N. John Habraken (john@habraken.org)

[Summary] [Back Cover]

Summaries of the seven essays in the book 'Palladio's Children, or the return to the field':

One: Palladio’s children
Explores how Palladio’s role model early on shaped our professional self-image which has changed little after we abandoned his stylistic preferences.

Two: Leaving the field
Introduces the concept of ‘field’ to identify the urban, suburban, and rural environments understood as autonomous entities of physical form and inhabitation. Describes how our idea of the architect was the result of the emancipation of the traditional master builder from his bondage to the field.
 
Three: About fields
Reflects on evidence from fields far apart in time and space and their relation to what we consider architecture.

Four: Encounters with the field
A rapid survey of how modern times made us aspire to the creation of everyday environment in ignorance of the inherent properties of fields.

Five: Back in the field again
Looks at the inherent tension between architecture tied to the Palladian emancipation and everyday environment’s autonomy and finds specific points of conflict.

Six: Ways of working
Considers what methods and habits could be adopted to make architecture effectively support and enhance the cultivation of fields.

Seven: About an attitude in making architecture
Discusses how relations among architects and between architects, clients, and inhabitants, might shape, stimulate and enhance the creative act of designing.

See also the recommendations on the back cover of the book.
 

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