Spirit of the Machine: Technology as an Inspiration in Architectural Design Book

The design of our environment and the application of science are two areas of human activity that impact most profoundly on everyday life. Spirit of the Machine draws these areas together by investigating the importance of technological advance in architectural design and the philosophies that have inspired its aesthetic and symbolic development. Of interest to anyone with a keen awareness of their surroundings, it will heighten the reader's appreciation of the architectural environment and the factors that are shaping its form today. In this highly accessible work, Robert Kronenburg investigates the ways in which innovative and alternative technologies may be exploited to produce new design approaches, widening designers' horizons and increasing their ability to create appropriate settings for contemporary life. This is a study not of technology itself, but of its effect on the most fundamental aspect of human existence: how we inhabit the world. Drawing on a wide frame of reference - from architecture and science to literature and cinema - the book offers a full and detailed examination of the subject. It also includes a year-by-year chronology of major historical, architectural and technological events and innovations of the 20th century, providing the reader with a concise overview of the significant independent factors that are so important in an understanding of its context. Read More