Summary

In this rapidly globalizing world, any investigation of architecture inevitably leads to considerations of regionalism. But despite its omnipresence in contemporary practice and theory, architectural regionalism remains a fluid concept, its historical development and current influence largely undocumented. This comprehensive reader brings together over 40 key essays illustrating the full range of ideas embodied by the term. Authored by important critics, historians, and architects such as Kenneth Frampton, Lewis Mumford, Sigfried Giedion, and Alan Colquhoun, Architectural Regionalism represents the history of regionalist thinking in architecture from the early twentieth century to today.

These seminal textsmany of which are out of print and hard to locateare organized around themes that include regionalism and rapid modernization, modernism, historicism, regional planning, bioregionalism, and critical regionalism. Also included are a small group of recent, previously unpublished essays that extend the notion of architectural regionalism into the future. Taken as a whole, the collection underscores the continuing relevance of the concept as it fosters thoughtful works that engage the senses, embody and express local cultural processes, promote environmental sustainability, and enhance people's awareness of the world around them. Editor Vincent Canizaro's insightful introduction and his brief analysis of each essay guides readers through the lively debate surrounding this topic, making this the definitive reference on architectural regionalism for faculty, students, and practitioners in design and design-related fields.