First on the old reading list is Tom Wolfe's From Bauhaus to Our House.
The main theme which occurs in this book is that of Architectures are being stubborn in believing that they know what is best for the human condition, which is hidden in a specific style but often leaves a real sense of alienation; he believes people are being badly subjected to the work of very few.
Wolfe enjoys the intricacy of unique buildings and rebukes the "international style" of modern architecture founded by those such as Walter Gropius, who spawned modern architecture, and was the founder of the Bauhaus school. He believed that the people often associated with the buildings they worked in or went to were never appreciated. Furthermore, Wolfe was highly critical of conformism. He believes that architecture has become so international that origin and identity is often lost ("edge of sensory deprivation").
To me, his comments seem ill-informed and lack depth. Though his ideas appear strong and striking in emphasis, the lack of detail on the structures of which he speaks proves very unconvincing and personally comes across as failed propaganda. He comes across as narrow-minded as the movement he hates.
I can agree with him to some extent about how structure's beauty are compromised in favour of function but he doesn't put his point across well at all, and furthermore, for him to try and bundle half a century's worth of architecture into a flimsy, meagre book, and have nothing positive to say does not lie favourably with me.
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