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1 comments about New York Deco (Deluxe Edition).

1. The lovely Rockefeller Center rightly kicks of this photographic Deco tour of New York. The exteriors of the six buildings have delights everywhere, for all to see, too.
   
   The book though is very generalised and probably aimed at the tourist market because it has no contents, index or bibliography. What it does have are plenty of close-ups of the detail work that seems to adorn so many Manhattan buildings, frequently way above street level so that these gems are mostly missed. There is a super shot of one of the Chrysler eagles on pages 148-9, or the ornamental metalwork of a lightning bolt and a bird on the General Electric Tower, page fifty-one.
   
   The one hundred and thirty eight photos are all in color and each has an informative caption. Between the photos text pages contain thoughts on Big Apple by a variety of writers and historical personalities, which again suggest the title is really a keepsake aimed at the visitor.
   
   A similar photo book by Carla Breeze New York Deco, though lacking in so many close-ups takes a more guide book approach with copy and photos covering commercial, residential, entertainment, public and religious buildings plus an index and bibliography. If your curiosity goes further David Garrard Lowe's fascinating Art Deco New York, sums it all up within a serious historical perspective.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

3 comments about Information Exchange.

1. It's interesting to compare the rebuilding of ground zero to that of other cities, and puts the destruction of the WTC in perspective. Having worked for a large 9/11 relief fund, I know first hand how grieving families are preoccupied with what will become of Ground Zero and even its smallest particles of dust (thought to be the remains of loved ones.) Tying together memorialization and urbanization in this way is a great concept -this NY public space will always be personal for us at many levels.

   Having said that, the design is a bit overdone. You don't know where to look with its melange of maps, colors and varying text sizes. Clearly intended for those with a design eye, as opposed to those more interested in the social and political perspectives.




2. Comparing the rebuilding of New York, with that of other cities, is an interesting concept. Having worked for one of the biggest 9-11 Relief Funds in New York I know that Ground Zero, and what becomes of it, is a very important part of the grieving process for families who lost someone. Even the smallest particles of dust remaining at Ground Zero are thought to be the remains of loved ones whose bodies were incinerated. The book is great for bringing together ideas about memorialization and rebuilding. Also, our whole New York Ground Zero focus is put into perspective.

   That said, the design could stand to be a bit friendlier to people interested in the text. You find yourself not knowing where to look - maps, bold colors, varying text sizes. Understandably, though, the people reading the book will be coming at it from a design perspective as opposed to a social/political perspective.




3. Information Exchange: How Cities Renew, Rebuild, and Remember is a concise work published by architectural and urban design advocate Van Alen Institute. Instigated by the events of September 11th, this book examines seven cities forced to rebuild after a catastrophic event (be it an act of man or nature). Opening with the unfinished chronicle of New York City's revisioning operation, a genealogy of rebuilding in various cities-Beirut, Berlin, Kobe, Manchester, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Sarajevo-is subsequently presented to illuminate successful strategies, common points of contention, and creative solutions to this monumental, complex, and harrowing task.

   Americans, particularly New Yorkers-having endlessly obsessed themselves with the multitudinous accounts of September 11th-may find the book's opening precis of this tragedy to be insensitive in its brevity. The equally short synopses of the 7 other urban reconstructions, however, are entirely new; providing the reader with a unique and interesting information set that, till recently, was relatively obscure and unexamined. Each chapter begins with a short, if not slightly narrow, timeline of the each city's operation-starting with the tragedy and proceeding with a dissection of the various stages of recovery. The timelines then are followed by more illustrative and often insightful interviews or essays written by different contributors.

   Through the essays and dialogues several questions surface from one chapter to the next. What begets the most progressive and enlightened designs? How does a public process find a voice in this arena? How should the collective memory of the tragedy be represented in a memorial? Should such an initiative be publicly or privately managed? How does such a daunting project obtain adequate financing? And while it becomes clear through the course of this study that every city is unique and presents its own set of obstacles and invitations, there are recurring solutions-rendering this work required reading for anyone involved the rebuilding of Ground Zero.

   Fashioned in the now ubiquitous Bruce Mau graphic style, Information Exchange is a flashy package that reads more like a magazine than a weighty research volume. One could finish this pithy book almost accidentally. And though it does not necessarily come to any definitive conclusions nor does is pursue a single thesis, Information Exchange is a worthwhile sampling. Its theme is interesting, its essays provocative, and its varied perspectives refreshing.

No comments about Um 1800: Architekturtheorie und Architekturkritik in Deutschland zwischen 1790 und 1810.

No comments about The Art of Building: From Classicism to Modernity : The Dutch Architectural Debate 1840-1900 (Reinterpreting Classicism) (Reinterpreting Classicism) (Reinterpreting Classicism).

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No comments about The Architectural Imagination of Edith Wharton: Gender, Class and Power in the Progressive Era.