121 — Rem Koolhaas's SMLXL — 2/4

In the final episode of our Lanuage Trilogy we talked about Charles Jencks's 'The Language of Post-Modern Architecture', first published in 1977, the book and argument developed over the course of the 1980s as ideas about post-modernism as an architectural style and set of principles formalised. We talked about Jencks's theorisation of architectural semiotics, his account of the failure of modernism and his prospectus for future architecture.

In the second episode of our 'Language' trilogy, we discussed Bruno Zevi's 'The Modern Language of Architecture', first published in Italian as 'Il linguaggio moderno dell'architettura' in 1978, partly in response to Summerson's 'The Classical Language of Architecture' the subject of our previous episode.

In this episode, the first of a trilogy, we talked about John Summerson's best-selling 1965 book 'The Classical Language of Architecture', developed out of a series of lectures he gave to the BBC. We talk about Summerson, one of the titans of mid-20th century British architectural history, his attitude towards classicism and his patrician tone. In the next two episodes we will be discussing Bruno Zevi's 'The Modern Language of Architecture' (1978) and Charles Jencks's 'The Language of Post-Modern Architecture' (1977), which were both partly inspired by Summerson's rhetorical assertion of the linguistic character of classical architecture.

This is a preview of a Patreon bonus episode. To listen to the rest, consider supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/about_buildings

In the final part of our Piranesi miniseries we talked about his only building, the church of Santa Maria del Priorato, his theoretical writings, his proposals for interior design and furniture and his Carceri, the imaginary prisons which defined his legacy.