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UnderstandingUnderstanding Hardcover – July 30, 2017
- Print length708 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRichard Saul Wurman
- Publication dateJuly 30, 2017
- Dimensions10.3 x 1.7 x 10.1 inches
- ISBN-101939621690
- ISBN-13978-1939621696
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Product details
- Publisher : Richard Saul Wurman (July 30, 2017)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 708 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1939621690
- ISBN-13 : 978-1939621696
- Item Weight : 6.58 pounds
- Dimensions : 10.3 x 1.7 x 10.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,550,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #553 in Design History & Criticism
- #576 in Architectural Criticism
- #1,164 in Individual Architects & Firms
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
B. Arch / M. Arch 1959 University of Pennsylvania, FAIA 1976 / Arthur Spayd Brooke Gold Medal / (3) Theophilus Parson Chandler Fellowships / (2) Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts / Guggenheim Fellowship / Thornton Oakley Medal 1954 / (3) University of Pennsylvania Award in Watercolors / AIA General Excellence in Architecture Medal 1958 / Mapped Southwestern Quadrant Plane Table Survey Tikal in 1958/59 for University of Pennsylvania Archaeological Museum published by USGS / Annual Gold Medal in Discourse Trinity College Dublin / Gold Medal AIGA / Lifetime Achievement Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards / James Joyce Award Literary and Historical Society University College Dublin / 50th Annual Bradford Washburn Award Boston Museum of Science / Chrysler Award / Art Directors Hall of Fame / L.H.D. Doctor of Humane Letters Babson College / Retrospective Exhibition AXIS Design Gallery Tokyo / Kevin Lynch Award MIT
Wurman lives in Golden Beach, Florida with his wife, novelist Gloria Nagy, and their three yellow labs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
For more: www.wurman.com
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Whereas most geniuses dazzle you with how far they above the ordinary mind, Wurman takes you along on a series of explorations in clarity. He teaches the value of contemplating a single, penetrating question, and following it to logical extremes. He likes to start by observing things with a completely empty mind, thus to see a subject more clearly. He doesn't dumb down complex material. He does lay bare the utter necessity of real understanding. The pages are filled with amiable self-talk, studded with some really remarkable phrases and sentences. "Information Anxiety", "Intellectual Jazz". "I don't write a book out of my expertise, that is finite—I write out of my ignorance, which is infinite." "I seek clarity, not simplicity."
Wurman loves jousting with highly accomplished people; he's not bashful about dropping their names. At the same time, he's always filled with insight and admiration for exceptional work. He loves people who grapple with complexity and deliver work of elegant simplicity. Architects, musicians, billionaires.
This book is a typographic playground. Fun to look at, it challenging the viewer to take in information in many ways. It is harder to really read; that is perhaps its only drawback. Because UU deserves to be really read, studied, gleaned—there are a lot of insights here for the reader who goes deeper.
Most books are written to be read front to back. Wurman—ever the keen observer of people—knows that we read by grazing, wandering, bouncing like a pinball between bright lights. So his organization is heuristic—bright lights everywhere. Articles are connected, some by time, some by personality, some by subject, some just by design. (Ok, some are just for fun.)
None of this description does justice to the experience of perusing UU. It will most certainly occupy coffee tables of many movers and shakers.
Think of it as a ticket to ride. UU is a rare opportunity to wander the mind, curiosity, and friendships of one of the most important intellects of the Information Era.
At Comic Con, the organizer mentioned this book. Richard responded that he doesn't plug his books. He made it sound like it was nothing.
I bought it and couldn't believe the weight and production quality. I have never been so shocked when receiving a book. It's huge, it's superbly designed with illustrations and photos throughout, but it's in rich, digestible chunks. You can get lost in the chapter on Frank Gehry, 10 pages, mostly photos and illustrations, and then get immersed in a chapter on dogs or cities (comparing their form and scale). I jump around picking topics I'm in the mood for.
I actually think it's a shame he's so low-profile on this book because it's incredible.
I've filled it with sticky notes and markings, punctuating my excitement over each new discovery found within.
I've gotten a very awkward tan line from reading it poolside (it is quite hefty...)
I've run across a parking lot to retrieve it because I thought it was the perfect accompaniment for a camping trip in Yosemite.
Most recently, I've brought it into the office and it's quickly become a favorite source of reading/learning for my teammates - a true elevation of sad desk lunch. It's even become almost as popular in the office as my calf stretcher, which if you have experienced the bliss of a fully stretched calf then know what a compliment that is.
Closing upon difficulty
Opens upon comparison."
7lbs and 700+ pages of marvelous comparisons and contrasts spanning decades of architecture, and design, and information architecture work with lots of little stories and marginalia to get interested in along the way.
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017
Closing upon difficulty
Opens upon comparison."
7lbs and 700+ pages of marvelous comparisons and contrasts spanning decades of architecture, and design, and information architecture work with lots of little stories and marginalia to get interested in along the way.