Albert C. Smith - The Architect as Magician

The Architect as Magician explores the connection between magic and architecture. There is a belief that a greater understanding of the meaning of magic provides insights about architecture and architects design processes. Architects influence the effects of nature through the making of their buildings. In an analogous condition, magicians perform rituals in an attempt to influence the forces of nature. This book argues that architects could gain much by incorporating ideas from magic into their design process.

The book demonstrates through historical and current examples the important influence magic has had on the practice of architecture. The authors explain how magic helps us understand the way we infuse architecture with meaning and how magic affects and inspires architectural creation.

Aimed at architects, students, scholars and researchers, The Architect as Magician helps readers discover the ambiguous and spiritual elements in their design process.

Albert C. Smith is a tenured Associate Professor in the Architecture Department at Ryerson University. His PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology is in Architecture with a subject area of History, Theory, and Criticism and has a main interest in Representation. During the past 30 years he has taught architecture full-time at Ryerson University, the University of Hartford, the University of Utah, University of Minnesota, Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M University. He has successful experience developing and teaching graduate and undergraduate architecture design studio and elective courses.

With a rich and diverse background in both practice and teaching, Albert C. Smith has published numerous articles and been the keynote speaker at various international conferences on architecture and representation. He is the author of several books and the newest, entitled Building an Architects Character: An Exploration in Traits, is currently in production. He is a registered architect in New York State and his professional experience includes four years in the design section of the office of Kevin Roche.

Kendra Schank Smith held a PhD in History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture from Georgia Tech. Her focus was Representation, specifically studying drawings and sketches under the direction of Dr. Marco Frascari. She had a professional Masters degree in Architecture from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Education, concentrating on drawing and ceramics.

Dr. Smith had over 25 years experience at several universities in North America, including the University of Minnesota, University of Buffalo, and the University of Utah. She had practice experience in the architectural office of Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates in Hamden, Connecticut. She published on topics that pertain to visualization and representation, urbanism, diversity, architectural history, and pedagogy. These publications include two books on architectural sketches and a third book pertaining to the design process. Her fourth and most recent book is currently in production with Routledge and is entitled Building the Architects Character; An Exploration in Traits. Researching architectural meaning in cultural artifacts of the built environment, Dr. Smith also wrote on interpreting the construction techniques of the Dong communities in Southwestern China in an article published in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians entitled Time, Space and Construction: Starting with Auspicious Carpentry in the VernacularDong Dwelling.

Dr. Smith was a Professor of Architecture in the Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson University and a member of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies. She served on the national/international boards of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and the Journal of Architectural Education. In 2014, she was elected to the RAIC College of Fellows.

In this work, Kendra Schank Smith and Albert Smith provide a compelling critical reflection on the intertwined histories of architecture and magic. In focusing attention on the transformative capacities of each, their work sheds new light on fundamental practices of interpretation. Their exploration discloses persistent yet ambiguous processes capable of sustaining architectural meaning across cultures and epochs.

Mike Christenson, AIA, NCARB, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies School of Architecture, University of Minnesota

Routledge Research in Architecture

The Routledge Research in Architecture series provides the reader with the latest scholarship in the field of architecture. The series publishes research from across the globe and covers areas as diverse as architectural history and theory, technology, digital architecture, structures, materials, details, design, monographs of architects, interior design, and much more. By making these studies available to the worldwide academic community, the series aims to promote quality architectural research.

Ugly, Useless, Unstable Architectures

Phase Spaces and Generative Domains

Miguel Paredes Maldonado

Worship Sound Spaces

Architecture, Acoustics and Anthropology

Christine Guillebaud and Catherine Lavandier

InterVIEWS

Insights and Introspection on Doctoral Research in Architecture

Federica Goffi

The Multi-Skilled Designer

A Cognitive Foundation for Inclusive Architectural Thinking

Newton Dsouza

Ethical Design Intelligence

The Virtuous Designer

Philippe dAnjou

The Architect as Magician

Albert C. Smith and Kendra Schank Smith

For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Research-in-Architecture/book-series/RRARCH

Albert C. Smith and Kendra Schank Smith

First published 2020

by Routledge

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2020 Taylor & Francis

The right of Albert C. Smith and Kendra Schank Smith to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Smith, Albert C., author. | Smith, Kendra Schank, author.

Title: The architect as magician / Albert C. Smith and Kendra Schank Smith.