Spiro Konstantine Kostof (7 May 1936,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

– 7 December 1991,

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

) was a Turkish-born American leading

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

, and educator. He was a professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. His books continue to be widely read and some are routinely used in collegiate courses on

architectural history The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

Biography

Born in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, of Greek and Bulgarian ethnic origin, Kostof was educated at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

. He came to the United States in 1957 for graduate work at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Although he intended to major in drama, his interests shifted to architectural history. He received his Ph.D. in 1961, then taught at Yale for four years, before moving to the University of California, Berkeley, to join the faculty of the College of Environmental Design. He was to remain at Berkeley for the duration of his career. Kostof's approach to

emphasized urbanism as well as architecture and showed how architectural works are embedded in their physical and social contexts. Commonly accepted today, Kostof's approach was a break with previous directions in architectural history which tended to emphasize the sequence of styles and to study architectural works in relative isolation from their settings. Kostof's textbook, ''A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals'' (1985) embodied these ideas and soon became one of the standard texts in the field. In 1987, Kostof hosted a five-part

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

series, ''America by Design''. Kostof's publications were wide-ranging and included ''The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession''; ''The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History''; ''America by Design''; and ''The City Assembled: Elements of Urban Form through History''. In 1993, following his death, the

Society of Architectural Historians The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the study and preservation of the built environment worldwide. Based in Chicago in the United States, the Society's 3,500 members include ...

established the "Spiro Kostof Award", to recognize books "in the spirit of Kostof's writings," particularly those that are interdisciplinary and whose content focuses on urban development, the history of urban form, and/or the architecture of the built environment.

Books

* Kostof, Spiro, ''The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1977; third edition,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, Berkeley Los Angeles London 2000. * Kostof, Spiro, ''A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals'',

, New York Oxford 1985; second edition 1995. * Kostof, Spiro, '' America by Design'',

, New York 1987. * Kostof, Spiro, ''Caves of God:

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

and its Churches'' Publisher:

, 1989 * Kostof, Spiro, ''The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History'', Bullfinch Press 1991; second edition, Thames & Hudson, New York 1999 * Kostof, Spiro, ''The City Assembled: Elements of Urban Form through History'', Little Brown, Boston 1992; second printing Thames & Hudson New York 2005.

External links

Society of Architectural Historians Publications Awards
*''Take a class with Kostoff!'' Online video
“An Historical Survey of Architecture and Urbanism”: 26 course lectures given in 1991 at the University of California, Berkeley (26 - 80 minute streaming lectures)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kostof, Spiro American architecture writers American architectural historians Writers from California UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design faculty 1936 births 1991 deaths American people of Bulgarian descent American people of Greek descent Writers from Istanbul Bulgarians in Istanbul Robert College alumni 20th-century American historians Yale University alumni 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Historians from California

Biography

Books

See also

External links