1. Modernism and Postmodernism 2. Revolution and Republicanism 3. Picturesque and Sublime 4. Technology and Materials 5. Functionalism and Rationalism 6. Style and Nationalism 7. Urbanization and Landscape 8. Arts and Crafts 9. Ornament and Structure 10. Space and Form 11. Avant-Garde and Representation 12. Internationalism and Universalism 13. Machines and Systems 14. Authoritarianism and Monumentality 15. Vernacular and Tradition 16. Education and Professionalism 17. Gender and Discrimination 18. History and Order 19. Regionalism and Tectonics 20. Place and Invention 21. Theory and Practice 22. Postcolonialism and Hybridity 23. Race and Resistance 24. Environmentalism and Indigeneity
Biography
Graham Livesey is Emeritus Professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary.
"Livesey tackles subjects such as the Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism and Postmodernism, in texts that are laudable in offering a rapid fire of architects, buildings and centres of influence. Collectively, this forms a holistic understanding of how our profession has evolved from Monticello to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission… The many short references and sources supplied by Livesey offer thousands of little breadcrumbs as he revisits—and indeed corrects—the many subjects and periods discussed, such as dedicating overdue attention to the many women whose history was forgotten or subjugated by white men. This book recognizes the contributions of Black architects and the innovation and brilliance that emerged from countries like India, Malaysia, China, and Africa over the past 250 years. It also provides insightful connections to politics, technology, landscape architecture, and design that help contextualize the evolution of modern architecture. The work of practicing architects is supported by this volume, too. Including discussions of notable academics focussing on socialism, phenomenology, poststructuralism, and the effects of colonialism helps us understand the trajectory of thought that defined several generations of architects."
- Ian Chodikoff. Review of the book Modern Architecture: The Basics, by G Livesey. Canadian Architect magazine, April 2025 issue, p48.
"Modern Architecture: The Basics, by Graham Livesey, is an important revision of the architectural canon that includes many lesser-known pioneers of modernism who happened to belong to visible minorities or practiced in so-called “marginal” regions of the world. Accompanied by beautifully drawn architectural drawings and explained in a writing style free of obfuscation, this highly readable primer places the rise of modernism within broad cultural, technological, economic and political contexts, revealing that it is the complex outcome of both disciplinary innovation as well as extra-disciplinary factors and conditions."
- Rafael Gómez-Moriana, Architect/Writer/Educator, Barcelona.
