Amazon.com

When designers such as Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Albert Frey came together with members of the Hollywood elite like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and Lucille Ball, they produced luxury homes nestled in bouldered hills and vacation estates located along green fairways. Palm Springs Modern documents this 40-year architectural explosion in the California desert.

One of the more dramatic collaborations was between Los Angeles architect Quincy Jones and billionaire Walter Annenberg, erstwhile publisher and ambassador to Britain under Richard Nixon. Annenberg and his wife, Lee, commissioned the Rancho Mirage Estate house with the express purpose of entertaining such heavyweights as Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Ronald Reagan. Jones envisioned water and green grass on the outside--"I don't want to see one grain of sand except in the golf traps"--and an interior sympathetic to the Annenbergs' collection of impressionist art and oriental antiques. Near the end of the two-year project, Lee asked that the Japanese- and Mayan-inspired pyramidal roof be pink. So it was that pink became the signature hue of the Annenbergs' fabulous Rancho Mirage home.

Using many of the same general principles Jones employed--an open floor plan and the integration of the interior and exterior spaces--Donald Wexler and Ric Harrison's Steel Development Houses represent a very different perspective. Built almost entirely of steel, concrete, and glass, these 1,400-square-foot houses cost between $13,000 and $17,000 in 1962 and could be built in three days. They are minimal in design, aside from the butterfly ceilings, and are incredibly energy efficient. By using steel instead of wood, the buildings are expected to last for many, many years with little or no maintenance. Who would have guessed that the Bauhaus principles, which originated in Germany with Walter Gropius, would find their way to the California desert?

Author Adele Cygelman offers a succinct history beginning with the rise of desert modernity in the 1930s through to its fall from grace in the early 1970s. The photographs by David Glomb are spectacular. All together, Palm Springs Modern is a tantalizing feast of some of the very best mid-century domestic design. --Loren E. Baldwin ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Excellent coffee table book: not an architectural text
Palm Springs Modern provides a superb photo tour of a handful of landmark homes that defined the 'modern' style in the 1950s and '60s. Because wealthy businessmen and celebrities could afford edgier architecture, the authors focus on these homes -- with a welcome chapter on the talented William Cody in between. If you want a scholarly treatise on modernism in architecture, buy another book. If you want a tantalizing sample of some of the best work, PSM is fine. By the time modernism made its way into mass production homes, it lost much of its inventiveness and aesthetic. Those familiar with the Palm Springs area will notice that the Alexanders' ubiquitous 'butterfly' rooflines have become almost cliche, while the Loewy house and most of the PSM subjects remain exotic.

Do you need to own PSM before buying or designing a home for the California desert? Clearly the answer is NO. But if you want a virtual tour of some of the most inspired homes of the genre, PSM belongs on your coffee table. And yes, if you live in the Midwest or Northeast you would do yourself a service by putting this away in a closet somewhere during the winter.

Grab your sunscreen-Let's go!
A classic. If you've never been to Palm Springs, you'll be catching the next flight after leafing thru this fine book. Gorgeous photos of simply incredible buildings. Palm Springs has a quality and character unlike any other "resort" town. The fabulous architecture of the mid-century building boom and a renewed appreciation of the designs of that period has revitalized (again) the Palm Springs area. If you can't visit Palm Springs personally, then pour a martini, sit back and enjoy this book. It's almost like being there!

Hot Desert Modern
Palm Springs Modern illustrates (in photos) a collection of homes by designers who tested design concepts in the harsh desert environment that complimented, and indeed enhanced the outcome. Those of us who seek inspiration and documentation of the modernist period will find this volumn satisfying. It is not a scholarly book, nor is the text particularly deep in theory of architectural modernism. And it doesn't matter that some of the homeowners were celebrities. What really matters is that there are so many fine examples of modernist architecture and in such close proximity.

Jeez, it's a picture book!
I rather liked this book. Yes it's gushy and fluffy. I particularly liked the part about Walter Annenberg's interest in ecology after he turned 250 acres of desert into a personal Euro-Disney. However the pictures are nice, if somewhat disembodied from their context. The text is ridiculous, but I'm trying to get worked up to buy property there, so I was mainly interested in images. Of course, there is nothing useful in the way of floor plans, site maps, etc. However, if you live in the Midwest or New England and want to get really depressed about your current weather, this is the book to buy.

Less is NOT more
This book does serve a purpose, in that it gives a peek into a handful of distinguished Palm Springs residences. Sure, we get to see a few pictures of the famous Kaufmann house (by Neutra), and a few other houses that pretty much look like it, photographed in chilly and clinical detail, accompanied by a chilly monograph. But we have no sense of how these houses may have inspired more ordinary buildings in town, like the wonderful Alexander subdivisions -- which I'm told comprise the most consistent collection of modern suburban architecture in the USA. Where are the houses that regular folks live in? A few crumbs could have been thrown to the masses ... I would have liked some gas stations, some cool furniture, a dash of innovative interior design, perhaps. Go ahead and buy it, but I can pretty much guarantee that as a coffee table book, it's fairly unappetizing fare. And it doesn't much relate to the familiar Palm Springs modern style we all know and love. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent artist reference!
This book is a wonderful resource for 3D animators in particular. "If you do a lot of animation that requires scenery (and doesn't it all?) this book is a must have." -Taming The Wave, June 1996 ... Read more

Book Description

Returning to the subject of their bestselling book Barn (1992), David Larkin, with barn preservationists Elric Endersby and Alexander Greenwood, takes the reader on a tour of barns throughout America. Featuring all-new sites and structures, Barn is a perfect introduction for those not yet initiated into the world of barns as well as a definitive resource for all barn owners and architecture enthusiasts.

The book discusses the form and function of American barns. It gives their complete history--from Colonial times to the present, the old and the new--and illustrates the incredible range of styles of these structures. From rural villages in New England to the farmlands of the Midwest, from the Deep South to the Southwest, and up and down the West Coast, Barn: Preservation & Adaptation fully demonstrates the adaptability and enduring charm of one of the most iconic forms of American vernacular architecture.

Today there is great activity restoring and converting barns. No longer used just for farming, barns have been converted into bookstores, theaters, restaurants, garages, and even houses. Barn explores renovations, interior design options, and structural and cosmetic changes that have kept these traditional farm buildings vital and functional into the twenty-first century.

This highly engaging history and the profound beauty of these handcrafted structures will enchant all barn aficionados interested in their architecture and their historic preservation.
... Read more

Book Description

This classic survey of Italian Baroque art and architecture focuses on the arts in every center between Venice and Sicily in the early, high, and late Baroque periods. The heart of the study, however, lies in the architecture and sculpture of the exhilarating years of Roman High Baroque, when Bernini, Borromini, and Cortona were all at work under a series of enlightened popes. Wittkower`s text is now accompanied by a critical introduction and substantial new bibliography. This edition-now published in three volumes-will also include color illustrations for the first time. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wittkower Wisdom
Rudolf Wittkower is a pioneer in the interest of Baroque art. He favours Caravaggio, the Carracci's and Bernini, to name a few.

This volume is one of three. Originally, all in one book it was more roughly 7" x 6" in size. Being 8.5" x 11" makes the reproductions bigger, but unfortunately, the majority are still in black and white or not there at all. Many works mentioned, are not included in this (or older editions). What good is mentioning a work of art, the reader is likely not to be familiar with, and have a hard time finding elsewhere? This makes the text, frustrating.

Starting with Rome in the first chapter, following with Caravaggio, the Carracci, Caravaggio's followers, Painting outside of Rome, and ending with Architecture and Sculpture. An introduction giving a brief biography of the author and enlarged bibliography has been added.

Wittkower is an important art historian and gives a comprehensive analysis of this time period which is essential for anyone interested in Baroque art. If it had all colour reproductions and included more of them, I would give it 5 stars.

A terrific introduction toItalian Art
This is one of the most intelligent book I've ever read about art. It's simple, complete, full of original point-of-views. In asingle word: you can't miss it if you like the Art History! ... Read more

Book Description

This lavishly illustrated book is a comprehensive and authoritative study of Chinese architecture from Neolithic times through the late nineteenth century. Six of China's greatest architectural historians have joined with a leading Western scholar to write this book, the first in-depth, collaborative history of Chinese architecture in more than fifty years.

Drawing on recent discoveries and current scholarly work inside China, this handsome volume recounts the story of China's architectural achievements, the forms they took, and the historical, political, cultural, and social factors that shaped them. Each chapter includes sections on cities, palatial architecture, religious architecture, tombs, and gardens as well as discussions of bridges, walls, fortifications, academies, and architectural writings.

Amply enhanced with color plates and line drawings-many of which are reproduced here for the first time-explanatory maps and charts, and an index that includes Chinese terms, the book will be an invaluable and accessible resource for both scholars of China and visitors to China alike. ... Read more

Book Description

Detroit is the most thoroughly modern city in the world. Built to service the single-minded imperatives of automobile production, Detroit has come to represent the temporary nature of urbanism in the context of increasingly mobile capital. In the first half of the 20th century Detroit served as an international model for industrial urbanism arranged to maximize profits from the investment of speculative capital. In the second half of the century, the city lost much of its population in the face of increasingly global capital markets and decentralized production methods.Stalking Detroit is an anthology of essays, photographs, and projects, each offering an intellectual purchase from the urban millieu of Detroit at the end of the century, and attempting to document the residue of its material history.
Editedby Georgia Daskalakis, Charles Waldheim, and Jason Young. Essays by Jerry Herron, Dan Hoffman, Patrik Schumacher and Christian Rogner.
50 color and 60 duotones.
9.5 x 11.75 in. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

stalking detroit
This book is an extraordinary intellectual effort that compiles landscape projects (landscape urbanism), essays, articles as well as photographs of Detroit. Perhaps this is the first time in which the radical notion of Detroit as the most modern city has been proposed. No nostalgic attemps to go back in time as if it would have been a better time. In addition to the depth of the writing and the projects, this is a beautiful book published by Actar with great photos of the city. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

mindless nepotism
This book has some nice photographs but adds nothing to already published scholarship on this topic. The author is not a professional architectural historian; he is a descendant of Stanford White. His text is gushy and uncritical, and makes only scant mention of the social and economic forces that contributed to the rise and decline of these grandiose houses.

A minor correction
The point of this review is to correct an error in Steven Goldstein's review of this book. McKim, Mead, & White were not involved in the construction of the Metropolitan Opera, as he states.

This is a wonderful, ravishing book, although I suppose some readers might be disappointed that the author has limited himself to surviving examples of McKim, Mead, & White's work, with current photographs ... all of them gorgeous. Vintage photographs, where available, would have been a nice addition. For example, it would be interesting, if possible, to compare the Pulitzer mansion in New York as originally built with the current photos ... it has been divided into something like 9 condominiums!

Luscious Vision of the Gilded Age
Speaking as a practicing architect and longtime admirer of the works of Stanford White, I found this book was nonetheless a revelation. Gorgeously photographed, it shows a broader spectrum of the residential work of this illustrious firm. McKim Mead and White have a well-deserved reputation for grand public buildings (Penn Station, Madison Square Garden to name two that have sadly been demolished) but are less known for these spectacular houses built for the robber barons of the Gilded Age among whom Stanford White circulated. What is suprising is the facility with which they moved from lavish and elegantly detailed city houses to surprisingly unpretentious inviting summer homes on Long Island and elsewhere. If you love Beaux Arts architecture, skip this book at your peril.

Sumptuous photography and insightful text
This book combines rich visual appeal with a serious analysis of the residential work of McKim, Mead & White. The introduction is particularly valuable for its succinct survey of the firm's development and its discussion of the collaboration of the partners. ... Read more

Book Description

In recent years, museums have achieved the status of architectural monuments in their own right, especially in America, where the museum itself is often as much a focal point as the art it displays. With exciting new buildings currently under way in New York, Denver, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Boston, now is the perfect time for this survey of 39 museums throughout the United States, by more than 50 of the world's greatest architects, from Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn to Santiago Calatrava, Frank Gehry, and Richard Meier.

This landmark publication looks at American art museums designed since the Museum of Modern Art was completed in New York in 1938, including the Getty Center, the Kimbell Art Museum, the High Museum of Art, Houston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Each building is described in short texts by the architect and museum director and documented in beautiful photographs by renowned photographer Paul Rocheleau. As this dazzling book shows, the art museum has become one area where architects are allowed, even encouraged, to push the boundaries of design with radical new forms and cutting-edge materials. AUTHOR BIO: Scott Tilden is the editor and conceiver of architecture books, including American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Life and Daniel H. Burnham: Visionary Architect and City Planner. Paul Rocheleau has published many books of photographs, including volumes on Frank Lloyd Wright, H. H. Richardson, and Frederick Law Olmsted. Wim de Wit is special collections director of the Getty Research Institute and the author of numerous books and articles on architecture. ... Read more

Book Description

Architectural style is defined as a definite type of architecture, distinguished by special characteristics of structure and ornament.
This revised edition of What Style Is It? includes new sections on Neoclassical, Romanesque and Rustic Styles. It also provides more examples of how pure styles vary by geographic region across the US.
* Includes sections on 25 of the most significant architectural styles including Early Colonial, Federal and Second Empire
* More than 200 photos and line drawings make this a visually rich resource. 300f photos and drawings are new to this edition
* A glossary offers quick access to architectural terms
* Includes an added guide to using the Historical American Buildings Society online catalogue of more than 30,000 historic structures, giving access to more than 51,000 measured drawings, 156,000 photographs and more than 30,000 original historical reports ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not so useful
Not nearly as good, useful, or comprehensive as A Field Guide to American Houses by McAlester.

Good for my class...
I'm not that into architecture but this book was pretty good. I had to use it for my local history course. The images were good and helpful in the explanations on each of the pages.

A Sketchy Overview of American Architecture
This book is fine if you are looking only for a very brief look atAmerican Architecture. It does not organize architectural styles to give acomprehensive overview of them. It does, however, present example photos ofvarious styles with easy-to-read text briefly describing the styles. If youwant a book that is handy and comprehensive, no other book can compare to AField Guide to American Houses, by Virginia and Lee McAlester (ISBN0-394-73969-8). This book will give you a comprehensive framework of thedevelopment of American Architecture so that you can build yourunderstanding as you become exposed examples in the field. Everything fromwindows and doors to contruction techniques are covered. The book isorganized in such a way that you can find what you need quickly. It is thecornerstone in the study of American Architecture.

Short and to the point!
This is a very handy, pocket sized book which can be easily used in the field!Different historic architectural styles are divided into small chapters with helpful photos for identification.I particularly love theuser-friendly "Glossary" which identifies architectural featuresin a short and to the point manner.Since this is published by theNational Trust for Historic Preservation, a person can feel assured thatthis is accurate information!Makes a great gift too! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

a solid, valuable visual guide to Chicago's architecture
Chicago is generally known as one of the centers of modernist architecture, and this visual guidebook, complete with maps, photographs and authoritative little essays on most of the important buildings, is a must-buy if you plan to tour this richly textured urban center. It's also one of the best small resources for anyone interested in architecture from 1850 to the present. Inexpensive, designed to slip in your pocket, it holds up well-- I depend upon mine to help me with the walking tours of the city I give on a regular basis, and it's still in one piece after three or more years of hard use. ... Read more

Book Description

From its earliest days as a burgeoning colonial port blending European, Caribbean, and Asian influences, Charleston has maintained a unique brand of southern cosmopolitanism. Charleston Style: Past and Present traces the city's allure through its exquisite and sometimes eccentric architecture, decorative arts, and garden designs, which express a wide range of European and American styles, including Georgian, Federal, Chinese Chippendale, Gothic and Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Eastlake, and more. Author Susan Sully explores Charleston as a medium through which this spectrum of styles becomes transmuted into a distinctive regional mode.Sully's Charleston is a place where antique and modern, fantasy and reality, playfully intersect. During its ascendance as one of America's wealthiest cities, Charleston's most privileged citizens acquired sophisticated, even decadent, tastes that continue to infuse their homes and gardens. After the Civil War, hardship, pride, and nostalgia shaped an aesthetic in which peeling gilt and tattered lace became badges of honor. Thanks to one of the earliest and most energetic American preservationist movements, the past extends into the present in Charleston, and the city's spaces reveal its complex spirit.Charleston Style: Past and Present features nineteen residences ranging from archetypally gracious antebellum mansions to cottagelike dependencies to the iconic Charleston "single houses," with their sweeping piazzas, high ceilings, and tall windows. Also featured are some of the city's most charming gardens, inspired by the formal and picturesque landscape designs of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe as well as by the exotic gardens of Japan. With rich color photography by John Blais and a delightful foreword by acclaimed novelist, Josephine Humphreys, Charleston Style: Past and Present delivers an evocative portrait of this fascinating city. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Rekindles Fond Memories
Susan Sully's book revived many delightful memories of my recent visit to Charleston. Her evocative prose paired with the beautiful photographs made as much of an impression on me as seeing Charleston's gracious architecture in person. It's not often that such a pretty book is also so well written, but Sully' elegant, beautifully crafted sentences do justice to the photos and the grand old homes themselves. After reading her book I wanted to book a flight back for another visit!

Charleston Captured Splendidly!
Susan Sully's Charleston Style splendidly captures the unique beauty of my city. Sully's writing is gorgeous, lush and evocative as many of the homes she shows us. Her thorough research is obvious; then she takes the facts and, with words, weaves a beautifiul gossamer fabric representing one ofAmerica's most beloved cities. As a Charlestonian, I was introduced to places I never knew existed. The detailed photographs, artistic and architectural, complement the text. I bought numerous copies to give to friends who have visited Charleston in reality or in their dreams.

finally, a beautiful book with an intelligent read!
Just named one of the ten best books of 1999 about South Carolina by "The Nation," this winner rises above the usual book of stunning photography in the quality of Sully's writing. Her thoughtful and incisive reflections upon a complex city are rendered in delightful, sensual, intelligent prose. All this is compellingly presented in a classic coffee-table stand-out!

Recent press on Charleston Style
Praised in House Beautiful (May '99) for author Susan Sully's "evocative text [that] lifts this book a notch above many similar style books," Charleston Style was listed by The State newspaper from Columbia, SC as one of the top ten books by or about South Carolinians published in 1999. The State's reviewer, William Starr praises the book's "uncommonly attractive" appearance and notes that "the author combines valuable information with an artistic sensibility.... Among the book's virtues is Sully's willingness to look beyond the obvious into homes which give us some very different views of this most traditional of historic cities."

Check out Charleston Style!
Despite author Susan Sully's grammatical errors, misspellings ("sheathes of wheat" instead of sheaves of wheat -- why, oh, why don't editors catch those anymore?), labored metaphors, and use of cliche' ("dripping with spanish moss"), I loved this book. Josephine Humphreys writes a beautiful and moving foreward. The photos (by John Blais) are literally breath-taking (to borrow another cliche'). Imperative reading for the student of architecture or design, or for those simply enamored of regional style. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

The teachings of Mies van der Rohe have had a great influence on the American architect and artist Gene Summers. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and Summers' own creative talents, he was able to help transform Mies' visions into built structures. For 16 years Gene Summers was a close colleague of Mies, working with him on many projects including the Seagram Building in New York and the Bacardi's office buildings in Cuba and Mexico. Also working independently, Summers created projects for C.F Murphy Assoc. such as the McCormick Convention Centre and the Malcolm X College in Chicago. Familiar with bronze as a building material, Summers used this knowledge to design furniture and household objects before devoting himself entirely to this area of art. This volume is the first presentation of Gene Summers' oeuvre, surveying the many areas where he was active. Phyllis Lambert, President of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums, provides an enlightening introduction to his work. ... Read more

Book Description

Following on the great successes of recently published books on the Great Houses of England, of Wales and of Scotland, here in the same lavish format is a book on the manor houses of England.These smaller scale houses, often of more ancient origin than the "great houses," are scattered all around the country, and range from simple Norman halls to picturesque Tudor manor houses and handsome buildings from the reign of the Stuarts.This is domestic architecture, rather than palaces built to impress the visitor with their owners' power and wealth, and as such they are far more closely related to modern life.Not only is this book redolent in history, but it will suggest architectural and decorative ideas to those building a traditional home.While most of the great houses have now been sold by their original owners, most of the manor houses are still privately owned and lived in as a home.His book covers 40 manor houses in all, each one is beautifully illustrated by specially commissioned photographs and accompanied by a lively, readable text that describes the families that created these marvelous houses. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

With fascinating and descriptive information and insights
The collaborative effort of writer and British country estates expert Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd and architectural photographer Christopher Simon Sykes, Manor Houses Of England is a stunningly visual and informatively descriptive showcase of great and historic works of British country manor house architecture. Manor Houses Of England is illustrated throughout with full-color photographs on almost every two-page spread and filled from cover to cover with fascinating and descriptive information and insights about the history, construction, use, and present-day status of each these majestic buildings depicted. Very highly recommended for armchair travelers and architecture buffs, Manor Houses Of England is the next best thing to taking a personally guided, on-site tour of these awe-inspiring buildings.

ANGLOPHILES REJOICE!
Anglophiles have cause to rejoice with the publication of this rich tribute to England's stately homes. Over 300 color illustrations present both exteriors and interiors in their somewhat faded but nonetheless unparalleled glory.

For many of us the term "manor house" needs some explanation. "A 'manor' is a specific English territorial unit, originally of the nature of a feudal lordship. But a "manor house," while traditionally the seat of the lord of the manor, has come to be regarded as a romantic synonym for a small country house, particularly of the late-medieval Tudor and Stuart periods."

Forty houses were selected from more than 300 possibilities to be presented in this spectacular volume. Each is a rarity not only in appearance but in essence. Steeped in history, each evokes in the viewer visions of chivalry, romance, and mystery.

Presented in chronological order the homes trace the development of England's architecture from the early days of monasticism to the Victorian era. All are currently habitable.

We find that medieval manor houses, minimally, had a Great Hall with several wings crossing it for bedrooms and storage areas. Largely unfortified, these manor houses depended upon moats and gatehouses for safety.

The dawn of the Tudor age brought the Renaissance style to England with homes, as today, built primarily for show. The 18th century saw great Palladian house which later underwent extensive renovation.

"Manor Houses Of England" is a keepsake volume with spectacular photographs accompanied by a fascinating text that includes stories of the families who built these houses.

- Gail Cooke

Beautiful coffee-table book.
Wonderfull photos showcasing proud & stately English homes. You will enjoy trying to pick out which house you'd choose to live in. Sometimes I liked the interiors better than the exteriors & vice-versa. I would have prefered the authors chose only 20 houses (instead of 40) but gave twice the amount of coverage to each one. Although it is a charming book, I rate it only 4 stars because of the following: The need for more in-depth history & info for each house; a map of Britain with locations of the homes would help; I would have liked to see even basic floorplans (there are none); some homes profiled have only a couple of interior photos & one or two external shots.
Having said that, however, it is a great book , just a little too pricey for me. ... Read more

Book Description

Palm Beach: An Architectural Legacy details the meticulous restorations of over twenty great houses and public buildings on what has been called "America's Riviera." These houses were restored from 1988 to the present, and each house has won the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach's coveted Ballinger Award. The glorious photography showcased here respectfully documents the superb restoration of these houses, many of which have never before been published.

The cycle of building and restoration chronicled here encompasses one of America's enduring architectural landscapes, as well as the dynamics of its social history. Public and private structures designed by some of the style-setting early architects are depicted, including the works of Addison Mizner, Joseph Urban, and Maurice Fatio, as well as anonymous designers whose feats of imagination rivaled those of the most celebrated professionals.
... Read more

Book Description

When it was first published in 1968, the critically acclaimed LOST NEW YORK became an instant classic for the way it reawakened a lost city. Now expanded and updated, with 118 new photographs, the book reveals a fresh, true picture of New York as it has lived and grown, with startling reminders of how much that has vanished remains part of us. From the grandeur of the old Metropolitan Opera and Pennsylvania Station to the fabulous lost night clubs of 52nd Street and Harlem, from the opulence of the old Vanderbilt mansions to the Madison Square Garden rooftop where architect Stanford White was shot, this is both a unique testament to New York's past and a story of the vitality that makes the city continue to connect with us.

Illustrated with rare and stunning photographs and marked by engaging, lively text, this new edition of LOST NEW YORK provides a unique and unforgettable look at the places in New York that are no more. Beyond that, it evokes the significant moments in time and memory that make us reflect on our passions about change and the reasons we remain concerned about the future of cities. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Past Recaptured
Mr. Silver has a poetic prose style, revealing a most poetic soul, and frames his message of architectural conservation and adaptation through a highly effective personal lens of incredulity and nostalgia, articulating what most readers subconsciously knew but probably never take the time to think about: that architecture is the most accesible and inescapable reminder of urban culture at a given moment; that while culture evolves and architecture becomes artifact, these artifacts can often continue - through thoughtful planning and incentives - to live and to serve without economic detriment to their owners; and that rapacious, self-serving obliteration of our architectural past is the obliteration of cultural evolution and memory.

I would like to see Mr. Silver now produce a companion volume to LOST NEW YORK, a book about what has been saved.

A Success on Two Counts
IF the reviewer below is really Nathan Silver, I congratulate him on the shift of gears from his 1968 version of LOST NEW YORK to this one. (Even if it's not him, I congratulate him anyway.) The first edition was heavy on the preservation/conservation debate while this one is more reflective and personal. In both instances, however, Mr. Silver has made an incredible contribution to the study of New York history--not just its architecture, but to the thinking that went into the creation of these lost structures, and the lack of thinking that destroyed them.

Like Jane Jacobs, Mr. Silver shares a passion for the city and how its monuments, public buildings and spaces, and private residences have a direct and fortifying effect on its citizens. The photographs are stunning, as is the quality of the printing. Mr. Silver's text is equally powerful and just as relevant. At times the effect of seeing these representations of a lost time, and reading about their ends, can be upsetting; the sense of loss is very powerful. But there is a point to all of it beyond the seeming nostalgia: we had better start appreciating those gems of the past that are still rooted in the schist of Manhattan before they wind up in the next edition of LOST NEW YORK.

One last note: As rebuilding begins on the site of the World Trade Center (a part of lost New York that wasn't our fault), this book indirectly compels New Yorkers to participate in some forward-thinking. It makes one wonder, not only what was lost to us, but what will we give to future generations?

Rocco Dormarunno,
author of THE FIVE POINTS

Lost New York
The book Lost New York by Nathan Silver is one of the best photo and information books ever writen. Old photos and information on land marks in New York City which have been torn down. Shows you how buitiful a city is but also how little care some people can have for it's treasures

A wonderful book about lost buildings in NYC
This wonderful book gives wonderful pictures and descriptions of lost buildings. ... Read more

Amazon.com

You don't have to live in a Craftsman-style bungalow house--as I have for nearly a decade--to appreciate the popular architectural style that flourished in the early 20th century, or this handsome book devoted to it. Interior designer Paul Duchscherer and photographer Douglas Keister have combined their talents to give the bungalow its due, defining the style and its variations, discussing its influences and its evolution. Keister has a great eye for color and design; he is a man who loves wood and makes no bones about it. Warning: you may want to talk to a real estate agent about a Craftsman of your own after looking at the beautiful homes in this volume. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A Great Resource
I found The Bungalow; America's Arts & Crafts Home by Paul Duchscherer & Douglas Keister to be extremely helpful with my remodel. I tagged pages with the ideas that I wanted to convey to my designer and architect. The pictures are beautiful and really assisted in developing the plans and overall look in the remodel of my bungalow style house. Very inspiring.

Duchscherer Fan
This is a great book with wonderful color photographs! Check out his other two books in the series, as well as photographer Douglas Keisters's "Bungalows on CD-ROM".

A beautiful pictorial of the bungalow style of architecture
This an outstanding book for anyone interested in the familiar and well loved style of architecture known as the bungalow. All color photos show the gamut of this genre ranging from basic to elaborate. Both interior and exterior shots detail this rich archetictural art form. An inspiration to anyone interested in maintaining, restoring or recreating one of America's favorite homestyles.

An inspiration to bungalow owners.
I own an eighty-year-old bungalow. My brother owns a house that isn't quite a bungalow, but has some arts & crafts interior elements. As I read the book I kept thinking "That's it! That's my house!" My house came to me in what real estate agents would call "pristine condition"--which means nobody's done anything but bare-bones-basic maintenance for decades. After reading the book (or, rather, browsing the photos; there's not much text), I know better what's original & authentic. While I'm not planning to restore my house to exactly 1913 appearance, I now feel more confident about some of my plans to rejuvenate my new home. ... Read more

Amazon.com

While Newport, Rhode Island, may not have been the birthplace of shingle style, it certainly became--somewhere around the 1860s--a stronghold for an approach that would become popular in American architecture. Established as a major shipping port in the mid-18th century, Newport went on to become a fashionable destination for the wealthy and the ambitious who took a liking to enormous houses (which they referred to as "cottages") which were built along the eastern shore of Aquidneck Island. Shingle Styles begins its case-by-case study of various American structures by focusing on a lasting monument in Rhode Island, the William Watts Sherman house, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. Built in the 1870s, the Sherman house set the standard for many of the unifying themes of shingle style: long horizontal lines created by extended roof overhangs, rows of aligned windows, and a cantilevered upper gable. The decisive change in the Sherman house, however, and the strongest element of this new architectural style, was the use of wooden shingles for an exterior wall covering rather than red clay tiles or stone. As author Leland M. Roth points out, this simple change "opened up possibilities for variations in texture and surface, with the shingles cut and nailed in different patterns ... especially in the upper gables." Roth goes on to detail a total of 30 structures, including homes, clubs and lodges, churches, farms and barns, and a hotel. The story of shingle style is also told through more than 200 illustrations and photographs, mostly in color. Along the way we learn about Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois; James and Merritt Reid's Hotel del Coronado in Coronado, California; William Ralph Emerson's Felsted in Deer Isle, Main; and Greene & Greene's Gamble House in Pasadena, California. As an architectural characteristic, shingle style has its limitations. How much can be said, after all, about buildings which are unified only in their appearance of being covered entirely in wooden shingles? Roth helps to push appreciation to the next level, however, showing how the influences of craftsman, bungalow, prairie school, and postmodern touches have helped to enliven the style. --John Russell ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Great Book - Well worth the read
The book "SHINGLE STYLES Innovation and Tradition in American Architecture 1874 to 1982" is a truely exquisite book. The shingle style architecture is one of the last american architectural styles, and should be deeply cherished. The book has beautiful photographs by Bret Morgan and flowing text by Leland M. Roth. The book brings you through time, starting in the gilded age with lavish country homes, and ending in recent 1982, again displaying a lavish country home, stating the continuation of the shingle style. While reading the book you tend to have vicarious dreams of living in the later 1800s, going to the country home with the faimly and walking along the beach or senic country path, with your shingle villa in the background. The book makes a fine contribution to any library, and in my library it is prominately positioned in reach of all that wish to indulge in the enjoyment of the shingle style of architecture. I strongly recomend this book, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Delectable
A truly delectable book! After chewing it over thoroughly from cover to cover, I've been dreaming of shady porches, snug fireplaces, the smell of old houses in the rain. Bret Morgan is a wonderful photographer; his pictures evoke all of this -- I ate them up!

"...a treasure trove..."
"Shingle Styles" is a treasure trove of architectural images and ideas. We are planning a new house inspired by the Shingle Style and this book has been most helpful in talking to our architect and contractor. The more recent houses are particularly helpful in thinking about adapting a historic style to our contemporary needs.

Sublime photos, grounding text
This is a wonderful book. The photos are sublime--going well beyond mere structural illustration and explanation to capture the spirit of the original design. The text gives grounding information about the evolution and permutations of what has come to be called Shingle Style and examines 30 structures, both familiar and unfamiliar. Roth recounts not only the training and shaping influences of the architects who designed these, but also provides such information as the circumstances surrounding the original project, a bit of social history, or the preservation efforts of present-day heirs. The presentation is thorough without being overwhelming or deadly, dryly academic. Morgan's wonderfully poetic photos take a similar approach: conveying not only the architecture of the whole, but also revealing the telling detail. I liked the inclusion of modern-day exemplars of this American style.

A great companion volume to Scully's "The Shingle Style"
"Shingle Styles" makes a great companion volume to Vincent Scully's "The Shingle Style". The lack of plans here didn't bother me because Scully's book has so many. Architects like Stanford White conceived of these buildings in 3D and presented them in 3D sketches and vignettes, and "Shingle Styles" takes a similar pictorial approach. Almost like the old sketches, the color photographs show the 3D reality of the buildings, and the play of natural light across their textured surfaces. "Shingle Styles" goes beyond Scully's book to include great examples across the U.S., and also some examples of modern houses inspired by the Shingle Style. I especially enjoyed learning of the 1982 recreation of "Kragsyde", one of the long-lost ultimate Shingle Style houses. ... Read more