Architecture of Community

"No architect has explored architecture's claim touniversality better than Léon Krier, and it is this which makes him themost controversial figure of contemporary architecturalculture."

- Demetri Porphyrios

Léon Krier is one of the best-known - and most provocative -architects and urban theoreticians in the world. Until now, however,his ideas have circulated mostly among a professional audience ofarchitects, city planners, and academics. In The Architecture ofCommunity, Krier has reconsidered and expanded writing from his1998 book Architecture: Choice or Fate. Here he refines andupdates his thinking on the making of sustainable, humane, andattractive villages, towns, and cities. The book includes drawings,diagrams, and photographs of his built works that have not been widelyseen until now.

With three new chapters, The Architecture of Communityprovides a contemporary road map for designing or completingtoday’s fragmented communities. Illustrated throughout withKrier’s original drawings, The Architecture of Communityexplains his theories on classical and vernacular urbanism andarchitecture, while providing practical design guidelines for creatinglivable towns.

The book contains descriptions and images of the author’s builtand unbuilt projects, including the Krier House and Tower in Seaside,Florida, as well as the town of Poundbury in England. Commissioned bythe Prince of Wales in 1988, Krier’s design for Poundbury inDorset has become a reference model for ecological planning andbuilding that can meet contemporary needs.