Book Report on "Interior Design Visual Planning"

Book Report 6 pages (1883 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Pevsner

Book: Visual planning and the picturesque Pevsner, Nikolaus (1949/2010)

Footnote all direct quotes, whether by the book author or another author you might quote in relation to the book.

Structure the report so that it develop logically and make it coherence and interesting reading

Be selective in the points for comments, don't be a full summary or cover every point of the book

Aitchison, ed., Matthew. Pevsner, Nikolaus. Visual Planning and the Picturesque (Getty Research Institute, 2010)

Here is the footnote:

Aitchison (ed.), M. Pevsner, Nikolaus (2010). Visual Planning and the Picturesque (italicised). Los Angeles, CA. Getty Research Institute; J. Paul Getty Trust.

(page number).

[this next citation has no name attributed; also this came from the internet as opposed to a published book]

The Getty Museum Store. (2010). (italicised) Visual Planning and the Picturesque (Pevsner, Nikolaus). Los Angeles, CA. Getty Research Institute; J. Paul Getty Trust.

(page number). Web. 25 March 2011.

Dr Ute Engel, 'The Formation of Pevsner's art history: Nikolaus Pevsner in Germany 1902-33', paper delivered at centenary conference 'Reassessing Nikolaus Pevsner', Birkbeck College, 12-13/7/2002 and subsequently published in ed. P. Draper, Reassessing Nikolaus Pevsner (Ashgate, 2004).

Here is the footnote:

Engel, U (2002; revised: 2004). (italicised) the Formation of Pevsner's Art History. Birkbeck College, Ashgate: London. (page number)

*Please note that I have changed the biography (this is more astute, trust me):

Harvard Citation:

Harrison, Brian. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner Biography - (1902 -- 83), Pioneers of Modern Design. An Outline of European Architecture, the Buildings of England. (Current version: January 2011). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Web. 29 March 2011.

Footnote:

Harrison, B. (Current version: January 2011). Web. 29 March 2011. (italicised) Nikolaus Pevsner [no need for the entire title, when it is this lengthy]. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, London. (page number)

The following points should be included:

1. Overview of the subject matter of the book:

"If the whole of a town is in the end not visually pleasing, the town is not worth having."

-Sir Nikolaus Pevsner

From roughly the mid-1940s, almost on through to his death, this unfinished manuscript of Pevsner's sought to complement the core of contemporary rumination, as least that which was concerned with urban design, which emerged in postwar Britain. Typically regarded as "Townscape," this entire collection is considerably an oddity within an extensive collection of his writings. As a unit, this complete work attempts to arbitrate just as well as incorporate, rather than idealize and exclude, a remarkable explanation for a visual approach to urban design which conveys architectural resourcefulness.

Visual Planning and the Picturesque, by Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-1983), was not published until the Summer of 2010, this past year. Accordingly, this book went unpublished until twenty-seven years after the death of Pevsner, possibly the better part of a century. This at first, seems odd; especially upon realizing that Pevsner had quite an astute background. From the 1940s on, Pevsner was one of this previous century's most highly celebrated scholastic authors. His two focal domains included art and architectural history (Aitchison, 2010)

Visual Planning and the Picturesque, Pevsner

Author: Pevsner, Nikolaus

The genre / type of the book: Interior Design

ISBN: 9781606060018

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 221

Publish Date: 05/18/2010

Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum Pubns

Language: English

Portions copyright 2005 Muze Inc. All rights reserved.

Overall summary or more detailed account of important parts:

'the Picturesque' and 'Visual Planning' constitutes three domains:

1) an analysis of English planning tradition before 1800;

2) under Pevsner's illumination, an examination of English planning theory and/or the theory of the picturesque;

3) a fundamental meditation of how this tradition and this theory shaped architecture and urban planning in England in the nineteenth century and on through the twentieth century. "The work as a whole is a surprisingly fresh plea for a visual approach to urban design and common sense in architecture, one that sought to incorporate and mediate rather than idealize and exclude."

"A blend of pragmatism and nostalgia for an idealized landscape."

-- Financial Times (the J. Paul Getty Trust, 2010)

"The three quite distinct parts of the revealed book show Pevsner as guide, historian, and critic ... The cinematic passage of the first part's pictures are a treat in themselves." -- the Architect's Journal

"The excellent introduction by John Macarthur and Matthew Aitchison . . . contextualizes the manuscript with as much erudition as insight." -- the Architectural Review

"Seeing the world through [Pevsner's] eyes is rewarding."

-- Building Design

"The third [part of the book] collects Pevsner's attempts to apply picturesque principles to modernist architecture, and the first is a brilliant, hauntingly illustrated photo-essay on a select series of streets, squares, and quadrangles in Oxford and London."

-- Icon Magazine

"A detailed and dense reminder of Pevsner's genius, wrapped up with some beautiful images of bygone Britain."

-- Monocle Magazine

"Well worth reading."

-- the Times Literary Supplement

Pevsner's Townscape presents a previously unpublished work by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-1983), one of the twentieth-century's most widely read scholars of art and architectural history. Begun in the mid-1940s, Pevsner's unfinished manuscript is something of an anomaly in his vast oeuvre of writings in so far as it sought to complement the body of thought emerging in postwar Britain that was concerned with urban design, generally referred to as "Townscape."

As assembled and annotated here, Pevsner's Townscape: On Visual Planning and the Picturesque comprises three parts. The first part analyzes English planning tradition before 1800. The second surveys English planning theory or, by Pevsner's lights, the theory of the picturesque. The third part is essentially a meditation on how this tradition and this theory shaped architecture and urban planning in England in the nineteenth century and, potentially, the twentieth as well. The work as a whole is a surprisingly fresh plea for a visual approach to urban design and common sense in architecture, one that sought to incorporate and mediate, rather than idealize and exclude.

Nikolaus Pevsner was a German-born British scholar of the history of art and architecture best known for his forty-six-volume series of comprehensive county guides, the Buildings of England. He received a knighthood in 1969. Matthew Aitchison is a lecturer in architecture and urban design at Queen's University Belfast.

...one of the twentieth-century's most widely read scholars of art and architectural history, was begun in the mid-1940s. The unfinished manuscript is something of an anomaly in his vast oeuvre of writings in so far as it sought to complement the body of thought emerging in postwar Britain that was concerned with urban design, generally referred to as "Townscape" (Aitchison, 2010).

Even more material, provided by Pioneers of Modern Design, Pevsner here is envisioned in concern to both his complete biography and his artistic additions that academicians look to now. Notice how, up front, Pevsner is noted as an "Architectural historian." Pevsner maintained stature during his living years, and indeed beyond. World War II did far more destruction than warranted growth, but several names (such a Pevsner) that will likely never be completely forgotten came about during these same years.

Architectural historian. He emigrated from Germany to Britain when Hitler came to power. His Pioneers of Modern Design ( 1936 ) and an Outline of European Architecture ( 1942 ) were widely admired. He was Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge, 1949 -- 55, gave the Reith Lectures on the Englishness of English Art in 1955, and was knighted in 1969 . His monumental series of county volumes entitled the Buildings of England, which was published between 1951 and 1974, was later extended to cover Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Each volume had an introductory overview, followed by a descriptive gazetteer arranged alphabetically by place. Many counties have revised editions, broadened and deepened by other authors, and a recent development has been the publication of architectural guides to individual cities. The series remains the starting point for local studies and the appreciation of the built environment (Pioneers of Modern Design, 2010).

Does the book use images or diagram:

Visual Planning and the Picturesque from Nikolaus Pevsner uses diagrams of some "beautiful images of bygone Britain."

In terms of Pevsner's writing and his written materials, the Pioneers of Modern Design also provide some great biographical and professional information in regard to his writing:

Nikolaus Pevsner remains known to us because of his life in publishing. Many architects publish works of theory and history as a compliment to their building careers. Famously, Robert Venturi and his retinue were able to muster support for their brand of what was to become known as postmodernism by way of their lauded study Learning From Las Vegas (1972, subsequently revised).

Pevsner was not a practicing architect as such, but rather imparted enthusiasm through his passion for buildings into teaching and writing. While not quite a "popularizer" of architecture, he was definitely a spokesperson for several movements or impulses. An Outline of European Architecture (1943, though later revised and updated about as many times as the Bible) and the Sources of Modern Design (this… READ MORE

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