Vittorio Gregotti, 1985 ; "On site: architectural preoccupations" / Carol Burns, 1991 -- Natural and constructed (part 2) : Excerpts from Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture / Christian Norburg-Shulz, 1979 ; Excerpts from Place and placelessness / E. Ralph, 1976 ; "Genius loci: hidden truth or hidden agenda?" / Kathryn Moore, 2003 -- Appendices (for students) : Guide to reading comprehension ; Guide to descriptive, analytical, and disputational writing ; Guide to citation styles ; Guide to library-based research.

This is the most accessible architectural theory book that exists. Korydon Smith presents each common architectural subject - such as tectonics, use, and site - as though it were a conversation across history between theorists by providing you with the original text, a reflective text, and a philosophical text. He also introduces each chapter by highlighting key ideas and asking you a set of reflective questions so that you can hone your own theory, which is essential to both your success in the studio and your adaptability in the profession. These primary source texts, which are central to your understanding of the discipline, were written by such architects as Le Corbusier, Robert Venturi, and Adrian Forty. The appendices also have guides to aid your reading comprehension; to help you write descriptively, analytically, and disputationally; and to show you citation styles and how to do library-based research. More than any other architectural theory book about the great thinkers, Introducing Architectural Theory teaches you to think as well.