Architecture of Regionalism in the Age of Globalization: Peaks and Valleys in the Flat World

This book remains the definitive introductory text on the theory and history of regionalist architecture in the context of globalization. It addresses issues of identity, diversity, community, inequality, geopolitics, and sustainability. From the authors who coined the concept of Critical Regionalism, this new edition enhances the understanding of the complex evolution of regionalism and its rival, unchecked globalization. Covering a rich selection of the most outstanding examples of design from all over the world, Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, who introduced the concept of Critical Regionalism to architecture, present an enlightening, concise historical analysis of the endurance of regionalism and the ceaseless drive for globalization. New case studies include current cutting-edge projects in Japan, Africa, China, and the United States. Architecture of Regionalism in the Age of Globalization offers undergraduate and graduate students of architecture, geography, history, environmental studies, and other related fields an accessible, vivid, and scholarly perspective of this major conflict as it relates to the design and to the future of the human-made environment.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the New Edition: Peaks and Valleys in the Flat World: Why Regionalism? Introduction to the New Edition: Universe Unbound, the End of the Geography of Regions? 1. The Origins: Regional Architecture and the Dawn of Classical Architecture 2. Regional into Regionalist: Cathedrals, Palaces, and the case of the Casa Dei Crescenzi as a Manifesto 3. Searching for Identity in a Flat Archipelago of Classical Garden-Villas 4. The Picturesque Revolt: Liberty, the Merits of Chaos, and the ‘Genius of the Place in All’ 5. From the Physiocrats and Rousseau to Goethe's Regionalist Architecture 6. Regionalism as a Force for Liberation and National Identity 7. Post-Napoleonic Nationalist Regionalism, the Social Question, and The Emergence of Environmental Architecture 8. Regionalism Triumphant, and Corrupted: Out-of-Place Places, Emporia, World-Fairs, New States, Colonial Structures, and the Specter of Totalitarian Regimes 9. Global Regionalism Set Against International Style: Lewis Mumford and his Contemporaries 10. De-Regionalization in Post-World War II Reconstruction, Urban Renewal, and Fake Regionalism 11. The Critical Regionalist Response to Multinational De-Regionalization 12. Highlights of Critical Regionalism in this Dark Era of Environmental Inequality and End-of-Diversity Wasteland Coda: Re-Regionalization and Engagement in a Global World