Learning from Las Vegas created a healthy controversy on its appearance in 1972, calling for architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of "common" people and less immodest in their erections of "heroic," self-aggrandizing monuments. This revision includes the full texts of Part I of the original, on the Las Vegas strip, and Part II, "Ugly and Ordinary Architecture, or the Decorated Shed," a generalization from the findings of the first part on symbolism in architecture and the iconography of urban sprawl. (The final part of the first edition, on the architectural work of the firm Venturi and Rauch, is not included in the revision.) The new paperback edition has a smaller format, fewer pictures, and a considerably lower price than the original. There are an added preface by Scott Brown and a bibliography of writings by the members of Venturi and Rauch and about the firm's work.
Denise Scott Brown Books
Denise Scott Brown is an influential architect, urban planner, and writer whose theoretical work and architectural designs have shaped the landscape of the twentieth century. Alongside her partner, Robert Venturi, she forged an approach to architecture that rejected orthodox modernism and embraced American sprawl and vernacular building. Her writings, including seminal publications, explore the symbolism within architectural forms, influencing how we perceive the urban environment. Scott Brown continues to be a prolific voice in architecture and urban planning.
