View source for IJP The Book of Surfaces

{{Short description|Book about the geometry and philosophy of architectural surfaces}}
{{Infobox book
| image        = Cover_of_Title_IJP_the_Book_of_Surfaces.gif
| caption      = Book cover
| author       = George L. Legendre
| isbn         = 1-902902-32-7
| pub_date     = March 2003
| language     = English
| publisher    = AA Publications
| external_url = https://aabookshop.net/?wpsc-product=ijp-the-book-of-surfaces
}}
'''''IJP the book of surfaces''''' is a book by George L. Legendre, with a foreword by [[Mohsen Mostafavi]].

==Overview==

''IJP the Book of Surfaces'' was released in 2003 by the publishing arm of the London-based [[Architectural Association School of Architecture]]. The book features six essays on the notion of surface written from an architectural, philosophical, literary, mathematical, and computational angle, as well as several lighter asides ranging from cookery to poetry. These threads have been given a particular typographic and graphic design treatment meant to weave them together into a continuous narrative.<ref>[https://philpapers.org/rec/LIAIJP George L. Legendre (2003) IJP The Book of Surfaces], AA Publications London, out of print</ref>

==Background and literary references==
The book addresses some significant developments of the decade, such as [[3D modeling|the explosion of computational tools]]; the emergence of the 3D surface as an architectural [[Signified and signifier|signifier]] of the [[Digital Revolution]];<ref>[http://papers.cumincad.org/data/works/att/caadria2005_b_6c_c.content.pdf Mauro Chiarella Parametric Surfaces And Architecture: Concepts, Design, and Production CAADRIA 2005 Proceedings of the 10th International Conference] The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia</ref>  the profession's fascination with the formal possibilities of [[Cladding (construction)|surface cladding]]; and the rise of innovative manufacturing technologies. It can be compared to contemporary titles like [[Mohsen Mostafavi]]’s and [[David Leatherbarrow]]’s ''Surface Architecture'',<ref>[https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262621946/surface-architecture/ Mohsen Mostafavi and David Leatherbarrow (2005) ''Surface Architecture''] MIT Press ISBN 9780262621946</ref> an essay on the [[Phenomenology (architecture)|phenomenology]] of architectural façades, and [[Ellen Lupton]]’s collection ''Skin: Surface, Substance + Design'', which explores the working [[metaphor]] of artificial [[skin]] in [[Materials science]], [[fashion]] and the [[visual arts]].<ref>[https://ellenlupton.com/Skin-Surface-Substance-Design Ellen Lupton, Editor (2002) ''Skin: Surface, Substance + Design''] Princeton Architectural Press and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum</ref> By comparison, Illa Berman notes that ''IJP the Book of Surfaces'' withdraws from external cultural currents and their contexts and emerges from within the formal and computational specificity of the surface itself.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1425800 Illa Berman (2003) ''THICK SKINS: The Complexity of the Superficial''] in Journal of Architectural Education Volume 57, 2003 - Issue 2</ref>   As a piece of writing, it is indebted to the literary school [[Oulipo]]. Its treatment of one theme as a collection of vignettes written in different voices (linguistic, mathematical, computational, mock-literary, and pop-cultural) nods back to [[Raymond Queneau]]’s 1947 [[Exercises in Style]], in which the same trivial event is told and re-told in different idioms.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/29544668 Tom Weaver, Eds (2007) ''George L Legendre in Conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist'' (2007)] AA Files No. 56 (2007), pp. 20-25 (6 pages)</ref>

==Form and content==
In keeping with the literary/mathematical spirit of [[Oulipo]], [[book layout|layout]], [[typography]], and [[pagination]] form an integral part of the book's thesis. The pagination taps the formal affinity between a publisher’s book spread and [[Surface (mathematics)|a mathematician's surface]], both of which draw on the concept of mathematical [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]].  Similar mathematical references apply to the title of the work, which combines 'i' and 'j', two symbols commonly used in matrix [[algebra]], with the symbol 'p' (for point), introduced by the author in reference to Euclidean space.<ref>[https://philpapers.org/rec/LIAIJP George L. Legendre (2003)], page 3,12</ref>

==Reception==
The book’s argument and restrained use of computer graphics by the standards of the day (dominated then as now by computer-generated [[Rendering (computer graphics)|renderings]]<ref>From [[Autodesk 3ds Max]] in the 1990s to [[Midjourney]] in 2022, the emphasis on imaging remains. For the latest trends, see  [https://parametric-architecture.com/dreaming-up-viable-parametric-creations-working-through-the-chaos-of-ai/ Tim Fu (2022) Dreaming up viable parametric creations: Working through the chaos of AI in Parametric Architecture]</ref>) elicited a mixed reception. Historians and theorists<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41679232 Antoine Picon (2010) ''Continuity, Complexity, and Emergence: What is the Real for Digital Designers?''] in Perspecta Vol. 42, pp. 147-157 (11 pages) The MIT Press</ref> noted its withdrawal from the wider cultural context,<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1425800 Illa Berman (2003) ''THICK SKINS: The Complexity of the Superficial''] in Journal of Architectural Education Volume 57, 2003 - Issue 2</ref> its consistent argument,<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1359135503212306 Peter Carl (2003) ''On the Poetry of Matrices''] in Architectural Research Quarterly, 7, pp 371372 doi:10.1017/S1359135503212306</ref> graphic sobriety,<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1359135503212306 Peter Carl (2003)] ''The comforting, erotic smoothness of the preferred surface-profiles is the offspring of a regime of abstract, relentless calculation. The curves are rarely presented without evidence of the sober pulses of computation.''</ref> and theoretical reach.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41679232 Antoine Picon (2010) P. 152] ''More than volumes, surfaces seem to bear the mark of the computer processes that generate them, a point made clear by Georges L. Legendre in his essay IJP : The Book of Surfaces . Whereas volumes seem arbitrary or somewhat opaque and inert, surfaces appear as more genuine expressions of parametric variation. In other words, surfaces are more naturally animated''</ref> Some readers noted its lack of engagement with other pressing issues of the day, such as [[Sustainability in construction|sustainability]] and [[ecology]], as well as its blank and [[Solipsism|solipsistic]] tone, occasionally questionable syntax, and pedestrian graphic design.<ref>Neil Spiller (2003) ''The Number's Up'' Review of ''IJP The Book of Surfaces'' Building Design Magazine, issue 1588 London.] ''There is much that is missed in this oddly narcissistic book (...) a few more pages go on equations defining surfaces of little use to academic or even jobbing architects.''</ref> The book's reception may have reflected disagreements in the architectural community at the time over the meaning of [[innovation]] and the finality of [[3D modeling|computational tools]]. After 2015, similar disagreements arose between the trade press<ref>[https://www.fastcompany.com/3063655/the-most-convincing-argument-against-parametric-design-yet ''The Most Convincing Argument Against Parametric Design Yet'' by Meg Miller (2016)] in Fast Company</ref> and the self-identifying [[avant-garde]] movement of architectural [[parametricism]]. Legendre has since distanced himself from the broader cultural claims of the movement<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/29544668 Tom Weaver, Eds (2007) ''George L Legendre in Conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist'' (2007)] AA Files No. 56 (2007), pp. 20-25 (6 pages)</ref>).

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Design computing}}
* {{annotated link|Digital architecture}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Architectural Association School of Architecture]]
[[Category:Architecture books]]
[[Category:Mathematics books]]
[[Category:Computer books]]
[[Category:Design books]]