{"product_id":"obsolescence-an-architectural-history-paperback","title":"Obsolescence: An Architectural History - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDaniel M. Abramson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn our architectural pursuits, we often seem to be in search of something newer, grander, or more efficient-and this phenomenon is not novel. In the spring of 1910 hundreds of workers labored day and night to demolish the Gillender Building in New York, once the loftiest office tower in the world, in order to make way for a taller skyscraper. The \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e puzzled over those who would sacrifice the thirteen-year-old structure, \"as ruthlessly as though it were some ancient shack.\" In New York alone, the Gillender joined the original Grand Central Terminal, the Plaza Hotel, the Western Union Building, and the Tower Building on the list of just one generation's razed metropolitan monuments. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the innovative and wide-ranging \u003ci\u003eObsolescence\u003c\/i\u003e, Daniel M. Abramson investigates this notion of architectural expendability and the logic by which buildings lose their value and utility. The idea that the new necessarily outperforms and makes superfluous the old, Abramson argues, helps people come to terms with modernity and capitalism's fast-paced change. Obsolescence, then, gives an unsettling experience purpose and meaning. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Belief in obsolescence, as Abramson shows, also profoundly affects architectural design. In the 1960s, many architects worldwide accepted the inevitability of obsolescence, experimenting with flexible, modular designs, from open-plan schools, offices, labs, and museums to vast megastructural frames and indeterminate building complexes. Some architects went so far as to embrace obsolescence's liberating promise to cast aside convention and habit, envisioning expendable short-life buildings that embodied human choice and freedom. Others, we learn, were horrified by the implications of this ephemerality and waste, and their resistance eventually set the stage for our turn to sustainability-the conservation rather than disposal of resources. Abramson's fascinating tour of our idea of obsolescence culminates in an assessment of recent manifestations of sustainability, from adaptive reuse and historic preservation to postmodernism and green design, which all struggle to comprehend and manage the changes that challenge us on all sides.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDaniel M. Abramson\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of architectural history and director of architectural studies at Boston University. Previously, he taught at Tufts University and Connecticut College. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eBuilding the Bank of England: Money, Architecture, Society, 1694-1942\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSkyscraper Rivals: The AIG Building and the Architecture of Wall Street\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 202\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.43 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 25, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45272773263462,"sku":"9780226478050","price":60.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/WDV4Qkw4MHBpb2RJWEpISGtNbk1QUT09.webp?v=1773899428","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/obsolescence-an-architectural-history-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}