On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time

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David Leatherbarrow

The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993, English

Nonfiction, Architecture

ISBN: 9780262132916

From the Publisher. On Weathering illustrates the complex nature of the architectural project by taking into account its temporality, linking technical problems of maintenance and decay with a focused consideration of their philosophical and ethical implications.

In a clear and direct account supplemented by many photographs commissioned for this book, Mostafavi and Leatherbarrow examine buildings and other projects from Alberti to Le Corbusier to show that the continual refinishing of the building by natural forces adds to, rather than detracts from, architectural meaning. Their central discovery, that weathering makes the "final" state of the construction necessarily indefinite, challenges the conventional notion of a building's completeness.

By recognizing the inherent uncertainty and inevitability of weathering and by viewing the concept of weathering as a continuation of the building process rather than as a force antagonistic to it, the authors offer alternative readings of historical constructions and potential beginnings for new architectural projects.

On 2 book lists

Barry Bergdoll

On Barry Bergdoll’s Book List

Leatherbarrow is another writer whose value system I share, so I am always delighted to follow him to new territories, new examples, and new insights. It would be a great desert island vacation to match this book with Ruskin’s Stones of Venice.

Mohsen Mostafavi

On list of Books by Mohsen Mostafavi

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