Ný bók Trausta Valssonar: SHAPING THE FUTURE, sem lesa má ókeypis á netinu
Bókin SHAPING THE FUTURE er þýðing Trausta á ævisögu sinni Mótun framtíðar sem hann gaf út haustið 2015. Þessar tvær bækur hafa núna verið birtar á heimasíðunni https://hi.is/~tv/ auk tveggja annarra bóka Trausta: Planning in Iceland (2003) og How the World will Change – with Global Warming (2006). Alls hefur Trausti gefið út fjórtán bækur um skipulag, hönnun og framtíðarmál. Facebook-síða bókarinnar Shaping the Future heitir eins og hún, Shaping the Future: https://www.facebook.com/ShapingtheFuturebook/?fref=ts Facebook-síða bókarinnar Mótun framtíðar heitir er: https://www.facebook.com/MotunFramtidar/?fref=ts
SHAPING THE FUTURE – A New Book by Professor Trausti Valsson Free on the Internet
Trausti Valsson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Iceland, has published fourteen books. Four of them can be read for free on his homepage: https://hi.is/~tv/ . The just released book: Shaping the Future (2016), is there, as well as three other books by Valsson: Mótun framtíðar (2015), Planning in Iceland (2003) and How the World will Change – with Global Warming (2006). The Facebook-page of the book Shaping the Future has the name; Shaping the Future: https://www.facebook.com/ShapingtheFuturebook/?fref=ts
Útdráttur úr umsögnum um bókina á íslensku (Birtar í heild á bls. 193 í bókinni) ………. á ensku fyrir neðan!
Joe McBride PhD, prófessor við LAEP deild í Kaliforníuháskóla í Berkeley:
… „Bókin Mótun framtíðar ætti að vera skyldulesning í fyrstu námskeiðum í arkitektúr, landslagsarkitektúr
og í skipulagi. Þetta ætti að vera vegna þess að bókin veitir innsýn í skipulagsmál
á 20. öld, og einnig vegna þess að bókin mun geta örvað stúdenta til að verða hugrakkir og
skapandi hugsuðir.“
Galen Cranz PhD, prófessor í arkitektúr í Kaliforníuháskóla í Berkeley:
„Ég sé að…þú hefur þjónað landi þínu af köllun og af heilum hug.“
Guðmundur Freyr Úlfarsson PhD, prófessor í samgönguverkfræði við Umhverfis-
og byggingarverkfræðideild HÍ: … „Bókin er því ekki aðeins fróðleikur um
söguna heldur einnig leiðarvísir fram á við, sem sýnir okkur mikilvægi þess að hugsa langt fram
í tímann…“.
Birgir Jónsson, dósent í jarðverkfræði við UB-deild Háskóla Íslands:
„…þar valtar hann hressilega yfir módernista í arkitektúr (kassastefnumenn), en hampar
klassískri og þjóðlegri byggingarlist…“.
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, kvikmyndahöfundur: … „Í mínum huga er Trausti frumlegasti
hugsuður sem Ísland hefur átt þegar kemur að skipulagsmálum; stórra hugmynda, sem eins og
sjái fram í tímann, ekki bara fyrir næsta horn, heldur það þar-næsta líka.“
Harpa Þórsdóttir, forstöðumaður Hönnunarsafns Íslands: „… Trausti skapar kerfi
og ferilshugsun við hina fjölhliða hönnun sína… Þar kemur hann böndum á frjóa skapandi
hugsun og byggir ofan á með rökrænni aðferð, sem er undirstaða framúrskarandi hönnunar.“
„… Frásagnir Trausta og myndir á DVD-diski sem fylgir bókinni, eru mjög upplýsandi.“
Sigurður Örlygsson, listmálari: „… Þarna kemur næmni Trausta á persónuleika, og
gríðarlegt myndlistartalent, í ljós.“
Pétur H. Ármannsson, arkitekt: „… Í þessari bók horfir helsti framtíðarhugsuður
þjóðarinnar, Trausti Valsson, í gagnstæða átt.“ „… skyldulesning fyrir námsmenn og alla sem
áhuga hafa á hugmyndasögu skipulags og mótun manngerðs umhverfis.“
Goddur – Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon, prófessor við Listaháskóla Íslands:
„… Bókin er verðmæt vegna þess að hún er einlæg, afhjúpandi og opinská…“ „Hún er boðberi,
grundvölluð á upplýsingum, þekkingu og visku!“
Útdrættir úr umsögnum um bókina Shaping the Future in English
Comments on the Book Shaping the Future (Published on p. 193 in the book)
Joe McBride PhD, Professor at the LAEP Department, University of California, Berkeley: … “Shaping the Future should be required reading in introductory courses in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning for its insights into the field of planning in the 20th century and its ability to inspire students to be courageous, creative-thinkers.“
Galen Cranz PhD, professor at Department of Architecture UC, Berkeley:
“I see… that you have served Iceland wholeheartedly and devotedly. “
Gudmundur Freyr Ulfarsson PhD, Professor of Transsportation Engineering at Department of CE Engineering at the University of Iceland: … “The book does therefore not only present historical knowledge but is also a guide forward, which shows us the importance of thinking far ahead…“
Birgir Jonsson, Associate Professor of Geological Engineering at the CE Department at the University of Iceland: “…where he heavily criticizes modernism in architecture (characterized by boxes), but instead embraces classical and traditional architecture.…“
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, film director: … “In my mind Valsson is the most original thinker in Iceland as it comes to planning. He has created large scale ideas that seem to see into the future, not just around the next corner, but also the next corner after that too..“
Harpa Thorsdottir, Director of the Icelandic Museum of Design: “… Valsson has created systems and processes of thought for his multifaceted design… There he brings his fertile creativity under control with a rational approach, which is always the base for excellent design.“
Sigurdur Örlygsson, painter: “… Here his sensitivity to personalities, and a tremendous visual talent, is revealed.“
Petur H. Armannsson, architect: “… In this book the foremost future thinker of the nation, Trausti Valsson, looks back“ „… it should be an essential reading for students and anyone interested in the history of ideas, planning and the shaping of the built environment.“
Goddur – Gudmundur Oddur Magnusson, Professor at the Icelandic
Academy of Art: “… The book is valuable because it is sincere, revealing and candid…“
“… The book is a messenger, based on information, knowledge and wisdom!“.
English Summary of the book SHAPING the FUTURE Ideas – Planning – Design:
This book is an auto-biography of Trausti Valsson (b. 1946), an Icelandic architect, planner, theoretician and a professor of planning at the University of Iceland. It gives his personal account of what shaped planning and design in the world and in Iceland as he experienced it in his lifetime. Valsson studied architecture and planning at TU West-Berlin from 1967 to 1972, during the height of the East-West tensions. These were also the hippie years, where the revolutionary students helped change many mechanistic ideas on planning and society.
After finishing in Berlin in 1972, Valsson got hired by the new Reykjavik Development and Planning Office. There he became one of the main authors of the first Green Plan and a plan for the new settlement areas to the North-East of the Reykjavik Peninsula.
During these years TV started working on a future plan for Iceland, consisting, for example, of roads connecting Iceland´s settlements, across the Central Highlands. He also started an overlay mapping project, mapping both the hazard- and resource areas of the country, which created a basis for his Iceland-Plan proposals. Work on this he continued at Berkeley and at the University of Iceland as he started teaching there in 1988. Many of his articles and books deal with this subject.
In three visits of Buckminster Fuller to Iceland, Valsson was introduced to thinking about the globe as a whole, and was intrigued by Fuller’s explanations on how different worldviews can be defined geometrically.
In 1980 Valsson got admitted to the PhD programme of Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley, California. In the philosophical section of his dissertation he presented his argument that the Western, mechanistic worldview – created in science by Descartes, Bacon, Newton and others in the 17th century – was the underlying cause for today´s alienation, and that more holistic and integrative schemes were inherent in Eastern worldviews.
In order to be better able to write this section Valsson took three courses in the philosophy of science with Paul Feyerabend, who, following that, sat on his qualifying committee.
TV´s dissertation is called “A Theory of Integration for Design and Planning – Based on the Concept of Complementarity”(1987).During his Berkeley years Valsson also finalised two other books: The Planning History of Reykjavik (1986) and Ideas on the First Iceland Plan (1987). In 1988 – a year after Valsson returned to Iceland – he got an associate professor position in planning at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Iceland, and later a tenured professor position. In Iceland all state employees retire at 70. This important date in Valsson´s life was Jan 7, 2016. The last part of this book describes Valsson’s 27 years at the University.
The title of this present book: Shaping the Future – Ideas – Planning – Design, describes the central projects and ideas of Valsson. It gives an insight into how wide the field of his operation has been. In his professional life Valsson took an active part in public debate in Iceland, for example with his 150 articles and fourteen books. He has got many prices in competitions and also other public recognition.
