Jonathan Teicher - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Book Reviews by Jonathan Teicher
Through a progressive series of exercises - accompanied by observational studies, examples and ap... more Through a progressive series of exercises - accompanied by observational studies, examples and applied theory - Conversations with Form: A Workbook for Students of Architecture improves designers’ understanding, dexterity and resilience in making form. It specifically focuses on the skills needed to succeed in the everyday context in which the vast majority of architects will ultimately design and build, wherein no one designs in isolation and existing conditions never represent a tabula rasa.
The text begins by familiarizing readers with utilizing step-by-step sequences of moves to steer the development of built form and rapidly moves to designs of increasing complexity. These design plays treat a wide-ranging series of topics including structures, patterns, types, systems and other kinds of shared form principles. Conversations with Form is a workbook for honing hands-on skills and tools of the architect’s trade. Beautifully illustrated and focused on practical, usable information, the book provides architectural students with an accessible and useable handbook for their design practice.
Conversations with Form: A Workbook for Students of Architecture
N. John Habraken, Andrés Mignucci & Jonathan Teicher
Routledge, 2014
Papers by Jonathan Teicher
This thesis explores housing through the filter of enabling, an Elizabethan word which has come t... more This thesis explores housing through the filter of enabling, an Elizabethan word which has come to be associated with inhabitant empowerment. It proposes the existence of basic cultural, economic and constructional as well as formal categories of enabling. Such characteristics are observable and describable; in so doing, we develop schemata both for rational decision-making and also for judging the performance effectiveness of architectural moves. We also become better designers through reengaging our chaotic environment. This means understanding those biases which prevent us from recognizing the inherent good fit between inhabitant needs and desires, and environments like the Levittowns. Enabling Housing is the culmination of a design research, one which engages design as a tool for understanding. Building upon specific common typologies-the rowhouse, the suburban house and the courtyard house-"developed models" were explored to more fully understand type and its role in low-cost housing. In each iteration, enabling character was enhanced or implemented through evident capacity for use change and transformation; strategic material placement; referential clues about potential transformation; and fractal opportunistic response to specific conditions like site. The 1949 model house at Levittown, New York, reproduced in Life magazine, helped William Levitt become the nation's largest home builder. He based the prototype on conventional residential styles, special "built-in" extras, and extremely low costs. X This thesis began with research generated by a matrix of paradoxes of the design process as we have understood it at MIT in the late 1980's: Miniscule problems latent in initial design diagram may develop into disproportionately severe design blunders.
Taylor & Francis eBooks, Apr 11, 2007
Part 1 Form, the physical order: the physical structure of built environment recognizing levels h... more Part 1 Form, the physical order: the physical structure of built environment recognizing levels hierarchies of enclosure changes in enclosure hierarchy the act of building other forms at play. Part 2 Place, the territorial order: territory observing territorial structure territory and building gates in and out of territory shifts in territorial structure. Part 3 Understanding, the cultural order: common understanding patterns the systemic environment systems misunderstood type the uses of understanding.
Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Design... more Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Designing in Longitudinal Section 4. Designing in Cross-Section 5. Visualization and Resilience 6. Working with a Primary Architectural System 7. Combining Systems and Controlling Complexity Afterword Additional Background Index
Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Design... more Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Designing in Longitudinal Section 4. Designing in Cross-Section 5. Visualization and Resilience 6. Working with a Primary Architectural System 7. Combining Systems and Controlling Complexity Afterword Additional Background Index
Residential Open Building
Through a progressive series of exercises - accompanied by observational studies, examples and ap... more Through a progressive series of exercises - accompanied by observational studies, examples and applied theory - Conversations with Form: A Workbook for Students of Architecture improves designers’ understanding, dexterity and resilience in making form. It specifically focuses on the skills needed to succeed in the everyday context in which the vast majority of architects will ultimately design and build, wherein no one designs in isolation and existing conditions never represent a tabula rasa.
The text begins by familiarizing readers with utilizing step-by-step sequences of moves to steer the development of built form and rapidly moves to designs of increasing complexity. These design plays treat a wide-ranging series of topics including structures, patterns, types, systems and other kinds of shared form principles. Conversations with Form is a workbook for honing hands-on skills and tools of the architect’s trade. Beautifully illustrated and focused on practical, usable information, the book provides architectural students with an accessible and useable handbook for their design practice.
Conversations with Form: A Workbook for Students of Architecture
N. John Habraken, Andrés Mignucci & Jonathan Teicher
Routledge, 2014
This thesis explores housing through the filter of enabling, an Elizabethan word which has come t... more This thesis explores housing through the filter of enabling, an Elizabethan word which has come to be associated with inhabitant empowerment. It proposes the existence of basic cultural, economic and constructional as well as formal categories of enabling. Such characteristics are observable and describable; in so doing, we develop schemata both for rational decision-making and also for judging the performance effectiveness of architectural moves. We also become better designers through reengaging our chaotic environment. This means understanding those biases which prevent us from recognizing the inherent good fit between inhabitant needs and desires, and environments like the Levittowns. Enabling Housing is the culmination of a design research, one which engages design as a tool for understanding. Building upon specific common typologies-the rowhouse, the suburban house and the courtyard house-"developed models" were explored to more fully understand type and its role in low-cost housing. In each iteration, enabling character was enhanced or implemented through evident capacity for use change and transformation; strategic material placement; referential clues about potential transformation; and fractal opportunistic response to specific conditions like site. The 1949 model house at Levittown, New York, reproduced in Life magazine, helped William Levitt become the nation's largest home builder. He based the prototype on conventional residential styles, special "built-in" extras, and extremely low costs. X This thesis began with research generated by a matrix of paradoxes of the design process as we have understood it at MIT in the late 1980's: Miniscule problems latent in initial design diagram may develop into disproportionately severe design blunders.
Taylor & Francis eBooks, Apr 11, 2007
Part 1 Form, the physical order: the physical structure of built environment recognizing levels h... more Part 1 Form, the physical order: the physical structure of built environment recognizing levels hierarchies of enclosure changes in enclosure hierarchy the act of building other forms at play. Part 2 Place, the territorial order: territory observing territorial structure territory and building gates in and out of territory shifts in territorial structure. Part 3 Understanding, the cultural order: common understanding patterns the systemic environment systems misunderstood type the uses of understanding.
Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Design... more Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Designing in Longitudinal Section 4. Designing in Cross-Section 5. Visualization and Resilience 6. Working with a Primary Architectural System 7. Combining Systems and Controlling Complexity Afterword Additional Background Index
Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Design... more Introduction Design Plays 1. Zones of Transition 2. Articulating Exterior Building Form 3. Designing in Longitudinal Section 4. Designing in Cross-Section 5. Visualization and Resilience 6. Working with a Primary Architectural System 7. Combining Systems and Controlling Complexity Afterword Additional Background Index
Residential Open Building