From Publishers Weekly
Wright, as Pfeiffer notes, was primarily a residential architect, and this stunning survey of 38 of his most influential buildings reveals how he created new patterns of living through rooms that open into one another and walls that reach out to engulf gardens and plantings. That the Wisconsin-born pioneer of organic architecture was also an innovative engineer emerges in discussions of Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum with its curved elements, the tripod design of Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pa., and the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif., featuring a circular public library at the hub of administrative buildings ensconced in the hills. Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, Ill., the "Fallingwater" house in Mills Run, Pa., and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo are among the projects selected by Pfeiffer, editor of Wright's Collected Writings and author of many books about him. Nearly all of the buildings were newly photographed for this book, which features 275 color plates, including Wright's beautiful working drawings and plans. BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Wright has been the subject of numerous books, illustrative and historical, popular and scholarly, but Larkin and Pfeiffer have still succeeded in creating something fresh and exciting. This handsome volume presents brand-new photographs of and lucid critical commentary on 38 of Wright's most significant buildings, including such famous public structures as the Unity Temple (1905) in Oak Park, Illinois, and New York's Guggenheim Museum (1943-59), as well as lesser-known but stunning private homes. This selection embraces Wright's entire career, from the early prairie style to the adventurous creations of the 1940s and 1950s. The process of design for each masterwork is documented from Wright's earliest conceptual sketches to his polished drawings, which are works of art in their own right. Some black-and-white photographs of buildings under construction are provided, but the book's strongest visual components are the grand color photographs. The shots were composed to capture the unique aesthetic of each structure's exterior and interior, from its orientation to the land to its elegant decorative detail and dramatic use of natural light. A liberal sampling of excerpts from Wright's writings and correspondence adds to this volume's authority and value. Donna Seaman
