1 comments about Vienna: Architecture And Design (And Guides).

1. Vienna is such a magnificent city for architecture and design and this book does a great job in capturing the dynamism of architects and designers working in Vienna today. I want to go to Vienna now and see some of these new buildings after seeing the pics in this book. (So if you throw the trip in I want to make, you might say this book is rather expensive!)

2 comments about Flesh: Architectural Probes.

1. From the pretentious title to the closing footnotes, Diller and Scofidio go to great lengths to make their architecture seem more complex than it is. Their pseudo-intellectual inquiries may sound impressive to students, but do not stand up to sophisticate scrutiny. There is nothing useful or intelligent in this striving but empty volume.



2. Love the Title Provocative & Brilliant; especialy enligtening to those fascinated by Diller & Scofidio's body of work; if you want to gain insight as to what drives Diller and Scofidio's processes, it's a must read.....

3 comments about Philadelphia Theaters: A Pictorial Architectural History.

1. The book is good in so far as it goes, but I would've liked more coverage (and pics) of more of Philadelphias downtown theaters. Only a handful are covered (many more are left out) There is an incredibly long list of theaters listed in the back of the book. What happened? I didnt expect a layout of EVERY theater, but certainly the Goldman, Regency, Randolph and a few others should've been covered.



2. This book is outstanding. I grew up in Phila. and was lucky enough to be around when these Theaters were active.I went to shows in most all of them that are in the book.This book brought back so many fond memories of days gone by.The book is very well written and right on the ball fact wise.It was a wonderful time when those Theaters were around and this book captures so much of that feeling. If you have an interest in Theaters, and especially if you were around back then, you will love this book. If you were not around back then you would still enjoy this book for its historic value. Thank you Irvin R. Glazer.



3. OH the beauty of those grand old theatres! These Philadelphia beauties are wonderfully documented in this exquisite Dover Publication. I congradulate the Dover publishing house for making another wonderful set of black and white images available to us all Its great to see all the architectural interior details of these theatres.

2 comments about History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics.

1. I fully agree with the above review in all its positive points. This book is superbly researched and superbly written, and it is well worth the very inexpensive price. It is by far the most detailed examination of the architectural history of the U.S. Capitol building that I have come across. However, the actual physical quality of the book leaves a great deal to be desired, which is why I have given this four stars instead of five. The printing job is lousy. Many words are struck out or compressed into the space of one letter. The illustrations look as if they were copied on an old and dirty photocopy machine. This is a particular problem with the photographs, some of which are almost undifferentiated black rectangles. Also, the captions indicate that some of the illustrations were obviously in color, although they are copied in black and white.
   
   I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the architecture of the U.S. Capitol, but I also would recommend that it be read with other books on the Capitol that have better quality illustrative material.



2. I used to think that the United States Government Printing Office was responsible for putting out lots and lots of documents only politicians and lawyers might find interesting, as well as pamphlets on home canning, fallout shelter design, and other arts. I was thus delighted to find that this government branch has produced a quite beautiful volume, _History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics_ by William C. Allen. It even has a publication note: "106th Congress, 2d Session / Senate Document 106-29 / Printed pursuant to H. Con. Res. 221," but don't be put off by this. It may be an official US Government publication, but it is a large format book of almost five hundred glossy pages, it is well illustrated, and it is written with no touch of bureaucratese. Cynics alert: the government can do some things very well.

   Of course, that is what the book itself is about. The Capitol is a real triumph, a gorgeous building that does everything architecture can do to inspire hand-over-the-heart patriotic feelings. Underneath that magnificent dome are wings that are beautifully proportioned and decorated, and it comes as a surprise to learn just how much the building consists of additions that were never anticipated when its first stone was laid in 1793. Indeed, the splendid dome we see now was before just a smaller spherical cap without decoration, and the building consists more of additions than it does of the original structure. We may now think of the building as essentially finished; indeed, historic preservation activists have in recent decades prevented any major additions or changes, but for most of its history, the Capitol has been tinkered with and pieced together. In 1827, Representative Charles Wickliffe of Kentucky addressed the house to complain that the building was not yet finished, and that old men from his district who had worked on it were now amazed to find out that the work was incomplete. Almost ever since, elected representatives within the building have criticized the Capitol, bothered its funding, politicized the selection of architects, and in general acted like politicians. The building remains symbolic in this way: a magnificent outcome has arisen despite the arguing and shenanigans.

   The book describes the placement upon Jenkins Hill of the "Congress House" within the famous plan of the city drawn up by Pierre L'Enfant. It was Jefferson who insisted that that it be called a "capitol," with roots deep in the Roman republic, emphasizing ancient principles of citizenship and self-government. There was a competition for the design of the original building, but there is not really one original architect, as it was built by compromise between various plans. George Washington insisted on a dome "for beauty and grandeur," but thought it might be a good place to put a clock or a bell. It was the classicist Jefferson who advised Washington on the final design, and who worked intimately with B. Henry Latrobe to produce the initial structure. Prominent within it was the rotunda, with proportions taken almost directly from the Pantheon in Rome. The Jefferson - Latrobe partnership was enormously productive, but not without some conflict. Latrobe, for instance, was in favor of a "lantern" to be raised upon the dome as a means of covering it and allowing for light to enter, but Jefferson was clearly bound to classical precedent; he knew of no such lantern on classical buildings, terming them "degeneracies of modern architecture." By the time the dome was really to be erected, the British had in 1814 burned much of the original building, and Charles Bullfinch designed a relatively low, spherical dome close to the desires of Washington and Jefferson.

   Latrobe was the first of the architects to deal with the Americanization of classical influence. For instance, the sculptors of the enormous eagle above the Speaker's rostrum produced a weird bird that was distinctly un-American. The Italian sculptor modeled the bird from memory, and it was only after shipments of anatomical parts of a bald eagle to the sculptor that we got an eagle whose inauthenticity would not "be detected by our Western Members." Latrobe also designed novel columns for the inside of the building, capped by magnolias or graceful tobacco leaves rather than the classical acanthus. His most popular feature, however, were the corn columns, the body of which resembled stalks of corn tied together (rather than plain fluting), with a cap of ears of corn. Everyone liked them, and they enabled him to get extra appropriations.

   The architect who has most to do with the appearance of the Capitol as we know it was Thomas U. Walker, who entered the competition for the expansion of the building, once the old Senate and House chambers were acknowledged as too small. His design of wings for new chambers on either side of the old ones, and connected to them by narrow corridors, was approved by Millard Fillmore in 1851. Walker worked on the creation of the new chambers even though for most of his term the building project would be transferred to the War Department. It is not clear who had the idea for a vertical extension of the low dome into the splendid one we now see, but by the time a certain Representative addressed his colleagues about the fire hazard of the mostly wooden Bulfinch dome, Walker was already designing its replacement. Many of Walker's beautiful drawings and plans for the dome are reproduced here. The dome is of fireproof cast iron, painted to look uniform with the stone of the rest of the building. Miraculously, the colossal and ornate dome exceeded in weight the original, much smaller, masonry and wood dome by only twenty percent. It was not without controversy; there were many in architectural circles who insisted that buildings and materials must be honest and iron should not imitate stone, but this was never a controversy entered by the politicians. The dome had been started by the beginning of the Civil War, but the firm with the contract for the cast iron had over a million pounds of it on site, and kept working even though the government admitted that the war would postpone all payments. During the war, the Capitol was used as a bakery, a barracks, and a hospital. With the confusion of war, the grounds became trampled by hogs and goats, and they rubbed against and discolored the ironwork waiting installation. But the great dome was completed by the time the war was over.

   There have been extensions to all four sides of the Capitol, and many changes to the interior. While many of the historic decorations have been deliberately retained, a few (and it seems significantly few) changes have done serious damage to what went before. The author notes that the 1950s update of the Senate and House chambers took out all of the high Victorian decoration and replaced it with "pastiches of vaguely classical designs." He sniffs, "Few connoisseurs today look upon the designs with satisfaction, nor has any student of Federal period architecture discovered either authenticity or wit among the details." However, such dismissals are few in this gorgeous book. Allen is himself the architectural historian in the office of the Architect of the Capitol, and so his enthusiasm for the structure is not only obvious but it is exceedingly well informed. He has included the controversies, personality clashes, funding debates, and political bombast here, but nothing can obscure the success and the beauty of this remarkable building, a superbly American temple.

No comments about Long Island Landscapes and the Women Who Designed Them.

1 comments about Pennsylvania Station: McKim, Mead and White (Architecture in Detail series).

1. In 1963, a crime was perpetrated on the people of the city of New York. One of the most magnificent monuments ever to grace the streets of this city was taken from us, robbed by the forces of greed and shortsightedness; a fortress built to last for centuries destroyed, systematically dismantled after only 53 years. To anyone who's ever passed through the grim, cluttered, underground rat trap that is Penn Station today, or had to find their way around the horrendously designed Madison Square Garden that sits on top of it, the mere image of those great marble columns, the 150-foot high coffered ceiling, and most of all that magnificent steel-and-glass roof convey a tremendous sense of tragedy and loss. This book brings the lost station back to life with full-page photographs and architectural drawings, along with concise and informative text. It reminds us of what we've lost, but also provides optimism for the future now that plans to convert the adjacent Farley building, also designed by McKim, Mead and White, into a glorious new railway terminus will shortly, finally, become a reality.

   Anyone interested in railroad history, turn-of-the-century neoclassical architecture, or New York City history will be mesmerized by the images of this lost palace.

1 comments about Preserving Historic New England: Preservation, Progressivism, and the Remaking of Memory.

1. Had this author been able to avoid the pitfalls of excessive jargon, this book would have been far more valuable to the layman. As it stands, the writing style is stilted and difficult to read, making it accessible only to those who care to plow through the repetitive phraseology.

1 comments about Myths in Stone: Religious Dimensions of Washington, D.C..

1. Who would have thought of Washington, D.C. as a spiritual destination? You will think so after reading this rich, soulful guidebook to the capital's architectural idiosyncrasies. This author, whom I find more inspiring and much more readable than mythologist Joseph Campbell, escorts the reader on a journey to the mythic center of what Lincoln called "the last great hope of mankind." What better time in our history to visit and revisit it as sacred space. In the words of the author, "to visit Washington is to experience the retelling of a story of mythic proportions." The conclusions Meyer draws from his epiphany, described in the chapter entitled "Reflections," are alone worth the price of the book.

4 comments about South Beach Architectural Photographs: Art Deco to Contemporary.

1. I've been collecting Mr. Clemence original prints for a few years now and was most delighted to finally see his book. It was during the last Art Basel fair in Miami, when I purchased a beautiful abstract piece by him. A friend then gave me the book which is just brilliant! The transformation South Beach has gone through is shown here in a very interesting way! The photographs zero in on the very creative buildings that fill the city, showing us how good architecture can create an inspiring environment. The book captures that aspect very well, w/ photos that are as original as the buildings! I wish Mr. Clemence would bring his camera to Los Angeles and help us celebrate the great new constructions that are re-shaping our downtown.



2. What a delightful surprise this book! As a photo enthusiast I was not expecting much from such a simple , inexpensive book. But, was I wrong! The photos are gorgeous, very skillfully composed! And the light used in a very seductive way. The photos " Delano " and " Light Carving " in particular are real gems. Others, like " Neon Ocean Drive" has a subtle use of contrast that creates a very interesting mood.It's clear that after living in South Beach for so long he definetely knows his subject!And the printing also was another pleasant surprise, comparable to the more costly fine art photo books.Later I found out that Paul Clemence has a thriving photographic career in Miami. I have a feeling we'll still hear a lot about him!



3. Despite what the book description says above this is not much of a travel book, but it is a fine photographic essay. Even though they are black-and-white photographs you will be reminded of the colors of Miami Beach. Frequently the exposures are softly focused with delicate textures. Many of the photos are details and they take in small areas rather than a great expanse of building(s). Most of the building views take in sections of well know structures so you will sometimes need to think about what building you are looking at (they tell you where and what in the back of the book). There are just enough wider views to keep you engrossed; all part of the enjoyment of thumbing through this volume. The introduction is informative and the locals' short pieces add some extra color. If you've spent anytime wandering around South Beach gawking at the buildings this book is for you.



4. After moving away from Miami Beach it was great to find this book! It shows some of my favourite places there and in very cool photos.It totally sends me back, I can just see myself walking again on Ocean Dr., enjoying the breeze, the palm trees and the Art Deco. And the little texts with people's view on South Beach definetely reminded me of many conversations I had with the people I met down there. Kudos for the layout too; it is just as stylish as the photos themselves. Great job!

No comments about The Footbridge of Peace: Seoul.