The Mathematics of the Modernist Villa - Architectural Analysis Using Space Syntax and Ivorist (Broché)

This book presents the first detailed mathematical analysis of the social, cognitive and experiential properties of Modernist domestic architecture. The Modem Movement in architecture, which came to prominence during the fast half of the twentieth century, may have been famous for its functional forms and machine-made aesthetic, but it also sought to challenge the way people inhabit, understand and experience space.
Ludwig Mies van derRohe's buildings were not only minimalist and transparent, theywere designed to subvert traditional social hierarchies. Rank Lloyd Wright's organic Modernism not onty attempted to negotiate a more responsive relationship between nature and architecture, but also to shape the way people experience space. Richard Neutra's Californian Modernism is traditionally celebrated for its sleek, geometric forms, but his intention was to use design to support a heightened understanding of context.
Glenn Mamon'a pristine pavilions, seemingty the epitome of regional Modernism, actually raise important questions about the sociospatial structure of architecture. Rather than focussing on form or style in Modernism, this book examines the spatial, social and experiential properties of thirty-seven designs by Wright, Mies, Neutm and Morcott. The computational and mathematical methods used for this purpose are drawn from space syntax, isovist geometry and graph theory.
The specific issues that are examined include : die sensory and emotional appeal of space and form ; shifting social and spatial structures in architectural planning ; wayfinding and visual understanding, and the relationship between form and program.