2 comments about Moorish Style.

1. So sad, a very nice looking book with an interesting approach -- looking at Islamic art and architecture as seen through Western eyes over the last few hundred years. The book showcases some excellent reproductions of fabulous old paintings, historic photographs, and contemporary photographs. Why sad? because the narrative text is printed in light gray in a very skinny sans serif type that swims before my eyes. I admit I don't have perfect vision, but I can read most books perfectly well. In Moorish Style I can read a paragraph or two under a strong light, but it is so agonizing (actually nauseating) I soon give up.

   Curse the art director who came up with this great idea!! .... Books have to be more than just pretty.

   If it weren't for this 'slight' problem, I would give it four, maybe five stars. For the excellent graphics, I give it three.




2. Synopsis The architecture and decorative art of the Islamic world, particularly Moorish Spain, is illustrated in this book. It shows how it acted as an influence for designers and architects in the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and America. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title

   Book Information In the 19th Century a European fascination with the exotic Orient generated what has come to be known as "Orientalism". The costumes, landscapes and townscapes of the Ottoman, Arab and Mogul worlds inspired painters ranging from Delacroix and Ingres to David Roberts and even Matisse. When expressed in architecture and design, buildings and gardens, this phenomenon became known as the Moorish Style.

   This style has been used in a vast variety of ways throughout the western world, appearing in gentlemen's clubs and synagogues, cinemas (often called "The Alhambra") and Tuscan villas. In this magnificently illustrated survey, Miles Danby examines the roots of the style in art and architecture throughout the Islamic world. He discusses the factors of space and pattern and the structural and decorative elements that are commonly found in mosques and palaces, whether in Mogul India, Ottoman Turkey or Moorish Spain.

   Of all the buildings key to the style, the Alhambra in Granada is perhaps the most important. Expertly recorded by the great 19th-century designer, Owen Jones, its features were to inspire both public and private building into the 20th Century, and make concrete the exotic dreams of a number of wealthy aesthetes. This book, the first to examine the style from its origins to its contemporary manifestation, will act as an inspiration for architects and designers, as well as being a source of visual pleasure and stimulation for all.

3 comments about Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide.

1. This book is a great resource for those interested in architecture in Los Angeles, but it has MAJOR problems. Not only are the maps inaccurate about 50% of the time (wrong intersection, wrong place along a street, or just plain wrong), but I have also found several listings for which the street address is wrong, including one for which the wrong street name is given. I have also searched for buildings only to realize that they have been demolished. While Los Angeles has gone through a lot of changes in the last few years, several of the buildings on question were demolished before this edition came out. So if you going to use this book to discover architecturally significant buildings, bring along a good map, a great sense of direction and allow plenty of time, you're going to need all of those to overcome the mistakes made by the authors.



2. If Amazon won't do a search, check out William Stout Architectural Books at 804 Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA 94133. tel 415/391-6757; fax 415/989-2341. I'm about to take an afternoon constitutional over there, enjoy the sunshine and mild breezes, schmooze with Bill Stout for a bit, and leave with book in hand and a smile on my face. Meanwhile, I'll be supporting one of the finest architectural bookstores in the world. Happy reading.



3. this is a unique, one-of-a-kind guide to l.a. architecture, from the 20s (maybe earlier) to the 60s or 70s. pictures, addresses, etc. if anyone has a copy, i'll buy it. i can't find it anywhere and apparently, amazon won't do a search for it.

1 comments about Tennessee's New Deal Landscape: A Guidebook.

1. President Franklin Roosevelt, confronted with the hardship of millions of unemployed Americans and radical political ideas blossoming around the world, put millions of unemployed Americans to work building bridges, roads, buildings and other elements of America's infrastructure. These fine work projects are seen across America and represent a hard period in American history, and a period of hope and achievement.

   I found this H-Net review of this book on the Internet.

   "Carroll Van West. Tennessee's New Deal Landscape: A Guidebook.
   Reviewed by Edward Salo, Geo-Marine, Inc.
   Published by H-Tennessee (September, 2002)

   "Creating a Modern Tennessee through the New Deal
   When most people think of the New Deal's impact on Tennessee, the concrete dams of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are the image that comes to mind. However, like many states, Tennessee's public landscape was drastically affected in other ways by a variety of New Deal projects. In Tennessee's New Deal Landscape, Dr. Carroll Van West, project director for the Center for Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University, examines over 250 of Tennessee's historic sites constructed during the New Deal and uses that information to catalogue how Depression-era federal government work changed the built environment of the state. West's book serves both as a heritage tourism guidebook and as a scholarly work. It also succeeds in illustrating how "New Deal agencies transformed the state's public landscape, leaving in their wake the infrastructure for the emergence of a modern--and different--Tennessee" (p. xii).

   "Students of Tennessee's cultural landscapes and historic preservation will be familiar with West's earlier scholarship. Because of his work at the Center for Historic Preservation, West has either written about or is familiar with most of the New Deal historic properties in the state. His previous book, Tennessee's Historic Landscapes, is the definitive study on the different historic landscapes across the state. West's new contribution focuses exclusively on the historic properties that were constructed during the New Deal era in Tennessee. He has mined both primary and secondary sources on Tennessee's New Deal experience, including TVA records, the WPA guidebook on Tennessee, cultural resource reports, and National Register of Historic Properties nominations to produce a similarly authoritative examination of the state during the 1930s.

   "In his first chapter, West presents a short thematic history of the New Deal, identifying the ten major New Deal agencies that worked in Tennessee. Unlike his previous book, which looked at the state's regions, he divides New Deal Landscapes into chapters based on the resource's property type. The next seven chapters include discussions of state offices and county courthouses; federal courthouses and post offices; community buildings and institutions; schools; housing; parks, memorials, and museums; and infrastructure. Each chapter contains a short narrative focusing on political, cultural, and social patterns that influenced the resources, as well as individual descriptions of other examples across the state, organized alphabetically by county. By not designating the properties as belonging to West, Middle, and East Tennessee, West makes his information accessible to those unfamiliar with Tennessee's traditional geographic divisions. A bibliographical essay also directs readers to important sources for further research.
   
   "West makes it clear in his preface that the book is not comprehensive. The examples he uses are fairly divided between the rural and urban sections of the state. Many of the properties discussed in the chapters are representative and are not the only examples in the state. The identification and description of New Deal property types, however, is one of the book's strengths, making it easier for local historians to examine Depression-era landscape and distinguish significant buildings.

   "The examples that West uses illustrate two interpretations of the New Deal in Tennessee: construction and destruction. Although many projects created new buildings, some, such as the TVA dams, also destroyed rural areas and displaced people from their traditional homes. Additionally, the construction of TVA lakes disrupted rural life, while also laying the groundwork for Tennessee's economic growth during World War II and the Cold War. This dichotomy shaped many Tennesseans' attitude toward the federal government both during and after the New Deal years.

   "Although the book's only problems are cosmetic in nature, a few changes would have helped the reader. First, all of the pictures in the book are modern, but many readers would appreciate historic views of some of the buildings. Additionally, sidebars with brief descriptions of architectural elements or styles (for example, WPA Moderne style) would have made the book more accessible to laymen. Also, with the growing interest in environmental history, West's discussion of the creation of state parks and soil conservation only begs for more study.

   "The study of New Deal landscape has bloomed during the 1990s. Many state historic preservation offices have developed New Deal theme studies to assist in placing 1930s properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Although these theme studies are helpful for historic preservation planning, they are not easily accessible to the public. Public historians should use West's book as an example on how better to communicate historic landscapes to the general public. The book takes "gray literature" and presents it in a manner that is useful. The framework that West has developed also lends itself to other possible historic themes, such as railroads, military, agriculture, industrial, and ethnic landscapes. This book should be read by public historians not only for the content but also for the methodology."

3 comments about Latin American Architecture 1929-1960.

1. In October 2002, the Museum of Modern Art and the Architecture Department of the New School University held a conference on Latin American Architecture from 1929 to 1960. The Conference's papers were compiled and edited by Carlos Brillembourg and turned into a book. This work consists of seven chapters and is 163 pages long.
   
   Latin America's contribution to the development of modern architecture is a very interesting story. Unfortunately, the conference paper format does not allow the subject to be adequately explored. Each chapter is devoted to the development of modern architecture in a particular country. Thirty years of a country's architectural development is too complex a subject to be adequately covered in 10-15 page chapters. I found the analysis presented to be superficial and not especially well written. Unfortunately, there are not many books on modern Latin American architecture. Although superficial, this book can be purchased for used for a reasonable price. If you are looking for a good introductry text, I would recommend, "Building New Worlds" by Valerie Fraser.



2. This is a beautifully planned and designed book. The front and back covers unfold to reveal two lapidary, gnomic texts, which conceptually bracket the rich contents of the book: a visionary prophecy by le Corbusier in 1929, and an epigraph by the editor of the book, Carlos Brillembourg. In between there are fine color plates of key buildings of this period, and many helpful black and white illustration of smaller size. All the archtitectural historians who have contributed essays to this volume, some of them architects in their own right, rank among the most distinguished in their areas of specialization, and the essays give ample confirmation of skill and insight. This book grew out of an architectural symposium, so it ends fittingly with the transcript of a lively round table discussion of the subject by the participants in the symposium. I cannot think of a more fascinating book for anyone interested in Latin American architecture, or in the modern movement in architecture in general.



3. Here, we find an introduction,a collection of essays by architects, theorists and historians and a round table discussion that propose to redefine the conventional history of modern architecture during 1929-1960. The claim that Argentina,Uruguay,Brazil,Venezuela,Mexico,and Cuba were at the center of the architectural avant-guard at this time and that Europe and the USA were extinguished by WWII is argued out very carefully.If you are interested in the development of modern architecture you cannot afford to ignore this book.

5 comments about Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House: Architecture as Portraiture.

1. This book puts flesh on the bones of Brendan Gill's observation that for most of Wright's clients, working with Wright was one of the highpoints of their lives. Reading the book was entertaining and instructive, as well as inspiring.
   
   Martin's rise to the very top of American business is portrayed with sympathy and insight, as is his continued search, beyond that, for a sense of security and fulfillment. Wright's immense talent is granted full respect, but his towering ego and his insouciant disregard for all things practical are also presented fully and fairly.
   
   The relationship between these two compelling figures is presented with drama and flair. I felt as though I had spent time in their company. As Martin's career wound down and he died, I felt bereft. The history of the house after his death was shocking. What a great thing that people have come together to rescue it and restore it to its former grandeur.
   
   At least once a year, I make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from my home to Wright's Wyoming Valley School, which sits vacant some five miles south of Taliesin. I walk around the school, peek in the windows, and feel Wright's presence under the stunning cantilevered roof of the entryway as I look out from under it and across the highway at the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin that so captivated Wright. This book gave me a similar feeling of closeness to Wright. It is a magnificent contribution to our understanding of Wright and his clients.



2. This book puts flesh on the bones of Brendan Gill's observation that for most of Wright's clients, working with Wright was one of the highpoints of their lives. Reading the book was entertaining and instructive, as well as inspiring.
   
   Martin's rise to the very top of American business is portrayed with sympathy and insight, as is his continued search, beyond that, for a sense of security and fulfillment. Wright's immense talent is granted full respect, but his towering ego and his insouciant disregard for all things practical are also presented fully and fairly.
   
   The relationship between these two compelling figures is presented with drama and flair. I felt as though I had spent time in their company. As Martin's career wound down and he died, I felt bereft. The history of the house after his death was shocking. What a great thing that people have come together to rescue it and restore it to its former grandeur.
   
   At least once a year, I make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from my home to Wright's Wyoming Valley School, which sits vacant some five miles south of Taliesin. I walk around the school, peek in the windows, and feel Wright's presence under the stunning cantilevered roof of the entryway as I look out from under it and across the highway at the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin that so captivated Wright. This book gave me a similar feeling of closeness to Wright. It is a magnificent contribution to our understanding of Wright and his clients.



3. There is much to be recommended in Quinan's exploration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House. The book vividly illustrates the tangled-up dynamics of client/architect relations through a fascinating selection of letters, and it thoroughly documents the evolution of the house's design from concept sketch to finished product. Quinan has assembled a wealth of analytic drawings, comparison drawings with other Wright houses, details, original working drawings, period photographs, and construction photographs. There are few such thorough studies of any house in print.
   
   Wright's enormous talent and equally outsized ego shines through the entire work. Indeed it's in the smaller moments that one realizes how relentless his own mythmaking really was - for instance a cable in which Wright answers his patron's request for 26 items of furniture, with "Not yet designed on paper -will be soon." It conjures an image of confident Wright bringing the design complete out of the rarified air of his genius, like Mozart writing out symphonies in one pass.
   
   But unfortunately Quinan seems to have fallen under this spell as well. While a provocative concept, Quinan's concluding discussion of "architecture as portraiture" really draws little further insight into Wright, the house, or the client. The book too quickly rests its case on the aesthetic merits of the house without challenge, and doesn't seem to consider the possibility that the house may be anything but a total masterpiece. By the end of the book Quinan has documented what might be considered as failures of the house - from typical cost overruns, delays, to more serious client dissatisfaction and eventual abandonment of the house - but these are treated as merely historical accident. That the evidence could be read differently is a testament to the thoroughness and inclusiveness of Quinan's work.



4. As an Owner of FLW's Davenport House, Architect, and Wright Researcher, I found this to be the finest recent book on Wright. The insights into the development of the design, client relationship, Wright,s letters, the extraordinary quality of the photographs, the quality of the writing and the exquisite physical quality of the book make this an exceptional book. This book is a sheer pleasure to read, immersing one's self into the thinking of Wright as he deals with a nearly unlimited budget, a supportive client, and the usual challenges of getting a building built.



5. As a owner of dozens of books about Wright and having spent countless hours learning about Darwin Martin this book is an extraordinary glimpse of not only the Client relationship but of the enormous growth of Buffalo business at the turn of the century. The quality of each photo is worth the purchase price alone

5 comments about Great Cathedrals.

1. Schutz's photographic tour in "Great Cathedrals" is one of the most superb "coffee table" books on the market. The volume is massive in size and tips the scales at a number of pounds, but one glance is all it takes to be hooked. This is professional photography with results that only a seasoned photographer can produce, and then reproduced in the highest quality with splendid detail and high gloss, heavy weight paper. Browsing through these monumental pictures that pay homage to the monumental cathedrals, we forget all about the technical details of how the great Gothic structures were built and simply enjoy the fantastic beauty and immense impact the medieval architects planned all along. There are surprisingly few of these types of books in the American market (a plethora of them exist in France, England, and Germany), but Schutz's book fills the bill, and makes a splendid addition to the genre. From what I can see from the other posted reviews, it seems there is 100% agreement on the beauty of this book.



2. I got this book as an Xmas gift for my Dad who is a self confessed cathedral "junkie". He loved it and spent most of Xmas day and boxing day with his head buried in it.
   
   He is a photographer and he commented on the great quality of the images, so I'm assuming that they must be good as he's really fussy about that sort of thing.



3. Awesome and great selection. Text provides enough information about the buildings. One of my favourite books.



4. This book has been around for at least 3 decades; I'm 43 and remember looking over an earlier edition with awe and reverence in the town library when I was a teenager.
   
   The current edition has some nice updates, including added coverage of the great eastern European cathedrals, such as St. Vitus in Prague. The photography is splendid, and gives a feel of the look and scale of each building, as well as for the smaller details like sculpture and stained glass that makes each great cathedral a triumph of Western civilization.
   
   If you are looking for a book that covers the major cathedrals of Europe in a thorough, satisfying way via photographs and a text providing the history of each building, a discussion of its style, and so forth, search no more. This is EASILY the best book out there that provides what you want.



5. Magnificent photography, both general views and close-ups of architectural details and stained glass. The book covers France, Germany, England, Spain and Italy. UIt contains a useful glossary of architectural terms and floor-plans of each cathedral. The "Crazy Vaults" of Lincoln Cathedral are not to be missed! I wanted this book to study cathedral design in general, and it more than met my expectations.

4 comments about Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea.

1. I thought that the book was "outstanding" Particulary liked the history part and the progression of Malibu over the years.



2. Despite reading the "Nice, but not Nice Enough" comment by one reviewer, I purchased this book and considered it for myself. I'm so glad I did. The reviewer misses the point. It's an architecture-oriented lifestyle book about the history of living in Malibu, not a technical book. Which explains why there are no floorplans. It's about the photos that take you thru each decade and each house, and they are gorgeous. The introductory text/concise house-specific texts are well-written and informative. The featured houses are mostly private, which explains why no addresses are provided. The 2 or 3 houses in the book that are open to the public are well known in this area, easily findable for those who have a yellow pages.



3. The photography was excellent and commentary was okay. Very few detail images, no floor plans and few, if any, construction details. I'm interested in the details and how to replicate features or at least the materials used....but nothing in this book to help much. There was absolutely no street addresses of the houses mentioned, other architect books do---why not here??? The author did manage to keep very good track of the years of birth and death of the people involved.



4. I got my copy today... and roared through the pages and images... Beautiful and fascinating images of Malibu's past... Paradise Cove in 1890, the Malibu Ranch, The Adamson House. So many interesting stories and images... and lives! And... some great surf shots too. This is a perfect blend of the many lifestyles here in Malibu... all in one book. Educational and informative and with some good humor too. I know what I'm giving for Christmas presents now!

No comments about Adirondack Camps: Homes Away from Home, 1850-1950.

No comments about Rome (Art & Architecture).

No comments about Architecture and Polyphony: Building in the Islamic World Today.