Porphyrios is one of the world’s leading architects. His architecture and writings of humanism have given us new insights into the dialogue between tradition and modernity. His architecture always speaks of tradition in a modern voice. Many have spoken of the connection between tectonics and form but almost no one has put this in practice with the richness and maturity of Porphyrios. “Architecture,” he writes, “makes us see the building craft and technology from which it is born, from which it detaches itself as art and to which it always alludes.” His architecture and writings are not about style; they are about living traditions open to adaptation and responsive to region, climate, nature and culture. This volume brings together selected essays on Scandinavian Doricism and on Alvar Aalto as well as essays on the architectural history of the Enlightenment. The questions they address concern architectural design and the history, theory and practice of architecture. “These were questions,” Porphyrios writes, “raised by my students as well as by professional practice alike; questions about design, construction, propriety, functionality, urban and rural life, real estate, nature, local cultures, shelter and beauty.”
