An addition to the reading list?

TRAVELS IN HYPERREALITY, by Umberto Eco.

I've just started reading this as my bed-time book and (thus far at least) it's a really good read with a lot of relevance to our studio themes..."Faith in Fakes", as you can see opposite, is its subtitle.

So far it has been dealing with issues of authenticity, has touched on theme parks and our concepts of reality. Can recommend it!

See:
http://martucci670umd.blogspot.com/2008/04/umberto-eco-travels-in-hyper-reality.html for a good synopsis of the book (I've not yet read enough to do it justice!).

February Issue of The AR has a few interesting things to offer...

discussion on "Context or ambiente" talks about how buildings must relate to both their past and the present, and makes reference to TS Eliot's, 'Tradition and individual talent' (1919) - which may be of some interest. It also mentions the recent frequency of 'international architects parachuting their visions into foreign places' contributing through their travel to 'making global architecture an historic phenomenon.'

Feature Articles which may be of interest:
Historical Drama - a Roman (rediscovered) amphitheatre in Spain and
Conversing with the past - modern buildings to house the old culture
...there are also a couple of historic refurbs...