About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherReaktion Books, The Limited

ISBN-101861890567

ISBN-139781861890566

eBay Product ID (ePID)1663175

Product Key Features

Number of Pages176 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameBeehive Metaphor : from Gaudí to Le Corbusier

SubjectGeneral, History / General

Publication Year2000

TypeTextbook

AuthorJuan Ramírez

Subject AreaDesign, Art, Architecture

SeriesEssays in Art and Culture Ser.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.5 in

Item Weight15.8 Oz

Item Length23.4 in

Item Width15.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

Reviews"A charming book. . . . A timely contribution to contemporary thought concerning art and architecture. The beehive metaphor may well be due for a revival."-- The Architects'' Journal, "A charming book. . . . A timely contribution to contemporary thought concerning art and architecture. The beehive metaphor may well be due for a revival."-- The Architects' Journal , "His fascinating account describes how the social life of bees has been co-opted by social movements on both the left and the right, and celebrated either for their rigid hierarchies, with everyone knowing their place under the ruling monarch, or as symbols of community spirit and harmonious, cooperative work. . . . Read this book, and you'll never look at a tall building in quite the same way again."-- New Scientist, "His fascinating account describes how the social life of bees has been co-opted by social movements on both the left and the right, and celebrated either for their rigid hierarchies, with everyone knowing their place under the ruling monarch, or as symbols of community spirit and harmonious, cooperative work. . . . Read this book, and you'll never look at a tall building in quite the same way again."-- New Scientist , His fascinating account describes how the social life of bees has been co-opted by social movements on both the left and the right, and celebrated either for their rigid hierarchies, with everyone knowing their place under the ruling monarch, or as symbols of community spirit and harmonious, cooperative work. . . . Read this book, and you'll never look at a tall building in quite the same way again., "An ingenious and entertaining cross-country chase after a swarm of flying metaphors. . . . The pursuit of architectural metaphor is seldom as well-grounded in knowledge of both sides as it is here, and the writing style is approachable."-- Building Design, On one hand, the fascination is with the truth uncovered, and here Ramírez has certainly added one more, unique truth to the panoply of truths in architectural history. On the other, the fascination is with the paranoid will itself, with following the author's tenacious, single-minded pursuit of a solitary theme, worrying it like a terrier with its prey... The Beehive Metaphor had me hooked, This is a charming book . . . Academics are often eccentric and sometimes they are enthusiastic. Ramírez is both . . . It is a timely contribution to contemporary thought concerning art and architecture. The beehive metaphor may well be due for revival, "An ingenious and entertaining cross-country chase after a swarm of flying metaphors. . . . The pursuit of architectural metaphor is seldom as well-grounded in knowledge of both sides as it is here, and the writing style is approachable."-- Building Design , An evocative work, full of detailed observation, which no one else could have written, or would have thought to write, A charming book. . . . A timely contribution to contemporary thought concerning art and architecture. The beehive metaphor may well be due for a revival., An ingenious and entertaining cross-country chase after a swarm of flying metaphors. . . . The pursuit of architectural metaphor is seldom as well-grounded in knowledge of both sides as it is here, and the writing style is approachable.

IllustratedYes

Table Of ContentPreface and Acknowledgements 1. Rustic Beehive, Rational Beehive 2. Working Beehive, Mystical Beehive 3. Symbolist Beehive, Artistic Beehive 4. Transparent Beehive, Spiritual Beehive 5. Mechanical Beehive, Social Beehive References

SynopsisSince time immemorial, bees have been associated with all manner of virtues. The beehive has served as the model for an ideal society, while honey and wax have provided the basis for countless positive metaphors of sweetness and productivity. The natural architecture created by bees in their hives can be said to approach perfection. In The Beehive Metaphor , Juan Antonio Ramírez shows how this lucid modular structure had a considerable influence on the architects and artists who founded the Modern movement. Models from both traditional and "modern" or "rational" apiculture were studied and reinterpreted by such key figures as Gaudí, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Beuys. Inspired by his own father's obsession with bee-keeping - which wiped out the family's fortune - Ramírez examines the complex ideological, political and artistic repercussions of apian metaphors, thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between ecology, animal husbandry and architecture., Since time immemorial, bees have been associated with all manner of virtues. The beehive has served as the model for an ideal society, while honey and wax have provided the basis for countless positive metaphors of sweetness and productivity. The natural architecture created by bees in their hives can be said to approach perfection. In The Beehive Metaphor , Juan Antonio Ramirez shows how this lucid modular structure had a considerable influence on the architects and artists who founded the Modern movement. Models from both traditional and "modern" or "rational" apiculture were studied and reinterpreted by such key figures as Gaudi, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Beuys. Inspired by his own father's obsession with bee-keeping - which wiped out the family's fortune - Ramirez examines the complex ideological, political and artistic repercussions of apian metaphors, thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between ecology, animal husbandry and architecture., Since time immemorial, bees have been associated with all manner of virtues. The beehive has served as the model for an ideal society, while honey and wax have provided the basis for countless positive metaphors of sweetness and productivity. The natural architecture created by bees in their hives can be said to approach perfection. In The Beehive Metaphor, Juan Antonio Ramírez shows how this lucid modular structure had a considerable influence on the architects and artists who founded the Modern movement. Models from both traditional and "modern" or "rational" apiculture were studied and reinterpreted by such key figures as Gaudí, Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Beuys.Inspired by his own father's obsession with bee-keeping - which wiped out the family's fortune - Ramírez examines the complex ideological, political and artistic repercussions of apian metaphors, thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between ecology, animal husbandry and architecture., Since time immemorial, bees have been associated with all manner of virtues. The beehive has served as the model for an ideal society, while honey and wax have provided the basis for countless positive metaphors of sweetness and productivity. The natural architecture created by bees in their hives can be said to approach perfection. In The Beehive Metaphor , Juan Antonio Ram rez shows how this lucid modular structure had a considerable influence on the architects and artists who founded the Modern movement. Models from both traditional and modern or rational apiculture were studied and reinterpreted by such key figures as Gaud , Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Beuys. Inspired by his own father's obsession with bee-keeping - which wiped out the family's fortune - Ram rez examines the complex ideological, political and artistic repercussions of apian metaphors, thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between ecology, animal husbandry and architecture.