cover image Chambers for a Memory Palace

Chambers for a Memory Palace

Donlyn Lyndon. MIT Press (MA), $32.5 (321pp) ISBN 978-0-262-12182-8

In a ``conversation in letters,'' two distinguished architects informally discuss architectural forms and embellishments in famous buildings and recent constructions. Here, a determined novice can learn how the concept of an axis affects the visual and structural presence of a building, as well as the impact of diverse domes, pillars, arches, terraces, courtyards and gardens. Each chapter (or, as they call it, ``chamber'') focuses on one theme, jumping between past and present, between Italian hill towns and San Francisco, between Spanish mosques and Disneyland. They discuss the Taj Mahal; the Hagia Sophia; mad Ludwig's castle, Neuschwanstein in Bavaria; the great Mosque at Cordoba; the Salk Institute in California; and an enormous number of other interesting structures, both familiar and lesser known. Illustrated throughout with deft sketches of the subjects discussed, the book is a prize for anyone fascinated by architecture. Moore, who died in 1993, was professor of architecture at the University of Texas; Lyndon is professor of architecture at UC Berkeley. (Nov.)