Shadow

Shadow: the architectural power of withholding light
Simon Unwin
Routledge, 2020



Paperback | Page Size inches | 184 pages | 386 illustrations | English | ISBN: 978-0367442583 | $25.95

Publisher's Description:

Each of these Analysing Architecture Notebooks is devoted to a particular theme in understanding the rich and varied workings of architecture. They can be thought of as addenda to the foundation volume Analysing Architecture, which first appeared in 1997 and has subsequently been enlarged in three further editions. Examining these extra themes as a series of Notebooks, rather than as additional chapters in future editions, allows greater space for more detailed exploration of a wider variety of examples, whilst avoiding the risk of the original book becoming unwieldy.

Shadows may be insubstantial but they are, nevertheless, an important element in architecture. In prehistoric times we sought shade as a refuge from the hot sun and chilling rain. Through history architects have used shadows to draw, to mold form, to paint pictures, to orchestrate atmosphere, to indicate the passing of time … as well as to identify place. Sometimes shadow can be the substance of architecture.

dDAB Commentary:

Any architect or student of architecture who knows the name Simon Unwin probably does for one book: Analysing Architecture. The book providing an introduction of architectural strategies and elements of architectural design has been updated three times since its 1997 publication, most recently in 2014. In recent years its publisher, Routledge, has published smaller "notebooks" by Unwin that are companions to Analysing Architecture. These books expand upon certain subjects in the original or define somewhat unexpected takes on architecture, including Children as Place-Makers, Curve, Metaphor, and, most recently, Shadow.

Shadows are defined by Unwin in Analysing Architecture as "modifying elements of architecture." Turning to that chapter in the earlier book (I have the second edition) reveals shadow to be discussed in a subsection on "light," which makes obvious sense: while you can have light without (perceived) shadows, you can't have shadows without light. Light has been a major element in Modern architecture, at least since Le Corbusier's oft-used quote that "Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light." But in the 21st century the importance of light has overtaken shadows, as visible in architecture's photographic representation; far too many photos of buildings and interiors (especially interiors) use Photoshop and other tactics to eliminate the darkness of shadows. This parallels, though, how some architects strive to eliminate shadows from spaces that are designed with more glass than wall.

In this context Shadow can be seen as a corrective, an attempt at establishing and increasing appreciation of shadows in architecture. Unwin does this primarily through drawings: there are 386 illustrations on 184 pages, or at least 2 per page, many of them depicting, explaining, and in some cases amplifying the effects of shade. Although I'm not sure if it's necessary to know or follow Unwin's many shadow types ("shadow container," "contained shadow," "shadow frame," "framed shadow frame," "shadow gradient," etc.) to understand the quality of shadows in architecture, the categorization should help the students Unwin targets in his writing. Those types take up most of the book's chapters and are followed by regional shadows (Japan, not surprisingly) as well as a chapter devoted to Le Corbusier, who used most of Unwin's types so well and therefore is known to him as "architect of shadow."

Spreads:

Author Bio:

Simon Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Although retired, he continues to teach at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff University, Wales, where he taught for many years.

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