No comments about Arts & Crafts Masterpieces (Architecture 3s).

No comments about Classical And Gothic: Studies in the History of Art.

3 comments about CINCINNATI OBSERVED: ARCITECTURE AND HISTORY (URBAN LIFE & URBAN LANDSCAPE).

1. Ordered on Monday received on Wednesday. The recycled packaging was a great touch. Thank you



2. This is a great book to help one discover Cincinnati and its neighborhoods. There are 12 or 13 walking tours plus one driving tour. 2/3 of the walking tours take place in the city and the other half in the suburbs. All tours have a map for easy reference and the route is clearly spelled out.

   Each tour is also enlivened with John Clubbe's engaging commentary on architecture, urban planning, and Cincinnati history. I am a native Cincinnatian and I learned more from this book than any other source about the region's often colorful history.

   In my opinion, the best tour is the Mount Auburn tour. This is a beautiful part of our city that many people who have lived here all their life have never visitied. I also enjoyed the west side of downton tour and the driving tour.

   The only drawback to this book is it was published 12 years ago. It could use an update. However, as Cincinnatians know, nothing much ever changes here and the book's tours hold up well even with it being over a decade old.

   Buy this book. I guarantee you won't be disappointed




3. This is a great book to help one discover Cincinnati and its neighborhoods. There are 12 or 13 walking tours plus one driving tour. Most of the walking tours take place in the city or its neighborhoods and the driving tour is in the suburbs. All tours have a map for easy reference and the route is clearly spelled out.

   Each tour is also enlivened with John Clubbe's engaging commentary on architecture, urban planning, and Cincinnati history. Clubbe is not a Cincinnatian and he gives an outsider's prospective on a place some people consider insular. I am a native Cincinnatian and I learned more from this book than any other source about the region's often colorful history.

   In my opinion, the best tour is the Mount Auburn tour. This is a beautiful part of our city that many people who have lived here all their life have never visitied. I also enjoyed the west side of downton tour and the driving tour.

   The only drawback to this book is it was published 12 years ago. It could use an update. However, as Cincinnatians know, nothing much ever changes here and the book's tours hold up well even with it being over a decade old.

   Buy this book. I guarantee you won't be disappointed

No comments about Entropia.

No comments about Deconstructing the American Mosque: Space, Gender, and Aesthetics.

1 comments about Capital Dilemma:: Germany's Search for a New Architecture of Democracy.

1. Capital Dilemma is one of those books that talk about architecture with a slight hue of fiction, which makes interesting reading. The subject matter itself is very intriguing in that it deals with the plots that Germany was subjected to through its rather tumultuous history. Architecture assumes importance as a manouvreable political tool. The classical buildings standing over time accrue layers of significance as they play host to various disparate and historically significant events of the different political eras of Germany. Also the predicament faced by contemporary Germany in its search for a new identitiy reflects strongly on the indecisive and wavering nature of contemporary planning and development control. All these are brought to light effectively by Michael Wiese, who surprisingly, is not an architectural critic. Aided generously by some good photographs, the narrative is equally exciting when it talks about the history of Hitler's third reich or about the architectural inclinations that marked the attitudes of west and east Germanys before unification. A must read for those interested in German history and politics. Also, anyone interested in the performative and symbolic power of architecture will be delighted by Capital Dilemma.

No comments about Landscape and History since 1500 (Globalities).

No comments about Storia Dell'Architettura Italiana: Il Qualtrocento.

3 comments about Irving Gill and the Architecture of Reform: A Study in Modernist Architectural Culture.

1. To look back at the work of Irving Gill is a revelation. His buildings could come out of the architecture studio of today with their pared down facades, sparse oranamentation, and uniquely angled roof lines. His hotel in Torrance, Ca looks like something that a circa 2000 urban planning commission would commend--with its pedestrian friendly entrance, and urbane appearance.

   If Gill were alive today, he would throw up at what is being built in Southern California. The infantilization of buildings--with needlessly narcissistic angles, jarring colors, and arbitrary roof lines calls out for discipline of Gill. [For more nonsensical, solipsistic and soccer mommy design architecture of today, check out the new Studio City Library on Whitsett and Moorpark]

   Gill opened up buildings to their surroundings, united interiors and exteriors. He built in a way that did not diminish the occupants of his buildings, but enhanced their lives. So little ego, so much concern for the client. This book is a remarkable look into one of the early geniuses of architecture in California.




2. FINALLY a new book on the great works of Irving Gill!



3. FINALLY a new book on the great works of Irving Gill!

1 comments about Building the New World: Modern Architecture in Latin America.

1. From the very beginning, Europe's modernist architects had a burning need to prostelitize about the benefits of their new architectural style. Their socialist message of modernity with its emphasis on form following function, simplicity and economy found an eager audience in Latin America during the first half of the Twentieth Century.
   
   "Building the New World" follows the rise of modernist architecture in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil with a special emphasis on the ideas of Le Corbusier. These countries became world leaders in the advancement of the modernist agenda. At the time, Latin America's modernist architecture was admired throughout the world. Today, Latin America's contribution to modern architecture is almost unknown outside of the region. Valerie Fraser does a good job of raising the question of what happened to this acclaim. Unfortunately, she does not do a decent job of answering the question which she posits at the beginning of her book.
   
   In the end, "Building the New World" is nothing more than a cursory survey of Latin American modernist architecture. The illustrations are meager and the analysis is superficial. The only good thing that I recommend about this book is that it can purchased used for around five dollars. There is not alot written in English about this period of architectural history and anyone who is interested in the period will probably have to purchase this book. Purchase a used copy. In addition, avoid Carlos Brillembourg's "Latin American Architecture 1929-1960", an even less substantial work of architectural history.