Book Review: Anatomy of a Building

 I recently read ‘Anatomy of a Building’ by Rowan Moore.

The book is a textual and photographic essay on the Royal College of Physicians building in London, designed by the Architect Denys Lasdun.

The book describes the practice of architecture. It draws a parallel between the human body and buildings. It then, in some ways ironically, uses this metaphor in describing the Royal College of Physicians building.

Moore writes a history of Denys Lasdun, describing him in relation to ideas of modernism, classism and how his work relates to that of other architects such as Le Corbusier. He also mentions his ambivalent relationship with the architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner.

I was attracted to the descriptions of the spaces, materials and ideas the building uses. The descriptions in the book are supplemented by artful black and white photographs.

Below is a drawing I did based on one of these photographs.



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