Reviews (2)

Back to the future?
11 years after the publication of "Painted Ladies," Elizabeth Pomada returned to San Francisco to gaze anew upon its Victorians, and found a new concern for authenticity, subtlety, and sophistication in what she now calls the "Colorist Movement." The examples she shows here, while still splendidly detailed and richly pigmented, are for the most part less gaudy than those in the first book, reflecting the emergence of yuppies onto the preservationist stage earlier occupied by hippies and radicals. Almost the best part of the book, however, is the many interiors she has included, often by houseowners with a keen interest in authentic restoration. Architecture and interior-decorating buffs alike will want to own this volume.

Inspiring! Beautiful! A "must have" for renovators!
If ever you want to be inspired, transformed, bowled over or "wowwed" by the possibilities of an old house... Read the Pomada/Larsen series. The pictures are breathtakenly beautiful and the text is quite informative. Lots of 'pearls of wisdom' there. Before you buy that victorian, read this book for some informative information. After you buy--keep reading (like a litany) to keep the vision alive amidst the rubble and asbestos. You won't be sorry ---you will be renewed. These books were like falling in love, or the collector's itch---The fever is maddening but the end result is Oh so sweet. Get them all!! (5 titles still available) ... Read more

Book Description

The Empire State Building is the companion volume to the Museum of the City of New York's definitive exhibition: "A Dream Well Planned: The Empire State Building."
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Reviews (8)

American emblem
From the outset, the Empire State Building seemed to have had everything going against it. Although conceived during the 1920s boom years, most of the construction went on during the earliest years of the Depression, thereby putting the idea of high occupancy in the severest doubt. Its location wasn't ideal either. It was three miles north of the Wall Street district and a mile south of the center of the midtown business center. And it was ten blocks south of Grand Central Station and three avenues east of old Pennsylvania Station. The idea of mooring dirigibles was quickly scrapped after failed attempts. And sure enough, although the Empire State Building did get built, the tenants did not come. King Kong did, but he didn't pay rent.

John Tauranac describes all this and more in his exhaustive book, THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING: THE MAKING OF A LANDMARK. Written in an engaging style, Tauranac's book is as elegant and interesting as the subject itself, while his wit is as colorful as the characters surrounding the Empire State Building's creation. The book covers the idea for the building, Raskob's and Smith's supervision, the monumental task of the construction workers, and, most importantly, the survival of the building to become THE emblem of America's cultural and economic reach while become THE identifying symbol of New York City. The generous amount of photographs add to the understanding and enjoyment of the book. Highly recommended.

I Like These New York Stories - Check These Out
This is a nice book and is an easy and interesting read.

If you like this book here are two others that are similar.

My favourite book in this area is (1) a book called "Skyscraper" by Karl Sabbagh about the Worldwide Plaza at 8th Ave and 49th St. I would rate that the best, followed by (2) Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon by Mitchell Pacelle (Author). Then this present book I would rate (3).

Those are my humble comments fellow skyscraper lovers.

Jack in Toronto, on just the 11th floor.

Great Building, Great Story
This is an excellent work that details the history of the Empire State Building. I was a bit surprised to find how much the author managed to pack into my paperback. Everything from skyscraper height restrictions to land leases and modern restructuring of ownership for tax purposes (and all the "interesting" stuff in between). If you buy this book and you're not from New York, do yourself a favor and get a map of the area. So you can follow along in the early chapters.

Wonderful! Fun To Read! Educational!
I bought this book shortly after a trip to NYC in 2000, and found it to be an excellent history of one of the Big Apple's architectural jewels, the Empire State Building. It is full of intrigue, history, great anecdotes and one-of-a-kind photographs. If you're a visitor to Manhattan or a local resident, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

A Scholarly History of the World's Greatest Skyscraper
This is not a coffee table book of glossy color photographs of this most striking building. Nor is it a dry recitation of architectural, engineering and construction quantities, concepts and terms. Rather, it is a seriously researched and entertainingly written history of the time, events and personalities leading to the conception and creation of the world's most famous skyscraper. Tauranac successfully tackles the challenge of explaining how this mere assemblage of steel and stone has attained such mystical status and continues, 70 years later, to attract admirers. This is a "must read" for the serious ESB fan, or for anyone interested in how this architectural icon was created. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

New York architecture in the late 1800s
With over 1100 pages, this book was so difficult to handle physically, that it hampered my enjoyment of this epic-length volume. On the other hand, the book is a bargain in terms of cents per page! Photos average more than one per page; however, the quality of photographic reproduction is frequently very disappointing (even when compared to Stern's 'New York 1900,' which also uses very old photographs). There are approximately 75 floor plans, with most page space used for the less-than-rivetting text. Chapters are divided by building type. A surprising amount of page space is consumed by illustrations of entries in architectural competitions (Union League Club and Cathedral of St. John the Divine).

I was disappointed.
This period was covered in New York 1900, which provided background material from 1876 and before. Although New York 1880 is longer than New York 1900, it seemed to me to be a padding of what had already been said in a more succinct and more readable way in the first book of the series (NY 1900).As for the length, New York 1880 badly needs an editor.

A Wonderful fabulous work of scholarship on New York City
While it is too heavy to lug around, NY 1880 is an eye popping journey into New York of 120 or so years ago. There are over 1,200 photographs and 99 pages of footnotes. Anyone interested in seeing what this wonderful city was like a generation before the First World War is strongly urged to grab this book. So much of what this book is about is no longer standing - churches, synagogues, clubs, apartments, etc.

Buy it!! This is the best of the 4 books in the series (NY 1880, NY 1900, NY 1930 and NY 1960) with NY 2000 to come in a few years. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Another glossy picture book
Seems less than half the examples are houses; the rest are studios, guest houses, or cabins. All stylishly spare and uninviting. And while there are occasional floor plans and elevations, and about two detail drawings, the emphasis is on the pictures. You'll finish this book in about 20 minutes and wonder why anyone would spend money on these unlivable houses.

A good example of down-to-earth design
This book is a good resource for people who are looking to build a smaller, designed home. It shows that architects aren't just in business to build 10,000 sq. ft. trophy homes like the ones in the other two books in this series. It is full of ideas for designers and home onwners alike. It can be used as a starting point for opening up communication between client and designer. The thing I like most about this book series is that the author includes some of the construction drawings for some choice details. A student could learn a lot about how to put something together from these drawings (although, some are a little unclear and lack the neccesary context drawings, but I do this thing for a living and I like to see the whole picture when comes to why these designers came up with such COOL stuff!)

A smaller home revelation.
For those with smaller homes who are searching for ideas, this book is a real find. Tons of color photos showing great detail. The material of choice is wood, but some metal structures are included. This is not a back to the 60's book about building with remnants. The homes are first rate with a tremendous amount of innovation and care. I stole more than a few ideas for my own home. ... Read more

Book Description

Carter Wiseman presents an original, readable, and literate overview of the major figures, influential movements, and landmark buildings that have defined American architecture over the past hundred years. In a survey that is "as good . . . as anyone is likely to write . . . accurate in its facts, wise and fair in its judgments"(New York Times), he focuses to a large extent on architecture's makers--the commanding figures who by force of personality and sheer artistic ability indelibly influenced its progress: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, I. M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Louis Kahn, Frank Gehry. The triumph of modernism; the growth of architectural preservation; the eclipse of the practical arts by money, theory, and abstraction; and the uncertain future of architecture in a country that celebrates both individualism and community are just some of the issues addressed in this highly praised work. Originally published in hardcover under the title Shaping a Nation. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

For students of architecture and highly recommended
Twentieth-Century American Architecture: The Buildings And Their Makers surveys the major figures, influential movements, and landmark buildings that have identified and defined the American architecture over the past century. Carter Wiseman's informative text is enhanced with photographs as he focuses on the architects whose personalities and abilities indelibly influenced architectural progress. These figures range from Louis Sullivan Frank Lloyd Wright, and Philip Johnson, to I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, and Louis Kahan. Twentieth-Century American Architecture is an impressive, authoritative, narrative history that is "must" reading for students of architecture, and highly recommended, accessible reading for the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the development of American architectural trends and the men behind them. ... Read more

Book Description

99 color illustrations37 b/w photos2 color maps8 x 11

"Helps us to understand hex signs as no other work on the subject ever has."-SimonBronner, author of Following Tradition

"A landmark in the study of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art."-Henry Glassie, author of TheSpirit of Folk Art

A revised and expanded edition of the classic work on hex-sign barn decorations, offeringinsight into their various forms, geographical spread, European origins, evolution inPennsylvania, and current use in tourism, advertising, and regional art. The authorsexplore the meaning of the symbols by examining evidence from popular writers,scholars, and contemporary hex-sign painters. Full-color photographs display thegrandeur of this Pennsylvania Dutch phenomenon.

Don Yoder, who lives in Devon, Pennsylvania, was cofounder of the PennsylvaniaFolklife Society and longtime editor of its serial, Pennsylvania Folklife. He was Professorof Folklife Studies at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1992 and is theacclaimed author of countless works on Pennsylvania Dutch folk culture. Thomas E.Graves lives in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, and has written articles on hex signs,gravestones, and coal culture. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good informitive review of the topic.
The authors take a pragmatic approach to the subject of the many round decorations that have graced barns and homes of Pennsylvania for hundreds of years. Especially among Pennsylvanians of "Deutch" or German ancestry, the fancy round "hex signs" are a cultural identification as well a decoration for their barns. Perhaps these signs also have magickal meaning as a ward or protection. The term "hex" means a magic spell in German, and "hexen" means witch. The authors shy away somewhat from a serious inquiry into the magickal meanings and efficacy of protection hexes. They do offer a collection of good photos of many old and new signs, interviews with current painters and discussion of those available commercially.

Hex Signs:Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Symbols & Their Meaning
"It is an excellent book on history of Pa.Dutch Hex Signs" Colorful and very informative! ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Watch New York change before your eyes: 83 early Manhattan sites are set against 83 modern photos taken from same position: Times Square, Wall Street, Fifth Avenue, many more. Early photographs from 1875 to 1925 contrasted with 1976. photos.
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Reviews (4)

Good, but there are better ones
A city that has changed and continues to change with the speed and energy that New York does, invites books like these. Gillion's and Watson's "New York Then and Now" is a collection of photos of scenes from days past juxtaposed with recent shots. For me there are two effects of this juxtaposition: one is a sense of loss. So many of the old structures, now gone, were beautiful. But, more strongly, is the sense of admiration for New York's eternal dedication to progress. "New York Then and Now" gives the reader an appreciation of the labor that has gone into the building of the greatest city on Earth. However, because this is a reprint of an older book, too many of the "Now" shots are just as obsolete as the "Then" shots. It sorely needs to be updated.

Nutterzgal
A nice retrospective of New York the way it was. However, the "now" of the title is somewhat misleading as many of the "current" photos are well over 25 years old! The cover photo of 59th and Lex is a good example of the "now" photos not being up to date. The bank building depicted on the North West corner of 59th and Lexington Ave, was torn down about a decade ago and has been replaced with by the contemporary International Plaza office building. Nonetheless a nice collection of photos from all over Manhattan.

The "Now" is not...
Before I hit "one click" I could not remember why I had never bought this book before. After all... I love to see the photo comparisons of the city.
But... as soon as I opened the book, I remembered why.
The book was published in 1976.
All of the "now" pictures were taken no later than 1974.
So much has changed in Manhattan since 1974... that the "now" views are unfamiliar in many circumstances.
The old photos are facinating... and the commentary interesting... but I still feel the need to take my camera out to all those sites so I can get the perspective I truly wanted.

Fascinating and Depressing
Brilliant concept: the authors found 19th-century photos of Manhattan and returned there in the late 1970s to take photos from the exact same vantage points. The side-by-side results are horrifying--what a beautiful livable city New York used to be! Life was not better 100 years ago, of course, but architecture sure was.

Dover--bless them!--has a whole series of Then & Now books on Boston, Phila., Washington, and other cities. There should be more: where's San Francisco? London? Paris? Local photogs should get snapping and send proposals to Dover Press. ... Read more

Book Description

This lavishly-illustrated volume provides an unprecedented look at twenty-eight houses (plus eleven barns and other structures) built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Dutch colonists in the north-eastern United States, primarily in upstate New York and along the Hudson River Valley, on Long Island and Staten Island, and in New Jersey. An authoritative work-- written by eminent experts in the field-- Dutch Colonial Homes in America explores the homes in their broader social context by focusing on the historical and religious forces of the times. This book is the first to investigate the meaning of the home and its aesthetics for the Dutch in America, and also the first to look at these homes as a form of art and craft and, importantly, the influence this form and these people had on the shape of the American house to come. The 200 spectacular new color photographs here are beautifully styled in a manner that recalls the paintings of Vermeer and evoke what might have been the ambiance of these homes hundreds of years ago.
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Reviews (2)

wonderful visuals!!
This book contains some of the best visuals I have seen in quite a long time. The useage of lateral light to bring out texture, color, and ambience is striking. The authors have succedded in isolating commonplace daily scenes found in everything from common humble surroundings to the grandest settings. All scenes are presented equally well, and ,most important, in a new manner- Thus allowing the contemporary viewer to more than glimpse into the past. The visuals are accompainied with an informative, very readable text to greatly aid the reader in interpretation of the scenes depicted. Well done!

great book on a little known subject
The material culture of the Dutch in America has always been misunderstood, mis-interrupted, and ignored. Now a book which gives visual evidence of the major contributions of the Dutch in the New World- how this culture in large part contributed to the newly emerging American culture and society.
This is a must read for anyone interested in early American history as well as the colonial era. ... Read more

Book Description

The Type/Variant House is unique 8000 square foot house is located on a large lake in Northern Wisconsin. The house is arranged into connected buildings with a main living area with open living, dining and cooking spaces, and adjoining separate bedroom suites. Unique orientations, proportions, and natural light distinguish each of the buildings. Inspired by the rural industrial structures of the upper Midwest, the house is lined with copper, Douglas fir, and blue stone. Architect, Vincent James is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A visually stunning monograph
Despite its modest format, this elegant monograph more than does justice to Vincent James' extraordinary copper pavilions floating in a birch forest, comprehensively illustrated here with a wide range of visual materials, from early design sketches, construction photographs, and extensive working drawings to exquisite images of the finished building through four seasons of rain, mist, snow, and sun. Fold-out plans are provided in the inside cover, with a location key to all photos for readers' convenience. The graphic design of the book is clearly a labor of love, far beyond the often perfunctory standard of architectural publishing. Professional readers will regret the absence of scale information, but this is a minor lapse amidst the books many virtues. ... Read more

Book Description

Magnificently illustrated directory of 70 of Manhattan’s most splendid addresses, with history, commentary, floor plans, more. 221 photographs and drawings. l
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Reviews (4)

Floor plans of New York's luxury apartment buildings
Originally published under the title 'Apartments for the Affluent,' this book is aimed at a very narrow audience indeed. Alpern takes us through 75 luxury Manhattan apartment houses in chronological order, from 1869 to 1974. Each building has a full-page b&w photograph, a diagram of a typical floor plan, and a quarter-page-or-so description. Alpern explains the reasoning behind the various room arrangements, and how that reasoning evolved over the years. I enjoyed this book immensely, but it's not for everyone. If you ever walked by an older high-rise apartment building and wondered how the rooms were arranged and why, this slender volume will fascinate you. Otherwise, you may prefer a book that's a more general survey of the topic (including some by the same author).

Excellent book!
Finally I got a hold of this book! Great floor plans; but as usual, I would have liked more interior pics (hardly any).

Amazing Details
This book provides excellent descriptions and floor plans of many of New York's finest apartments. It proved to be a great guide book on a recent trip to the city.

A MUST HAVE
This book is a must have for any fan of architecture. A glimps into some of the most amazing buildings, complete with floorplans! My personal favorites: The Langham, 1107 Fifth Ave, 960 Fifth Ave, 625 Park Ave, River House and my ultimate favorite, the late great 410 Park Ave. I am so glad I discovered this book. ... Read more

Book Description

The Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York, is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's earliest and most important masterpieces. Built in the prairie style, this large residential complex was designed, landscaped, and extensively furnished by the architect. The history of its creation, recorded in over 400 letters exchanged between Wright and Martin, forms a fascinating biography not only of the house but of its architect and client.In this detailed account of the Martin House commission, Quinan mines the Wright-Martin correspondence, along with the physical artifacts and architectural remains of the house, which is currently under restoration, to investigate Wright's often-made claim that his buildings "portray" their clients. The author presents an account of one of Wright's greatest works of "architecture as portraiture" that lends new insight into the ambitions and working methods of this much-studied architect. Frank Lloyd Wright aficionados will join architects, preservationists, and fans of biography in appreciating the fresh perspective Quinan brings to our understanding of this great American architect and this exceptional house. ... Read more

Book Description

Harlem is known throughout the world as the center of African-American history and culture in the United States. At the end of the nineteenth century, Harlem was an enclave of the upper bourgeoisie, and in the beginning of the twentieth century, it absorbed a great number of new inhabitants displaced from midtown. This era saw the Harlem Renaissance, in which a group of artists, writers, and jazz musicians had an important role in influencing world popular culture. The same period saw a flourishing of architecture and design in beautiful houses, churches, apartment buildings, theaters, and commercial buildings. After a period of decline, largely due to state and federal neglect, Harlem is once again experiencing a revival. Author, preservationist, and Harlem resident Michael Henry Adams presents in this volume an architectural and social history of Harlem, encompassing great periods of social upheaval and change. Numerous architectural styles were employed by the builders of Harlem, notably neo-Palladianism, and specially commissioned color photographs capture the area as its architecture and interiors are being lovingly restored. Harlem: Lost and Found tells of the history and also of the present of this once ignored and now vibrant metropolitan center. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Jeepers, nice job Michael!
Wow, for once I find myself agreeing with Ian Fletcher - really great job, Michael. Every neighborhood should have a book like this - but only Harlem does! And, Michael, you're too sensitive about 1-800-Riverside - he/she made some reasonably fair criticisms - who among us are without sin? - but still endorses your book.

Hope you make a $million (Gianfranco Monacelli, are you listening?) - or at least enough for a computer.

Best, Christopher Gray

an extraordinary book
This great book comes forward to change forever our view of Harlem. It is a highly significant step toward informed appreciation of Harlem's architectural importance, cultural complexity, and the abundant variety and beauty of its singular places. No publication at this scale has yet been attempted for Harlem and the grand scope and close detail brought together here by this talented historian will raise the intelligence of the national sense of this unique cultural center never before served so well. Harlem is a household word -- across the globe -- and many may have felt that "our country's African American center" or "jazz incubator" or "home of black Congressional leadership" or some such positive phrase sums it up. Here is presentation of the whole, its place in shaping our revolutionary republic, its welcome to those arriving first from Europe, then from southern states as well as the Caribbean Islands, its heritage of architecturally glorious churches, its handsome houses -- and the innate preservationist sensitivity of each wave of residents who have kept this heritage of fine architecture so largely intact. The book presents these churches and houses through the superlative photographic studies contributed by Paul Rocheleau which bring the reader right into the sites so brilliantly described by Michael Adams. This fine collaboration opens eyes to the deeper meaning of carefully designed housing itself as well as how these churches stand witness to the care of their parishioners. Those viewing these pages far from Harlem will feel on site; those here will want to walk these streets with newly opened eyes. The book is a lifetime purchase and is itself one of the most significant Harlem events in years.

Harlem Lost?
Paul Rocheleau urged me not to worry about what I wrote stressing, "Most people only look at the pictures anyhow." Taking over ten years to research and write something, how tiresome it is to then be compelled to defend it. One is reluctant to do much beyond urging those who might disagree with what you've said to take a decade or two themselves and write their own work. After all no matter what one does or doesn't do the inadvertent error is sure to emerge. This was so for Galsworthy and for Langston Hughes. It will be for you as well. The Riviera Apartments, for instance, were designed by Rouse & Goldstone, not Schwartz & Gross. Mr. Charles Lovejoy is in fact Mr. Charles Loveday, and so it goes. It appears that Harlem Lost and Found will warrant a second printing at least, so thank goodness these mistakes and similar ones can be addressed.

What cannot be altered, however, is my understanding of Harlem's boundaries. Quite justifiably, I believe they can be identified as extending as far north as 168th St. "Not For Tourists Guide to New York City 2003", sponsored by JPMorgan Chase Community Development Group, at least agrees to this hallowed region extending north as far as 160th St. Well, actually, they call the region south to 134th St. between Bradhurst Ave. and the Hudson River 'Manhattanville/Hamilton Heights'. However, surely these neighborhoods are agreed to be in Harlem, are they not?

Unashamedly, I concede that my book was driven by handsome buildings. But, throughout its publication from circa 1910 through 1934, Harlem Magazine, an all white journal, included the very same structures that I have located north of 155th St. in its pages. Things do change, of course. Attempting to dissect Harlem into a series of hierarchically class-based districts, many, by the 1890s, designated all Manhattan west of St. Nicholas Ave. and north of 135th St. as 'Washington Heights'. Already by the 1860s the appellation was used from 155th St. north. But this initial usage much like that of 'Carmansville' was meant, I believe, to identify a subsection of greater Harlem. Certainly, the Audubon, Knapp, and Hooper families continued to identify their address as Harlem much as today many residents of the officially named 'Clinton' continue to give their address as 'Hell's Kitchen'.

In any case, perhaps the old-fashioned but unfashionable race card trumps other considerations? Asked in the 1950s by Joe McCarthy where he lived, Ralph Ellison said 150th St. and Riverside Drive. He qualified his answer, though, noting that the area had once been regarded as 'Washington Heights'. But stated that from his experience, "Wherever Negroes live uptown is considered Harlem." Surely this is the logic whereby the Audubon Ballroom and Theater, where Malcolm X was slain in 1965, was and continues to be identified as a Harlem landmark. No doubt, as more whites displace more blacks and Latinos throughout Upper Manhattan, Brian Keith Jackson's satirical references to name changes in the novel "The Queen of Harlem" will, in fact, occur more and more. It's this likelihood that makes me even more adamantly compelled to document the old understanding amongst blacks and many whites of what is Harlem.

How easy it is to regret what one has not done. If only I had a computer I might have addressed these issues earlier. If only I were more prosperous, I might have also included footnotes in Harlem Lost and Found and saved myself some grief. But as an author under contract to a small press it was difficult enough to pay for an index, I can assure you. As it was so dear, I especially wish the mystery reviewer at 800 RSD had consulted it. I reference Vaux & Withers twice. Once in relation to their Trinity Cemetery suspension bridge. Another time based on Francis R. Kowsky's 1980 monograph of Withers (Wesleyan University Press), on page 196, in the appended work list, I cite the George B. Grinnell house and stable on West 156th and 157th Sts. entered for 1869 and 1870. At no time, regarding this firm, do I ever mention either Mrs. John James Audubon or her dwelling.

As for my attribution of Audubon Park's ownership by George Bird Grinnell, on page 21 of the pamphlet "Audubon Park" published by the Hispanic Society in America in 1927 and reissued in 1987, a later George B. Grinnell relates of his relative, "Long before this, the greater portion of what had been Audubon Park, that is to say, all of it except the track where the old Audubon houses stand had become the property of a single owner, George B. Grinnell, from whose estate, in 1909, a large part of it passed into the hands of builders who covered much of it with tall apartment houses."

Similarly, so far as Jesse W. Benedict's earlier ownership of the park after 1864 goes, no less an historian than Audubon Park's own Reginald Pelham Bolton in his great book "Washington Heights, Manhattan, Its Eventful Past" asserts the same on page 111.

Regarding record sale prices at the Grinnell, the New York Times, it's true, might inflate values, but can I really be faulted for believing all the news that's fit to print?

Yes, indeed, whatever else it is, thanks mostly to Paul Rocheleau and designer Abigail Sturges, Harlem Lost and Found is a visual feast. Whatever its shortcomings, I hope that it is better written and researched than one critic suggests. Better than ever, I now appreciate the aphorism 'Some do, and others complain'. And anonymously, no less. Well, what can one say except God Bless America.

Buy it for the pictures
The long awaited oeuvre of Mr. Adams has finally arrived, and is sitting handsomely on many Coffee Tables around the world. Exquisite photgraphy. It is unfortuante that many of the details within the text are inaccurate, and it's a shame that the author was not more careful with his research. However a very pretty book to own - buy it for the pictures. Enjoy Mr. Adams stories (for they are that).

What is intersting is that the owners of the cover (limestone) property are defacing THAT building as we write this. Metal Windows now everywhere. Whats a shame that the present owners of these structures cannot appreciate the efforts, craft and care of the original European Architects of Harlem. So it might serve to document the continuing erosion of a once handsome place.

Another View of Harlem
Kudos to Michael Adams for a book that combines information, beauty and balance. Harlem Lost and Found is deserving of a permanent place on your reference shelf as well as on your coffee table. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Wonderful!
When I first saw this book in Borders, I couldn't put it down.I love how they've included artwork that have inspired their designs on the bottom of each page.It makes you understand how they work through pictures.You don't have to like their work (such as the last reviewer) but understand where ideas such as this come from.These designers are the creators behind buildings such as the Kodak Theater (think Academy Awards) and the Cirque de Soleil building.I would suggest anyone to grab this book and sit at the coffee shop bookstore and enjoy!

Forget about it
ALL BAD IMAGES=NO CONTENT
This book is the symbol of capitalist mediocrity. There is no sense of higher reasoning. All that is left is bad design from referencing unwarrented pop culture. This is like a bad B movie without the cult status. The Rockwell Group should stick to set design and not try to do architecture. ... Read more

Book Description

American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stone is the first pictorial essay on the many gargoyles found in the United States, featuring unique stories and breathtaking full-color photographs of these monstrous but delightful angels with a sense of humor. A number of books have showcased the medieval gargoyles of Europe, but never before has one been devoted to the thousands of gargoyles that peer down from American buildings. Lewd or ferocious, holy or humorous, these astonishing carvings are distinguished by fine artistry, vivid imagination, and spiritual mystery.

American Gargoyles puts us face-to-face with the winged griffins, fallen angels, and damned souls of Washington's National Cathedral, as well as those adorning the Woolworth Building and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Tribune Tower in Chicago, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and many other buildings. Robert Llewellyn's glorious photographs reveal the craftsmanship of the artisans and sculptors who created these works.

With Darlene Trew Crist's fascinating explanations of the varieties of gargoyles, stories about their history and creation, and extensive resource information, including websites, American Gargoyles makes a convincing case for looking up as we walk down the streets of America's cities. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Wonderful Book
I bought this as a gift for someone and now I wish I would have also bought myself a copy! The pics are great, as is all the information regarding gargoyles. Only drawback for me, I thought it was going to be bigger, it's no bigger than maybe 10x10 or so.

American Gothic
This book is one of the best books I got from amazon. I got the two books Holy Terror's and American Gargolyes... it was a great deal. The book is loaded with pictures of gargoyles from across america and desrcibes what type of gargoyle and where it is located in america. The photographs are beautiful and descriptive through out the book. If you gargoyles get the two books for the price of one. Highly Recommended!!!!

Quality Book on Odd Subject
I was a little skeptical when I first picked up "American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stone" but a friend had reccomended it so I decided to read it. Boy, am I glad I did! If I hadn't I would have missed out on the wonderful details, breathtaking pictures and an all around fascinating history of American Gargoyles. The pictures are well shot, and I have to admit, were the first thing that caught my eye. But, when I sat down to read the text the author shared all these captivating little details about the gargoyles which I loved! The author tells you the story behind a particular gargoyle and if there is anything special you should look for when you see it. This book was so fascinating that I was inspired to take a trip to some of the sights mentioned in the book and check out the gargoyles for myself. I reccomend this book to all readers, it appeals to all audiences.

Monstrous Stoned Fun
Gargoyles have gotten to be very popular recently, and any gargoyle fan ought to get the book _American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stone_ (Clarkson Potter) by Darlene Trew Crist, with photographs by Robert Llewellyn, because American gargoyles are fun. It wasn't the original job of gargoyles to be fun. One of the explanations of how gargoyles got into their exalted positions in churches is that they were placed there to entice pagans to come and worship at Christian locales. Those who ran the churches thought that pagan symbols, and scary ones at that, were a good marketing ploy. Perhaps we American moderns are simply amused by carvings of fearsome dragons, but there are plenty of gargoyles shown here that are deliberately humorous caricatures.

The pictures are a treat. This is not a big, coffee-table book, but there are scores of pictures from many American sacred, commercial, and academic buildings. Though American gargoyles reflect the traditions of Europe, many are truly American. The University of Pennsylvania, for instance, has a strictly medieval style of quadrangle, complete with gargoyles, but one of them is a football player. At Washington National Cathedral, there is a gargoyle showing a crooked politician; he has horns, a big belly, a cigar, and a pocket full of dollar bills. There are a pair of gargoyles there which were given by a grandmother in thanks for her two grandsons. One is angelic and one is demonic, and she never said which is which; the grandsons are now grown up and still don't know. A weeping sea turtle is there as a statement of environmental protection. Out of the mouth of a monstrous duck stares a tourist with a camera, a payback from the carver who was the subject of thousands of pictures as he worked.

_American Gargoyles_ could have been a lot bigger, but Crist has included a reading list for those who want to see more. It is a good-looking and informative book.

American Gargoyles
Having read this book, I have a new outlook on American Gargoyles which truely are spirits in stone. This book is very educational, picturesque,informative, well written and I simply love it! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This look at the loose alliance of designer-builders known as "Jersey Devil" and their eccentric, design-as-you-go projects of the last 25 years is a book for endless perusal. The three principal founders of Jersey Devil, Steve Badanes, Jim Adamson, and John Ringel, aren't registered architects, although they have studied architecture. They have built together, separately, and with various friends and associates, but all they share, corporately, is a post-office box. They've created some of the most innovative, outrageous, lovingly crafted, energy-efficient, curvaceous homes around, none of which looks like any we've seen in our neighborhood. Their fun and funky architecture is usually called "alternative," but it is, in fact, both practical and highly principled. Which is why Jersey Devil is trickling into the mainstream, with wise designs for such important buildings as, for example, a Montessori school. --Margaret Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Design-Build Architecture Got Never This Funky
Steve Badanes came to our school at the beginning of this year, 2003, and gave a lecture on their work. Their work is quite impressive, to begin with. Three unlicensed architects - including Badanes - leave Princeton and go on their own adventure. All they have is a mailbox, and nothing else. Badanes has a trailer, which he drives to the sites and sleeps in meanwhile. Jersey Devil do their design in the site, and build as they design, design as they build. Therefore, their structures become very integrated with the surroundings.

Jersey Devil name their projects with the objects that resemble the building's shape. 'Football House', 'Hoagie House' are among these. When you flip through the pages, you'll see that the 'Aeroplane House' actually looks like an aeroplane.

Their architecture is definitely worthwhile to know about. But, the book is not necessarily as good as their architecture. It does not include a comprehensive review of their projects. Some projects are mentioned only one page with two photos. The introduction, and the general writing is well done. However, as I've said, their specific projects could have been dealt in more detail. I've listened to Badanes in his lecture, and read the book as well. But, the lecture was far more engrossing and interesting.

Nevertheless, for everyone who wants to know about Jersey Devil architecture, this book is the only source to absorb. Purchase it, but do not expect full satisfaction, as the book lacks a lot of details related to projects.

if only you had a half star rating...
As a professional with over 25 years in the building trades, i found this short of its billing as being concerned with the design-build approach. I do not know if the author has had any experience in an actual design build process at a significant scale because it seems to me, the author of the essay tried to mask her inexperience with superfluous vocabulary which only reinforces the gap between the view of academics and the professionals who have knowledge through craft. If the wish was to link the trades with the profession of architecture in this text, then it failed.

It did offer some good photography of some airstream trailers, if only more of these were used on site as construction offices.

ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION. REVOLUTION CAN BE AVOIDED
THE FORM LANGUAGE MAY BE INDIOSYNCRATIC BUT THE PRINCIPALS OF THE DESIGN ARE UNIVERSAL. UNIQUELY WELL WRITTEN ESSAY BY THE AUTHOR SUSAN PIEDMONT-PALLADINO. A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO CALLS THEM SELF A 21CENTRY ARCHITECT

great book, great architecture.
great book, great architecture. this is exactly what architecture needs. makes most of contemporary architecture look like a self-indulgent foolish waste of time, energy, and resources. ... Read more

Book Description

These dazzling, poignant pages recreate the magical built environment that thrilled generations of Chicago residents and visitors alike before falling victim to the wrecking ball of "progress." Here are the grand residences and hotels, opulent theaters, legendary trains, and state-of-the-art office buildings and department stores-including the world's first skyscraper. Here too are the famous convention halls, parks, and racetracks of a great American city whose architectural treasures have been, and continue to be, recklessly squandered. Rare photographs and prints, many of them published here for the first time, document the transformative architectural achievements of such giants as Dankmar Adler, Louis Sullivan, John Wellburn Root, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, and Frank Lloyd Wright. But this remarkable book is much more than a portfolio of now-vanished buildings; within its pages are evocative thumbnail sketches of scores of Chicago personalities, from the world-famous (Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Dreiser, Clarence Darrow, Ben Hecht, Jane Addams, Cyrus McCormick, George Pullman, and Gustavus Swift, to name just a few) to the locally notorious. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

essential pictorial of Chicago's lost architecture
If you care about the history of Chicago and/or American architecture, you will be blown away by this photographic treasure trove of the Windy City's lost legacy. Through fire, ignorance and greed many of the country's most beautiful buildings have been lost. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the merchant princes and the stockyards, George Pullman and Hull House's Jane Addams, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, the Columbian Exposition. These people and events shaped what few would neglect to identify as one of America's architectural centers.

This beautiful book is filled with more than 200 black-and-white photographs of buildings, bridges and other structures tragically allowed to fall into disrepair, destroyed by natural disaster, or bulldozed for parking lots and malls, repeated testaments to the Gordon Curve, predicting that a building is valued most when it is new, that it is least valued and most likely to be razed at approximately 70 years of age, and that if it makes it past that nadir it will begin to rise again in value as a relic and monument.

Each chapter is preceded by several well-written and accessible pages, and each photograph is accompanied by informative paragraphs and quotes. The author delves into Chicago's beginnings as a frontier fort and its rapid growth into a bustling mercantile hive, along the way outlining the history of the peoples and policies of various times from 1803 to the 1970s, organized into ten conceptual and functional groups such as residences, hotels, railway stations, churches, arthouses, The Fire and the fairs.

The photographs are wonderful, many I've never seen before, and each is described well, though the book would benefit by containing more maps. The book is constructed of good heavyweight paper and concludes with picture sources and notes, and a good index. It should be of interest to those with some connection to Chicago, architecture or American history, particularly of the 18th and 19th century.

A "must" for students of Chicago history & architecture
In Lost Chicago, historian David Lowe explores the architectural and cultural history of America's great "heartland" city. This is a community who architectural heritage was all to often squandered during the last five decades of its growth and evolution. Lowe's elegant, and informative text is wonderfully enhanced with more than 270 rare, period photos and prints (many of them published here for the first time). Lost Chicago is a celebration of the age of Gustavus Swift and Philip D. Armour and the greatest stockyards in the world; when Cyrus McCormick, Potter Palmer, George Pullman, and Marshall Field were the national barons of business and industry; when Prairie Avenue and State streets rivaled New York's Fifth Avenue; when architectural giants ranging from Louis Sullivan to Frank Lloyd Wright were designing buildings of incomparable excellence and innovation. Lost Chicago is a "must" for students of Chicago history, architecture, and personalities.

The Seminal Book on Chicago's Lost Architechture
First issued in 1975, this book captures the magnitude and the magnificence of Chicago's architectural legacy that has been destroyed (by nature and man). Today Chicago is widely regarded as an architectural jewel (and it is, I live there!) but after reading this book you won't be able to stop imagining how much more amazing the city might be if the Urban Renewal movement of the 1960s and early 1970s had never happened. If you are interested in architechture, Chicago history or urban design and planning, read this book! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Mr. Wright's vision lives on in Taliesin Architects
I had no idea of the quantity and quality of the work that has been and is still being brought forth by the Taliesin Architects! Projects that were not realized in Mr. Wright's time have been brought forth lovingly and true to his vision of "organic" architecture. Not to mention the breathtaking original homes, churches, auditoriums, nursing homes, banks, hotels, mobile homes (YES!) and other moderate cost housing. Not copies of the works of their inspiring teacher, Mr. Wright would not have that! They have found their own way of "organic" architecture that would make Mr. Wright proud!

The Wrong Stuff
John Rattenbury's 'A Living Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright and
Taliesin Architects' is the kind of 'coffee table' book that gives the
concept of the coffee table book a bad name. The publisher's
advertising blurb seems to promise an intelligent and inclusive
examination of Wright's Taliesin Fellowship, founded in 1932. Instead
we get a brief mention of only 3 of the many apprentices who studied
at the architect's elbow, and little else regarding an in-depth
history of the movement. The blurb goes on to promise a substantial
survey of the designs of the fellowship's numerous graduates since
Wright's death, again to concentrate instead on the work, much of it
mediocre indeed, of only a few, the author himself getting the lion
share of the mention. Rattenbury also spends some considerable length
in a rehashing of Wright's definition of organic architecture, a
definition that can be found in dozens of published tracts by Wright
himself, all available for far less cost than this tome demands. The
definition presented is general, simplistic, often derivative, and
offers nothing fresh to the veteran admirer of Wright; while someone
coming new to that great architect would be far better served to
expose himself to Wright through far better - and far less expensive -
introductory works such as those by Scully or Hitchcock or Twombly. As
a former apprentice and now teacher for Taliesin Architects,
Rattenbury limits himself to mainly uncritical press agentry for that
group, in a format almost totally devoid of depth or
scholarship. Strongly not recommended for anyone but the most satiated
Wright fan looking for yet another expensive, 'skin deep' presentation
trading on Wright's name and glory.
... Read more