Re-Reading Perspecta

About Re-Reading Perspecta

The best selections from America’s oldest and most respected student-edited architectural journal, accompanied by historical and critical commentary.

Perspecta, the oldest and most respected student-edited architectural journal in the United States, marks its fiftieth anniversary with this selection of influential and provocative pieces published in its pages from the 1950s through the 1990s. The essays and portfolios in Re-Reading Perspecta trace the development of architectural culture and discourse over the past fifty years and bear witness to the influential role played by Perspecta in a time of crucial debate about the function and future of architecture.This monumental collection (with over 700 pages and 900 images) presents the most engaging and stimulating essays published in Perspecta, written by such well-known historians, theorists, and architects as Vincent Scully, Colin Rowe, Roland Barthes, Karsten Harries, K. Michael Hays, Allan Greenberg, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, John Hejduk, Francesco Dal Co, Bernard Tschumi, and Mark Wigley. Re-Reading Perspecta also assembles the best examples of the richly-illustrated portfolios of projects published over the years, including work by Paul Rudolph, Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi, Eero Saarinen, Charles Moore, Philip Johnson, Peter Eisenman, John Hejduk, Steven Holl, Thomas Leeser, Hani Rashid, and others.The editors introduce each section with essays that offer historical context and critical commentary. Re-Reading Perspecta also includes essays by Kenneth Frampton, K. Michael Hays, Joan Ockman, and Sandy Isenstadt on the history of Perspecta and its role in architectural discourse. This selection of the best of Perspecta covers a broad and lively spectrum of American architectural design, history, theory, and criticism.