American Architecture

Since the days of cave dwellers, humans have made use of nature's geological formations, but recent developments in structural engineering make it possible to engage the Earth's surface as a building element in its own right. With an increased awareness of the planet's limited natural resources and with landscape architects' greater influence on contemporary design, architects around the world are building into the earth, merging man-made forms with the contours of the land.

Presenting the most exciting, sensitive, and innovative buildings from the most acclaimed international architectural practices, Landscrapers offers a global tour of these spectacular structures. From Zaha Hadid's Landesgartenschau pavilion in Germany to MVRDV's Villa VPRO in the Netherlands, from Future Systems' hill-burrowing house in Wales to Maya Lin's Vietnam M

Friedman documents Gehry's work from 1988 to the present, tracing his evolution from a Southern California architect known for his idiosyncratic use of materials, to an international figure who is redefining modernism with his sculpturally expressionistic work. 350 illustrations, 200 in color.

Michael Graves has been at the forefront of architecture and design since he founded his practice in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1964. Cited by Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the New Yorker, as "the most truly original voice American architecture has produced in some time," Graves has received many prestigious awards, including the 1999 National Medal of Arts and the 2001 Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects. This, the fourth volume to document the architect's oeuvre, is a must-have for all architecture enthusiasts. Graves has secured international acclaim and celebrity status for his modern interpretations of traditional and classical architecture and remains one of the profession's most celebrated figures.
Presented in this monograph are over 100 of Graves' built and unbuilt projects of the past eight years,

Gray's engaging tales of historic Gotham locales transport readers back in time for a stroll through the streets of old New York. The noted architectural historian, who writes the "Streetscapes" column in "The New York Times, " here gathers 190 of the best-loved of those columns to captivate readers.

"Activist criticism is based on the idea that architecture effects everyone and therefore should be understandable to everyone," Blair Kamin writes in "Why Architecture Matters". "Activist criticism invites readers to be more than consumers who passively accept the buildings that are handed to them. It bids them, instead, to become citizens who take a leading role in shaping their surroundings." The Pulitzer Prize-winning "Chicago Tribune" critic has taught millions of readers exactly what this approach can do in the decade he has been writing his fiery, intelligent essays on the state of contemporary architecture. Working from the palette of Chicago, America's foremost architectural city, Kamin also paints on a broad canvas, and in his work he has assessed everything from Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain to the "green sky

"A growing movement to replace charmless suburban sprawl with civilized, familiar places that people love." So wrote Time Magazine in a recent article about Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Peter Calthorpe, leaders of the dynamic urban design revolution coming to be known as the New Urbanism. Their breakthrough planning conceptspropose a vision of the future that combines the best of the past with the realities and modern conveniences of today.

Part of a broader trend toward the restoration of community and concern for a more sustainable environment, the New Urbanism addresses many of the crucial issues of our time: the decline of America's cities, the rebuilding of its crumbling infrastructure, housing affordability, crime and traffic congestion. Not without controversy, the proponents of this new design approach suggest bold

This major study of one of the 20th century's greatest architects reevaluates the entire body of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's work in America. Based on considerable new research and bringing to light previously unstudied material -- drawings and collages, photographs, project documents, and oral histories -- Mies in America presents fresh, original, and corrective interpretations of the architect's achievement.

Designed to accompany the important exhibition curated by Phyllis Lambert of the Canadian Centre for Architecture and opening at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in June 2001 and then traveling to Montreal and Chicago, Mies in America includes nine essays that together offer a portrait of Mies's evolution as an artist. Packed with over 550 illustrations, the book looks beyond Mies's most famous architectural triumphs,

Thirty-eight of Wright's architectural designs, ranging from his early work in the 1890s to his daring creations of the 1940s, show each building's evolution from conceptual sketch, plan, or drawings to finished masterwork. Over 300 illustrations, 275 in color.

ARCHITECTURE IS THE HEART and soul of cities--it shows not just a place but also the spirit of the place. This portable book takes readers on a tour of over 250 American architectural treasures of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It provides the practical information--addresses, phone numbers, visitor hours, maps--needed to experience them first-hand and explains why each will reward a visit. The concise accompanying descriptions offer new insights into the buildings and designers of this vital part of the America heritage. Among the new landmark buildings included are Walt Disney Concert Hall (Frank Gehry), Seattle Library (Rem Koolhaas), American Folk Art Museum (Tod Williams/Billie Tsien), Contemporary Arts Center (Zaha Hadid), Milwaukee Art Museum (Santiago Calatrava), and the "Solar Umbrella" House (Larry Scarpa/Angela Brook

Showcasing several rarely published Wright houses in new photos, this lavishly illustrated book is devoted to the Prairie Style of domestic design. 225 illustrations.

This vibrantly designed volume celebrates every facet of the skyscraper as anarchitectural icon. 260 illustrations, 180 in color.

In this new look at the work of Charles and Henry Greene, renowned author-photographers Randell L. Makinson and Thomas A. Heinz go beyond the assertions that the brothers were geniuses of their time to prove that they developed a distinct architectural and design style that has been a model for generations of architects ever since. Examining house plans, construction materials, interior furnishings and details of some of the most distinguished works of the Greenes, the authors revisit designs that exemplify a highly refined set of proportional relationships and a level of detail and craftsmanship that remains unsurpassed today. Separate chapters dealing with furniture and decorative arts illustrate how refined and beautiful their designs were. They created some of America's finest art. Stunning new photography along with archival images a

Features Grand Central Station, the Fiat factory, P.S. I Institute for Contemporary Art, and more.

The birthplace of the skyscraper, Chicago is noted for an architectural tradition that has influenced building around the globe. Now the most authoritative text on the subject is completely redesigned, revised, and expanded to bring the history up to date, with an all-new final chapter on the signature works of the last 20 years, up to and including Frank Gehry's Millennium Park band shell, whose curling ribbons of stainless steel added a dazzling new facet to the city's skyline in July 2004. Some 300 photographs, principally the work of the renowned Chicago studio Hedrich Blessing, illustrate the book. More than half of the photos are new.
Looking at famous structures from the inside out, the book has won praise for its emphasis on the graceful interiors of Chicago's finest buildings. The vivid text discusses the life and work of suc

In the nineteenth century, the Shakers were famous as the most successful utopian communal society in America. Social reformers from Emerson to Tolstoy hailed their progressiveness in issues including equality of the sexes, care of children and the aged, and pacifism. The Shakers loved God and each other and worked devotedly to build a physical and spiritual haven apart from the complications and competitions of "the World". With astonishing energy and simple goodness, they created a network of eighteen principal villages from Maine to Kentucky and established America's only truly national utopian effort. Today, the Shakers are nearly gone. Only a few members remain in a single community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. But their buildings and villages survive to reveal their dedication to their founder's instruction, "Put your hands to work an

In the nineteenth century, the Shakers were famous as the most successful utopian communal society in America. Social reformers from Emerson to Tolstoy hailed their progressiveness in issues including equality of the sexes, care of children and the aged, and pacifism. The Shakers loved God and each other and worked devotedly to build a physical and spiritual haven apart from the complications and competitions of "the World". With astonishing energy and simple goodness, they created a network of eighteen principal villages from Maine to Kentucky and established America's only truly national utopian effort. Today, the Shakers are nearly gone. Only a few members remain in a single community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. But their buildings and villages survive to reveal their dedication to their founder's instruction, "Put your hands to work an

In over thirty years of practice, Robert A. M. Stern has developed a distinctive architecture committed to the synthesis of tradition and innovation and, above all, to the creation and enhancement of a meaningful sense of place. This monograph, covering the years 1999-2002, is the fourth in a series on Stern's work. The volume includes more than one hundred projects, including houses and apartments, buildings for cultural institutions and universities, office and commercial structures, government facilities, and designs for products, including fabric and tableware.

Architect George Howe thought there were three pioneers of American architecture: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William L. Price. Although history has borne out Howe's observation on Sullivan and Wright, Will Price still awaits discovery.

Architect George Howe thought there were three pioneers of American architecture: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William L. Price. Although history has borne out Howe's observation on Sullivan and Wright, Will Price still awaits discovery.

Price, a disciple of Frank Furness who practiced in Philadelphia from 1833 to 1916, established the architectural character of the two of the nation's greatest resorts, Atlantic City and Miami, thus shaping the architecture of the Roaring Twenties. Although his biggest and best-known projects, the Art Deco Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City and th

The great American architect Louis Sullivan believed that art should reveal the creative method of nature. The greatest artist was the poet, whose understanding of nature spurred social change, in his writings, drawings, and architectural designs, Sullivan's poetic genius is apparent, as is his life objective, a rebirth of American democracy through cultural reform.

This volume is both a tribute to Sullivan's poetic vision and a catalogue of all his graphic work. The authors, Robert Twombly and Narciso G. Menocal, discuss the social implications of Sullivan's theories of architecture based on nature, with visual proof of his passion in illustrations of his work on paper and in three dimensions. A translation of "Etude sur l'inspiration, ' Sullivan's seminal and heretofore unpublished credo in verse, is further testimony to the architect

Skyscrapers, ever taller, astound us with their immensity and beauty. Despite the challenges associated with their design and safety, there is continued growth in the size and number of tall buildings being built around the world. In this fascinating book, Matthew Wells, a practicing structural engineer, explains the principles behind the construction of skyscrapers and the ways they are designed to withstand such forces as earthquakes, high winds, and fire.
Beginning with a concise architectural and cultural history of the skyscraper, Wells then offers thirty case studies of high profile buildings recently built or under construction by some of the world's most renowned architectural firms, including Foster and Partners; Zaha Hadid Architects; Cesar Pelli and Associates; the Renzo Piano Building Workshop; and Skidmore, Owings, and Me

I.M.Pei has designed some of the world's most elegant and powerful buildings. The revised edition of Abrams' 1990 book features a new chapter that covers Pei's work between 1990 and 2001 -- a flurry of creativity that included commissions for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the final phases of work on the Louvre, and museums in Luxembourg, Germany, and Japan.

Dozens of color photographs present Pei's buildings in all their splendid variety, while scores of revealing drawings, plans, and models, as well as personal and documentary photographs, make this the only comprehensive record of the work of an architectural giant, one who has won every important honor in his field.