Main entry:

Vale, Brenda, author.

Title & Author:

Architecture on the carpet : the curious tale of construction toys and the genesis of modern buildings / Brenda and Robert Vale ; with 111 illustrations, 97 in colour.

Publication:

London : Thames & Hudson, 2013.
©2013

Description:

208 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm

Notes:
Brenda and Robert Vale are lecturers at Victoria University of Wellington, N.Z. Includes references to New Zealand.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Toys are Us -- Modernism on the line -- Richter's blocks and the castles on the Rhine -- Meccano and making visible how things work -- Lott's bricks and the Arts and Crafts movement -- Wenebrik and the (un-modern) steel house -- Lincoln Logs and the log cabin -- Mobaco and De Stijl -- Bayko and suburbia -- Minibrix and unassuming architecture -- Juneero and the architecture of make-do-and-mend -- Castos and concrete on the carpet -- Bilt-E-Z, Girder and Panel, Arkitex and the brave new world -- Playplax and deconstruction -- Lego and the green city -- Learning architecture on the carpet.

Summary:

This entertaining book offers a novel view of architecture through the prism of construction toys. Ranging over the last century to the present, Brenda and Robert Vale draw parallels between the model-building sets of the modern period and architectural movements, social history, and national identities and myths. Some children's construction toys such as Lincoln Logs and Tudor Minibrix have looked to the past. Others have looked to the future: as early as the 1920s, the American metal toy Bilt-E-Z could be used to construct a stepped-back skyscraper like the Empire State Building. The Vales investigate not only how models sets have reflected different building styles but also whether the toys themselves influenced the careers of the children who grew up playing with them. They explore connections between model-railway buildings and modernism; model sets such as Castos and reinforced concrete housing; and even between the creative but slightly surreal Playplax and postmodern deconstructivist architecture.

ISBN:

9780500342855 (hardcover)
0500342857 (hardcover)

Subject:

Architecture, Modern 20th century Social aspects.
Toys Social aspects.
Architectural toys.
Educational toys.
Architecture 20e siècle Aspect social.
Jouets Aspect social.
Jouets d'architecture.
Jouets éducatifs.
architectural toys.
educational toys.
Architecture, Modern Social aspects. 20th century.
Architecture, Modern Social aspects
Architektur
Moderne
Spielzeug
Baukasten
Architekturmodell
Architecture.

Added entries:

Vale, Robert (Robert James Dennis), author.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 284101
Call No.: BIB 222734
Status: Available