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Lessons for Students in Architecture
Herman Hertzberger’s Lessons for Students in Architecture was first published in 1991, as an elaborated version of lectures he had given since 1973 at Delft University of Technology. It presents a broad spectrum of subjects and designs, with practical experience and evaluation of the use of these buildings serving as a leitmotif. This immensely successful book has gone through many reprints and has also been published in Japanese, German, Italian, Portuguese, Taiwanese, Dutch, Greek, Chinese, French, Polish and Persian. More than 750 illustrations give a broad insight into Hertzberger’s ‘library’ and a stimulating impression of the influences and sources of inspiration of one of the Netherlands' major postwar architects.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 20, 2020
Quotes from the book:
If you think you can't make the world a better place with your work, at least make sure you don't make it worse. The art of architecture is not only to make beautiful things nor it's only to make useful things, it's to do both at once... everything we design must be adequate for every situation.
Architecture seems, time and again, incapable of bridging the gap between idea and reality the way art does. Only rarely does architecture succeed in escaping its ostensibly inescapable fate, that of seeking to assert itself in one trend or another, instead of exposing the superficiality of trendiness and replacing it by a truer reality. And architecture, it seems, to tends to be too material to be ideal, and instead of attacking existing reality it does the opposite: it does its utmost to affirm it.
In our work we must always aim at quality on so many levels as are needed to create an environment which does not exclusively serve a particular group of people but which serves all people. Architecture must be both generous and inviting to all alike. Architecture must be both generous and inviting if its design is as forthcoming to the outsiders of society as to members of the establishments, and if one could imagine it existing in any other conceivable cultural context.
If you think you can't make the world a better place with your work, at least make sure you don't make it worse. The art of architecture is not only to make beautiful things nor it's only to make useful things, it's to do both at once... everything we design must be adequate for every situation.
Architecture seems, time and again, incapable of bridging the gap between idea and reality the way art does. Only rarely does architecture succeed in escaping its ostensibly inescapable fate, that of seeking to assert itself in one trend or another, instead of exposing the superficiality of trendiness and replacing it by a truer reality. And architecture, it seems, to tends to be too material to be ideal, and instead of attacking existing reality it does the opposite: it does its utmost to affirm it.
In our work we must always aim at quality on so many levels as are needed to create an environment which does not exclusively serve a particular group of people but which serves all people. Architecture must be both generous and inviting to all alike. Architecture must be both generous and inviting if its design is as forthcoming to the outsiders of society as to members of the establishments, and if one could imagine it existing in any other conceivable cultural context.
March 17, 2020
“The question whether architecture has a social function is totally irrelevant because socially indifferent solutions do not exist. Every intervention in people’s surroundings regardless of the architect’s specific claims, has social implication.”
Architecture is a spatial framework, and awareness of seeing the world; literally, giving form to our personal and political orientations through design, planning, and construction. Architecture, the literal construction and planning of space is always a vessel for politics.
There's still so much to learn and re-read about the practice and pedagogy of architecture through this book.
Architecture is a spatial framework, and awareness of seeing the world; literally, giving form to our personal and political orientations through design, planning, and construction. Architecture, the literal construction and planning of space is always a vessel for politics.
There's still so much to learn and re-read about the practice and pedagogy of architecture through this book.
July 27, 2019
even thought finishing this book took forever, but i highly recommend it to architecture students. it talks about everything you get to learn by experience in years of studying and working as an architect. i only wish my edition had colored pictures!! cause some of the pictures and illustrations get too blurry as black and whites; and it's hard to get the point of some of them.
March 7, 2014
a nice one, well written, elaborate and a good reference for the era. kind of old fashioned now
November 19, 2021
Excelentes aulas que devem ser apreciadas por qualquer estudante de arquitetura. A dinâmica de desenvolver assuntos em sua forma a partir de exames da forma seguindo uma função que segue um ser humano é interessante por não cair em redutivismos e por conseguir aguçar a visão do leitor para pontos que antes não teríamos noção.
June 3, 2020
Beautifully written and still so relevant. One of my favourite books when I was an architecture student and one that I find myself returning to time and time again.
March 27, 2017
Pokud máte rádi seriál Gebrian versus, tak se vám bude líbit i tato kniha. Krásně rozebírá jednotlivé budovy i místa, o kterých jste možná ani neměli ponětí. Umožní vám vidět svět jinak, než jste byli zvyklí a možná vás dokonce i inspiruje k navržení vlastního řešení.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews