Sweet Disorder and the Carefully Careless. Theory and Criticism in Architecture

From a diverse selection of essays emerges the powerful voice of a particular sensibility as Maxwell considers the tension between opposed urges in architecture: the rational, technological, timeless monumentality of the Modern Movement and the more emotional, nostalgic references of historicism. Out of this tension, he argues, can come a vital juxtaposition, a "sweet disorder" that should be cultivated by architects in the search for valid architectural forms.