THE LATEST BOOK BY SANT SUWATCHARAPINUN, WHICH HE SYSTEMATICALLY COLLECT ARCHITECTURAL THEORIES AND CRITIQUE THEM, PROVIDING A CLEARER PICTURE FOR READERS
TEXT: PRATCHAYAPOL LERTWICHA
PHOTO: KETSIREE WONGWAN
(For Thai, press here)
Studying Western architectural theory is such a difficult and tiresome task for Thai students. It is tiring to find translated articles which are scattered all over many sources, and it is difficult to understand and analyze the texts. This might be the reason why many students consider architectural theory to be beyond their reach.
From that matter, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sant Suwatcharapinun decided to write “13 Architectural Critiques” to systematically collect architectural theories and critique them, providing a clearer picture for readers.
This book summarises architectural theories dating back to the Roman texts like “Ten Books on Architecture” by Vitruvius to the contemporary such as “The Architecture of The Jumping Universe” by Charles Jencks or “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture” by Robert Venturi. Including theories which are not directly about architecture but that indirectly affect architectural discourse such as “Semiology” by Ferdinand de Saussure or “Of Other Spaces” by Michel Foucault are also mentioned in the book.
The selected texts are explained and associated with historical, social, and artistic context to offer a holistic view. The critiques enable the readers to see developments and connections between each theory, clarifying them to the readers.
However, this is not an easy book to read, since it is full of difficult topics and academic terms, so the book might be more suitable to those with some background and familiarity on architectural theory. Nonetheless, for anyone interested in studying architectural theories, this book is still an interesting choice.