Heavenly Mansions

A classic of architectural history and theory Heavenly Mansions interprets architecture as a reflection of the age in which it flowers and traces the alternating themes of fantasy and functionalism as exemplified in various styles and in the works of a number of influential men including Wren Viollet-le-Duc William Butterfield and Le Corbusier. Succinctly summarizing 800 years of viewpoints about architecture it ranges from Gothic architecture to the Renaissance to the influence of modern abstract art on twentieth-century architecture.Each essay is a voyage of discovery. What is so interesting and what makes Mr. Summerson the architectural critic of his generation . . . is [an] aversion to dogma. . . . It is supremely well worth reading.-Spectator