No comments about Steven Holl: Architect.

2 comments about The Building of Manhattan.

1. Donald A. Mackay, an artist and illustrator best known for drawing the evolution of Manhattan, died on Dec. 17 in Frederick, Md., where he retired in 1993. He was 91 and formerly lived in Ossining, N.Y.
   
   The cause was heart disease, his family said.
   
   Mr. Mackay crowned a long career in 1987 with the book "The Building of Manhattan" (Harper & Row). It was a meticulous evocation, in text and drawings and in great detail, of how Manhattan was built from the ground up.
   
   His story progresses from the mastodons, to the Paleo-Indians of about 7,000 years ago, then to the Algonquin-speaking inhabitants of the island when the first Europeans arrived to found New Amsterdam. Eventually it shows how structures like subways and ever-higher buildings gave Manhattan its modern shape.
   
   Chapters detail the work of architects, construction methods and vital city services.
   
   Mr. Mackay was a commercial artist in the 1950's when the excavation of a bank site on Wall Street piqued his interest. He followed its progress in his sketchbook and discovered a new avocation.
   
   "I am a goofer-offer," he told The New York Times in 1988, "and used to make thumbnail sketches of construction work going on nearby." As it happened, he had also been catching up with his forebears, who, he said, had arrived in the city in the 1640's. The two interests merged in the early 80's and, with a lot more research, produced a book.
   
   Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic, called "The Building of Manhattan" a "highly impressive primer for adults, a book that traces the history of building and construction in Manhattan with clear, reasoned good sense." He termed the sections on the construction of the Flatiron and Woolworth buildings and contemporary skyscrapers "better than any textbook."
   
   Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Donald Alexander Mackay grew up in Boston and attended the Massachusetts College of Art. He got a designer's job in the plastics division of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company but was laid off during the Depression.
   
   Serving in the Army during World War II, he wound up in Europe and, after a year's studies in Biarritz, France, went to work for an art studio in Greenwich Village. He met and married a fellow artist, Stella DaCosta, with whom he went to Mexico to study graphics with Alfredo Zalce; later he also studied lithography and etching at Pratt Institute.
   
   Mr. Mackay worked as a freelancer, contributing drawings to a number of publications and illustrating children's books. His own artwork included a series on space flight, nature subjects and illustrations of the White House and the Metropolitan Opera House.
   
   Mr. Mackay's wife died in 2004. He is survived by their sons, John, of Tarrytown, N.Y., and Neil, of Frederick; and four grandchildren.



2. Mr. MacKay has a winner on his hands with this illustrated narrative of how Manhattan was constructed from the ground up. I have purchased this book many times as gifts for friends. It makes a great coffee table book, often spurring conversation. Packed with interesting facts and technical data (made easy to understand for us novices) the book is a must for any one who has a keen interest in the construction development of Manhattan Island. I grew up across the river from Manhattan and worked in the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. My only regret is that the book is now out of print.

1 comments about Medieval Castles of Spain.

1. This is a a book full of color pictures and accompnaying text detailing the array of castles, in various styles that can be found on the Iberian landscape. The Moorish influences can be found in many of the old castles dating back to the conquest of Spain and the ensuing occupation(711-1492). If you think that if you've seen one castle, you've seen them all, well, nothing could be further from the truth. Included in this oversized book is a very detailed color map that shows the locations of the castles throughout Spain, in the various provinces.There are about thirty castles covered, each with text explaining the history of the castle and magnificent color photographs. The ingenious layouts and imaginative arrangements of the different fortifications is a beauty to behold. There is extensive coverage given to some of the most famous castles , like The Alcazar of Segovia, with it's beautiful ceilings and Mudejar lattice decoration that is spectacular. Naturally The Alhambra, with all of it's exquisite beauty, is examined with great detail. The various phases the castles have undergone, often from ruins to reconstruction is explained in a historical context, explaining how different noble families contributed. This is a fascinating look at the Medieval period and the fortresses that decorate the Iberian landscape that are reminders of Spain's storied past. This book is highly recommended for the student of history.

1 comments about New Orleans Architecture Vol V: The Esplanade Ridge.

1. This is a tremendous series. It is generated not only from the incredible history and architectural richness of New Orleans, but also an especially deep commitment to celebrating and preserving these treasures. This series has methodically chronicalled neighborhood after neighborhood and topic after topic.
   
   I have read 4 or 5 of these volumes so far and they have ranged from well-executed to magnificent. This volume V on Esplande Ridge falls into the latter category.
   
   It has a very narrow and easily defined focus: a single road. Esplande stretched from water to water -- Bayou St John to the river. About 31 blocks (under 3 miles) in all. Its history dates to the earliest days of the city, with development beginning by the 1720s.
   
   The book is roughly the same size and format of the others in the series -- 190 pages, 9 x 12, packed with hundreds of photos. What sets it apart from the others (University section of Uptown; Lower Garden District; Cemeteries; etc.):
   1. It covers almost EVERY structure in its jurisdiction (rather than just most noteworthy and possibly a few typical ones).
   2. It offers frank, constructive recommendations for how to restore and improve current (as of 1977!) structures.
   
   Its format is:
   Dedication
   Foreword
   Intro
   Map
   Military history
   US Mint
   119 pp. of block by block photos and descriptions, from the 400-block at the river to the 3400-block at the bayou.
   City Park (at the terminus of Esplande, after 3400 block)
   Archival drawings
   Photo index (which briefly describes each property with a thumb nail sized photo, referring the reader back to the place in that 119pp. body of the book). NOTE: the index is NOT by page number but by address and so if easy to use once you figure that out.
   Epilogue
   Bibliography
   Index
   
   Very nicely bound, on excellent glossy paper, and printed locally in Gretna by Pelican.
   
   The black and white photos range from historic to 1970s. They are often as much as a full page, and are excellent.
   
   Most interesting are the authors' frank comments about the present structures. They can be hysterical and a tad harsh, but most readers will agree. The flow of an entire block is often interrupted by a cheaply built and poorly designed 20th century monstrosity.
   
   For example, 1341 Esplande (p. 159) is depicted in the index and described in the following way; "Perhaps the side galleries with iron supports and railings and brackets as well as the narrow vertical stripes of bricks alternating with the fenestration panels were an attempt by a planner to adapt modern brick, metal windows, and post-1950 architectural design to the Esplande vocabulary. If so, it failed." !!!
   
   Or the introduction to the photo index (p. 151): "....Photographs illustrate structures that range from the fine to the terrible. Elegant nineteenth-century homes presently in bad condition are recommended for restoration, and ill-designed, unsuitable modern buildings are condemned. Original, attractive features of mutilated buildings are highlighted as are acceptable features of mediocre architecture. Similarly, unacceptable alterations spoiling the integrity of houses are decried. Recommendations for the entire street are presented, and attention given to the despoiling of all important intersections as well as most corner locations....."
   
   The reader will pardon the sometimes elitist tone and condemning attitude because the insights are so rich and the recommendations often seem so wise.
   
   One interesting exercise is to read the 1976 descriptions of these homes, with the recommendations for restoration and then to drive by and see what has happened to them since then.
   
   Famous structures, BTW, include the US Mint, Cabrini High School, Beauregard's statue at City Park, St. Louis No. 3 Cemetery, and a number of major churches and mansions. The human stories of their construction is amazing: enormous and gorgeous mansions built by French, "Americaines," Free Men of Color, Jews, and others. And the more modest homes also have their stories as well, which often appear in this book. Quite a gumbo.
   
   This volume is a must-have.

No comments about American Buildings and Their Architects: Volume 2: Technology and the Picturesque: The Corporate and the Early Gothic Styles (Oxford Paperbacks).

No comments about Windows of the World.

No comments about Taj Mahal (Wonders of the World).

No comments about Time to Travel - Travel in Time: The Official Guide of the Heritage Administrations.

1 comments about Positions: Portrait of a New Generation of Chinese Architects.

1. China is home to some of the world's most famous architecture -- old and new. Compiled and co-edited by Frederic Edelmann and Francoise Ged, "Positions: Portrait Of A New Generation Of Chinese Architects" is an impressive visual survey of more than forty finished building structures created over the last five years (2003 to 2008) by Chinese architects and their architectural firms, representing a new generation of building designers who are making their presence known for innovation, style, beauty, utility, and even grandeur upon the world stage of architectural design. Featured with full color photography are works by the China Architecture Design & Research Group, Jiakun Architects, Atelier Deshaus, Mada S.P.A.M., MAD Studio, Fake Design, TM Studio, Urbanus, Studio Pei-Zhu, Amateur Architecture Studio, Atelier Feichang Jianzhu, Atelier Z+, Qi Xin Architects and Engineers, Standarchitecture and the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Nanjing University. A welcome, original, and highly recommended addition to professional and academic Architectural Studies reference collections, "Positions" is informed, informative, and occasionally inspiring. Also highly recommended is Actar's bilingual English/Chinese language edition of "Mad Dinner: A Monograph on the Beijing-Based MAD Office" (9788496954212, $49.95) co-edited by Brendan McGetrick and Chen ShuYu.

1 comments about Barcelona: City and Architecture (Big Series Art).

1. This book is an excellent reference for those interested in architecture and interior design. Beautiful photography! Not only does it focus on the amazing architecture of Gaudi, but it follows a timeline that explains the cities continuous architectural revolutions. A must for anyone who is going to visit the city (like myself) or those who like to day dream...........