Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph

by Abraham Thomas

Genres: Architecture

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2024

About the author

ABRAHAM THOMAS [b.1934] was born in the misty blue mountains of south India. A mechanical engineering graduate from Guindy, and a production engineering graduate from Imperial College, London, he has been a manufacturer of electrical equipment, and then a builder of apartments in south India. The building norms set by his pioneering company, helped shape the higher building standards notable to the region. His book, The Affluence Machine, describes the powerful developmental effects generated by higher urban accessibility on the economy.
Thomas also developed artificial intelligence diagnostic software for medical and industrial uses. His book, The Intuitive Algorithm, explains an AI algorithm which appears to imitate human intuition.
Thomas’ Effective Mind Control website contains articles on the parallels in the nervous system to algorithmic processes. It also deals with the emotions created by the influence of algorithmic logic on evolutionary development. The solutions to emotional problems presented in the website are based on his lifelong experiences. These articles have created extensive public interest, with over half a million people from 150 countries visiting the website, and 1500 page views a day. The present book follows up on that widespread interest.

Reviews

[Topaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a companion to a museum exhibit at The Met which is described as the first complete review of Paul Rudolph’s work. While I didn’t see the exhibit, I have read most of the book about Rudolph, and this is a very very brief overview, with very little information and insight into his work.

The book itself is very short and each section has about 3-5 pages of text. You can read the whole book in one sitting. It does have many photos and color reproductions of his drawings. Rudolph is very famous for his highly detailed and intricate perspective and section drawings/renderings. However, many of these drawings have already been published elsewhere, perhaps in lower quality but, still, it’s nothing new. There are also many vintage photographs of competed buildings by Ezra Stoller that have been seen many times before.

Perhaps those drawings were a bigger focus of the actual museum exhibition but it’s not enough to carry this whole book.

If it were truly covering his entire work we would see more variety of projects, and more photos/drawings of each project. There is a nice bibliography at the back for further reading which I would recommend for those interested in learning more about Rudolph’s career.

Photos of the actual book can be found at Amazon

[Dan Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic.

[ASC Library]

720.92 Tho