The Essay as Form

This essay explores German sociologist Theodor Adorno’s 1958 text “The Essay as Form”, through the writings of a quintet of English post-war architectural historians: John Summerson, Colin Rowe, Alan Colquhoun, Reyner Banham and Robin Evans. It argues that each of these historians’ commitment...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thomas Weaver
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad San Sebastian 2014-08-01
Series:Materia Arquitectura
Subjects:
Online Access:http://materiaarquitectura.com/index.php/MA/article/view/180
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Summary:This essay explores German sociologist Theodor Adorno’s 1958 text “The Essay as Form”, through the writings of a quintet of English post-war architectural historians: John Summerson, Colin Rowe, Alan Colquhoun, Reyner Banham and Robin Evans. It argues that each of these historians’ commitment to the essay form has gone largely unnoticed among any kind of appreciation of their work, and more generally that the essay, as a very particular way of communicating learned ideas in a populist way, should be resurrected as an important and accessible model for all academic writing.  
ISSN:0718-7033
2735-7503