Architecture of Exile

A well-known architect based in Chicago, Tigerman seeks ways to revitalize architecture as he sifts among sphinxes, Essene shrines, models of Ezekiel's visionary temple, medieval synagogues, Renaissance villas and chateaux. In this scholarly, oracular essay, by turns profound and obscure, he deciphers architecture as a challenge to God, a dialogue with the sacred. Temples, gardens and the Jews' tabernacle in the desert represent attempts to bring paradise down to earth; Gothic cathedrals, making God's word visible, recast the divine in a new mold. Architecture gives concrete expression to the exile's quest for identity, and, in Tigerman's words, we are all exiles. These lofty concepts are illuminated with the aid of 350 black-and-white reproductions. Tigerman believes the U.S. avant-garde shallowly caters to our taste for newness, and he ``deconstructs'' the relics of history for clues to future directions. (August)