Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

Amazon.com

In this fanciful volume, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.), both analyzes and celebrates New York City. By suggesting the city as the site for an infinite variety of human activities and events--both real and imagined--the essence of the metropolitan lifestyle, its "culture of congestion" and its architecture are revealed in a brilliant new light. "Manhattan," Koolhaas writes, "is the 20th century's Rosetta stone . . . occupied by architectural mutations (Central Park, the Skyscraper), utopian fragments (Rockefeller Center, the U.N. Building), and irrational phenomena (Radio City Music Hall)." Filled with fascinating facts, as well as photographs, postcards, maps, watercolors, and drawings, the vibrancy of Koolhaas's poignant exploration of Gotham equals the heady, frenetic energy of the city itself. Anyone who loves New York will want to own this book.

Customer Reviews:

What an interesting philosophical dissertation.......2007-02-05

through the exhaustive historiography of the phases of congestion coney island brought to manhattan, koolhaas provides a rather cynical view of the Grid as being an ulimatley neutral zoning system of constraining ideas that represent the continual decline of a phantastically realistic civilization, represented as mutated symbols of architecture in the "void" of repeated "pregnancies."

it's really well written. funny. uses, like above, a somewhat inefficient vocabulary but remains in the same vein throughout. it is also a graphic design hubris consuming every page, even the left-justified text, showing off koolhaas's interpretation of the importance to combine scholarship and marketing.

buy it. it's a very good book.

Way Too Much To Think About Sometimes.... .......2006-11-09

A very inventive concept of New York's "culture of congestion" and how people are affected by the architecture they create. It is heavily researched and exhaustive, and after pretty much the third page I agreed with his concept of NY being "totally fabricated by man". What could of been a fascinating article becomes a spastic, heavy-handed read with a sledgehammer effect to your brain. (However,for those of us reading it for school, there are plenty of pictures that fill up the almost devastatingly vast 300+pages quickly.) It will scramble your brain with its thousands of nearly bumper-stickerish statements ("It hides life." "The Mountain MUST become architecture.") written with pretentious glee. However, I believe an independent scientific study has concluded that when pretending to read this book on the train people around you will assume your IQ is 40% higher than truth.

Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor........2005-05-25

The quote written above is excerpted from Delirious New York. It is a perfect example of the lyrical quality of the writing prevalent throughout this amazing book. Delirious New York is not an objective chronological listing of New York's development, but a collection of manifestos and stories with opinionated perspectives about a city founded on the idea that maximum congestion is a desirable factor. It is informative, funny (the midget firefighters of Coney Island had me laughing aloud for a solid minute or two), twisted, and inspiring.

Rem Koolhaas is edgier and far more interesting literary figure in architecture than say, Le Corbusier. Koolhaas's analytical yet shockingly refreshing writing style is a blessing for architecture, since he stays away from academic incoherent writing style that most architectural historians and architects tend to employ.

Get a copy of this book if eclectic (and at times disturbing) tales of architecture and urban development is something you think you will enjoy.

best koolhaas ever, man.......2004-01-30

koolhaas is a bit over-the-top for me, but this I think is is best work. it's worth checking out if only for the story of coney island. once you get past blisteringly pretentious phrases like "coney island is a fetal manhattan", you'll find it gloriously entertaining as both a narrative and theoretical work.

the culture of congestion.......2002-12-24

This is by far Koolhaas's most accessible work, as it is rooted so clearly in detail from the city's past. Further, the book is simply brilliant. His take on urban history is to Jane Jacobs what Socrates is to common sense. New York is a special case of modernism that sprang from a special constellation of poltiical and technological forces that collectively create a cultural "big-bang" at the turn of the century. Read it. Blow your mind.

The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings

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Landmarked but Flawed
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years
Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years

The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel
Manufacturer: Monacelli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1580931545
Release Date: 2005-05-09

Book Description

The Landmarks of New York is a definitive resource book on the architectural history of the city, documenting and illustrating more than 1100 buildings that have been accorded landmark status over the past forty years. The chronological organization gives the reader a sequential overview of the city's architectural richness and diversity. The book presents a broad range of styles and building types-simple colonial farmhouses, churches, schools, libraries, Gilded Age mansions, and the great twentieth-century skyscrapers that are recognized throughout the world.

That so many of these structures have endured is due, in large measure, to the efforts of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, established in 1965. Since then, New York city has become the leader of the preservation movement in the United States, with more buildings and districts designated and protected than in any other city. Within this constantly changing metropolis, old buildings are often adapted to new uses, offering further proof of the quality of their design and construction.

Customer Reviews:

Landmarked but Flawed.......2006-12-18

Pound for pound this was the most disappointing of a series of books on New York City architecture that I have read over the past several years. This does not make it a bad book; its 600+ pages are filled with more information on New York City's 1100 designated landmarks than any other single volume, and each is accompanied by a fine black and white photo. Its format, with the buildings ordered by the year they were build allows the reader to thumb through the 1860's for example and see a succession of French Second Empire buildings with their iconic mansard roofs.

Still there are several flaws I have found with this book that weighs nearly seven pounds and has a sticker price of $65.00.

First and most egregious is the apparently careless editing.

One entry, that of the Van Cortlandt Mansion in the Bronx, seems to be lifted word-for-word, without attribution from Goldstone and Dalrymple's wonderfully literate book, "History Preserved". It is possible that Ms. Diamondstein-Spielvogel had permission to do this, perhaps the authors were friends from their days together on the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Maybe "The Landmarks of New York," is a successor to the older book. As there is no bibliography or explanation we will never know.

A second entry, that of Staten Island's Gardiner-Tyler House, the author writes in part, "Mrs. Tyler rarely visited the house before 1868, when as a widow she returned to Staten Island with Tyler's seven children from a previous marriage."

The author is of course referring to President Tyler's second wife Julia, whom he married in 1844, when she was 24 and he 54. By 1868, Tyler's youngest child from his first wife Letitia, Tazewell Tyler was 38, a physician, and living in California; his oldest surviving child Robert Tyler was 52; and only four of his children from Letitia were still alive. It is hardly likely that any of them followed Julia to Staten Island. What the author meant to say was that Julia moved there with her seven children from Tyler.

Another example, more one of carelessness than error is found in her entry on 359 Broadway, a fine Italianette style building found on the corner of Broadway and Leonard Street and best known for housing the studios of the great Civil War photographer, Mathew Brady, for a few years in the 1850's.

The last paragraph stated, "At the end of the century, the Ladies Mile neighborhood changed from a fashionable shopping district to a textile and wholesaling zone."

My first, surprised reaction upon reading this, was how the author could place this building, situated at the edge of today's Tribeca, in the Ladies Mile, which as anyone interested in New York history knows was located further uptown, along Broadway and 6th Avenue from about West 8th Street to West 23rd Street. As it turns out, this area was once called a ladies-mile, about a half-century before its better-known successor. But the entry doesn't explain this subtlety and there lies the confusion.

What this book is really lacking are neighborhood or area maps that locate each of the Landmarks. While a map isn't necessary to conceptualize the location of a building with a typical Manhattan grid address, the Alwyn Court Apartments at 182 West 58th St. for example, it would be nice to be able to quickly see the location of a farmhouse in Brooklyn or an old church in Staten Island, especially when that farmhouse or church is positioned on a page with a townhouse on the Upper East Side, a building it has nothing in common with aside from the year in which it was built. Perhaps in a future edition a map section could be added to the end of the book and an easy key can be developed to clearly cross-reference an entry to its map number or page.

In a book devoted specifically to "designated" New York City landmarks, how does one handle those buildings that are good enough to be landmarks on their own, but have never been designated individually because their inclusion in one of the several dozen Historic Districts before being considered for individual designation obviated the need for such designation? New York's two greatest Historic Districts, Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Height contain many of these worthy buildings. In its" Guide to New York City Landmarks", the Landmarks Committee deftly handled this issue by separately listing and discussing the dozen or so most important buildings in each of those two districts. Ms. Diamondstein-Spielvogel, however, chose to ignore them completely. So there is no mention of the famous Washington Memorial Arch, no mention of the unique teak wood detailing of the façade of the Lockwood deForest House, no mention of the great Jefferson Market Library, that whimsical Victorian Gothic building that has become a symbol of the village and was one of the first and finest examples of use conversion envisioned by the Landmarks Preservation Committee as a way to save old buildings. There is also no discussion of Brooklyn Heights' best buildings including Plymouth Congregational Church, where the fiery abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher preached, or Minard Lafever's Gothic Revival masterpiece First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn.

The book does however have a section that describes each of the Historic Districts so that a reader can get an overall feel for these districts, and ironically, given their nonexistence elsewhere in the book, has fine maps attached to each entry, showing the boundaries of each of these districts.

Any single book with this much information about its subject certainly deserves a recommendation, but for this book to reach its pretensions of being the standard reference of New York City Landmarks there is much that can be improved.

Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years.......2005-10-06

If it's one weighty, definitive library reference you need to New York City's landmarks, make it Landmarks Of New York: An Illustrated Record Of The City's Historic Buildings: its scope and format can't be beat. Art and architectural libraries as well as New York City specialty collections will welcome documentation of over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years. A chronological arrangement guides readers through a wealth of building styles and types, from farmhouses and churches to mansions, with black and white photos of each accompanying descriptions, comments on style and design, listings of architects involved in the building's construction and redesign over the decades, and style descriptions. A 'must' for any serious architectural or New York history collection.

Over 1,100 buildings which have earned landmark status over the past forty years.......2005-10-06

New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan's Significant Buidlings and Landmarks

Average customer rating:

New York, New York
Portraits of the city
Wonderful description of the BIG APPLE
What a wonderful pleasure!
What a wonderful pleasure!

New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan's Significant Buidlings and Landmarks
Christopher Gray , and Suzanne Braley
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0810944413

Book Description

Christopher 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 popular "Streetscapes" column in The New York Times, here gathers 190 of the best-loved of those columns to captivate readers with his wealth of information about sites and buildings and the intriguing lives of the people connected to them.

From the Bridge Cafe (New York's oldest surviving bar) on Water Street to the Revolutionary War-era Morris-Jumel Mansion in upper Manhattan, Gray turns the spotlight on both obscure and familiar landmarks, and each of his witty, urbane essays is illustrated with at least one period photograph. Gray's vast enthusiasm and love for New York's architecture is evident in all that he writes, as is his concern for the preservation of the city's architectural treasures.

Customer Reviews:

New York, New York.......2005-12-23

I really enjoyed this book, the photos are so crisp and the text is quite informative. I am pleased that the vast majority of the buildings the author chose are still extant. After absorbing this book, you really appreciate the great architecture and workmanship of the past, the more current buildings in New York just don't measure up. The author does her research and it shows, I highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in New York, it really is a must have.

Portraits of the city.......2005-04-22

Some books on the older buildings of New York City will give you the nuts and bolts about the structures: who designed it, who constructed it, when it was built, etc. And some photo books of old New York don't tell you anything at all. New York Times writer, Christopher Gray, with the assistance of the untiring researcher, Suzanne Braley, actually breathe life into these buildings. Not only do we learn the who and the when of a building's birth, but also the why and the how. Why were white brick apartment buildings so prominent at one time? How did the Winter Garden evolve from a huge stable? It's the little and, sometimes, epic anecdotes surrounding the buildings that fascinate Mr. Gray which, in turn, fascinate us. This is an indispensible book for anyone who loves the city, and who has ever stopped in front of a building and asked, "How did that ever get there?"

Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS

Wonderful description of the BIG APPLE.......2004-04-12

As a New Yorker all I can say is this is the best book I've read about the city.

What a wonderful pleasure!.......2003-05-23

A tremendous gift to anyone who loves the history of Manhattan. Gray writes well, his information is military in both precision and accuracy and the anecdotes alone are worth the price of the book.

My only wish is that one day, after he retires, a work of all his columns will be published. Perhaps the title "Gray's Anatomy" would suffice.

What a wonderful pleasure!.......2003-05-23

A tremendous gift to anyone who loves the history of Manhattan. Gray writes well, his information is military in both precision and accuracy and the anecdotes alone are worth the price of the book.

Book Description

This book has the color photos, diagrams, and the analysis to show that the World Trade Center towers and Building 7 were demolished with explosives that were placed in the buildings in preparation for the 9-11 attack.

This book is being used by people around the world to support the accusation that the US Government was the primary conspirator in the 9-11 attack.

For two examples, David Ray Griffin references it in his book "The New Pearl Harbor", and Andreas von Bulow, a retired German government official, is referencing it in his book published in Germany.

If you believe Osama bin Laden attacked us without our government's assistance, why not find the flaws in this book, put these accusations to rest, and help restore America's credibility?

If you already believe the attack was conducted by the U.S. government, this book will help you educate your fellow citizens on the unbelievable corruption in our world.

Customer Reviews:

Very eye opening! These questions need to be answered........2007-06-01

If you believe the line about how the towers fell due to heat, fire, impact...you need to read this book. Warning: When you present people you know with the hardcore evidence that this book presents, you will know first hand what "willfully ignorant" means. People don't want to know the truth! As the title of the book says, it's "painfull" to accept the truth sometimes.

The Author Hits It Out of the Park--Video is Spectacular.......2007-03-03

This is one of the best 9-11 books (with its own video) and I am persuaded by this author and others that 9-11 has not been properly investigated, and that there has been a major cover-up. The video is very powerful, very detailed, very thoughtfully narrated, and carries this book and this author to the very top of the list of reasoned and thus authoritative contributions.

Unlike the other 9/11 books I have reviewed, this book, which is letterhead size, is a brilliantly compelling collection of color photographs, color diagrams, thoughtful calculations, and plain text in two columns. The book and the DVD represent, in my opinion, the single best personal effort, and the single most credible case, to the effect that 9-11 was a huge scam on the American public.

The book, and the DVD, are *exhaustive*. There is no better word.

I especially like the author's discussion of the Oklahoma City bombing as a preview of a diversion (the truck bomb versus two airplanes) combined with controlled demolitions. Unexploded bombs are reported to have been found at the Federal Building, with news clippings. The author also covers the destruction of a wedding hall in Israel, and the downing of an Egyptian airplane, as rehearsals for 9-11.

I personally believe that the WTC were brought down by controlled demolitions planted by order of Larry Silverstein, but I am not certain if his action was done in partnership with Rudy Guliani and Dick Cheney, or on his own. The author does not mention the aspestos problem facing Larry Silverstein, for that I recommend viewing the DVD "Loose Change" as well as "9/11 The Press for Truth."

I also believe that the evidence strongly suggests that the Pentagon was hit by a missile fired by the US, and that there has been a massive cover-up.

I am relatively certain that 9-11 was allowed to happen, and that the majority of those who died--over 80%--died by order of Larry Silverstein, with or without the explicit protective consent of Dick Cheney.

I am quite certain that the 9-11 Commission was a deliberate cover-up, and that Controlled Demolition, all of the WTC security people, the insurance executives, and key Pentagon officials have not been properly investigated.

One day these monsters will be held to account. I have to say, on the basis of all that I have read, viewed, and thought, that it is not Bin Laden that has brought down the Republic, but rather Dick Cheney. Our most fearsome enemies are domestic, not foreign.

Bottom line: the political leadership of America can not be trusted and are almost certainly guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors (see my lists on holding Cheney accountable, and on impeachment guides for citizens).

For those skeptics that continue to believe their government, see the points made in my reivew of the below superb revisionist history:
Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History

compelling arguments.......2006-11-19

I am not a conspiracy theory person, in fact I've always laughed at them.

But reading this book certainly has made me question a lot of things!!!

Read it with an open mind. And then decide if the arguments hold water or not.

Steel frame buildings don't collapse due to fire alone.......2006-11-14

OK, wake up America! How did the towers free fall to the ground? What mass of energy was so strong as to pulverize the reinforced concrete to dust? Why very quickly destroy evidence by immediately shipping off all steel to China for re-cycling? Building 7 looked exactly like an everyday controlled demolition. You have to be a blind man not to see that. Why was it so, so very hot at the base of the collapsed towers for so long after? Have you never seen a magic trick before?

Overly Opinionated.......2006-10-19

I'll admit that the official story of the events on September 11 are suspect. But that's all I will conclude. The way the story unfolds in the media and the explanations for it all appear to be hiding some evidence. Why? I don't know, and frankly, after reading the author's very slanted view of events, am even less interested to find out. I was interested in reading the facts and evidence that exist, but his whole book was one big conspiracy theory strung together by edited quotes and simplified facts. And his summary about not fighting the Axis of Good was just over the top. Maybe the truth would only hurt us more than we know. Call me naive and ignorant, but I would rather live my life with a "half full" mentality. I enjoy my life and the choices I am able to make in America and since I have not the power to change the unfortunate events of Sept 11, I'll continue to live my humble life and not waste any more time worrying, fearing, and doubting the catastrophic events of that day. What will that accomplish? What I will continue to do is pay respect and remember the 2,000+ lives that were lost - people I didn't know - but sons, daughters, wives, husbands, friends, moms, etc.

Biltmore Estate (NC) (Images of America)

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Biltmore Estate - Historical Pics
Nice pictorial collection
people as well as place

Biltmore Estate (NC) (Images of America)
Ellen Erwin Rickman
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0738517496
Release Date: 2005-02-23

Book Description

Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, has captured the fascination of people everywhere for over 100 years. Created in the 1890s by George Washington Vanderbilt, a member of one of America's wealthiest families, the estate combined a 250-room French Renaissance-style chateau with 125,000 acres of gardens, forests, and working farms. Biltmore House served as Vanderbilt's primary residence for almost 20 years. After Mr. Vanderbilt's death in 1914, life at Biltmore continued for his wife Edith and daughter Cornelia. In 1930, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil and her husband, Hon. John Francis Amherst Cecil, opened Biltmore House—the largest private home in the United States—to the public, firmly establishing the Asheville area as a major tourist destination.

Customer Reviews:

Biltmore Estate - Historical Pics.......2007-09-22

The black & white pics describe Biltmore Estate - from acquiring the land, erecting the main house & adjacent buildings to their families & lifestyles. Very interesting book, highly recommended reading for those visiting Biltmore.

Nice pictorial collection.......2006-07-04

If you enjoy quick, short histories about old homes and the families they sheltered, then this is a good book to own. It is a photographic book, where the captions tell a condenced hisotry of the Bitmore Estate and the family that lived there.

people as well as place.......2005-12-30

Unlike the other books on Biltmore, this covers information and photos on the Vanderbilt family who owned and lived at this monument.If that is what you want, this book is for you

Forgotten New York: Views of a Lost Metropolis

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wonderful guide to the real New York
More interesting Places than Any Other Guide Book
Forgotten New York
Excellent if you are visiting
If you like the website...

Forgotten New York: Views of a Lost Metropolis
Kevin Walsh
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Travel Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0060754001
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Book Description

Forgotten New York is your passport to more than 300 years of history, architecture, and memories hidden in plain sight.

Houses dating to the first Dutch settlers on Staten Island; yellow brick roads in Brooklyn; clocks embedded in the sidewalk in Manhattan; bishop's crook lampposts in Queens; and a white elephant in the Bronx—this is New York and this is your guide to seeing it all. Forgotten New York covers all five boroughs with easy-to-use maps and suggested routes to hundreds of out-of-the way places, antiquated monuments, streets to nowhere, and buildings from a time lost.

Forgotten New York features:

Quiet Places
Truly Forgotten
History Happened Here
What Is This Thing?
Forgotten People
And so much more

Customer Reviews:

wonderful guide to the real New York.......2007-02-12

Every large city has its famous landmarks & signature structures which define it in the eyes of the world. For New York, the statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Times Square and, after 9/11, the absence of the World Trade Towers. These are the sights that travellers and tourists want to see, and having seen them, think that they have "done" New York.
But they have surely missed the best part.

The real New York, the soul and spirit and humanity of old New York is not so obvious, although it is everywhere around. It is found in its quiet corners and intimate spaces, on its avenues and in its old neighbourhoods with names like Flatbush, Canarsie, Vinegar Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, Flushing, Astoria or Greenwich Village. It is found in the vestiges and the relics of New York's disappearing past.

"Forgotten New York" is a wonderful guidebook to 300 years of colourful personages, events and architecture found throughout all five of the City's boroughs, a guide to memories hidden in plain sight. These include many parks, alleys, doorways, gates, theatres, statues, fountains, clocks, lampposts, views, bridges, a lighthouse, signs, plaques, museums, homesteads, facades, monuments and even some ornate iron ventilation shafts.

It is profusely illustrated with photos and numerically keyed maps which make it easy to discover dozens of little gems of history right around the corner from where you live (you Lucky New Yorkers!) or not-so far from those cousins in Queens or old friends in Brooklyn you always meant to visit.
Even for a retired armchair traveller like myself, this book is a passport to rich and vibrant world far removed from the stereotyped New York we thought we knew.

More interesting Places than Any Other Guide Book.......2007-02-03

Although I live in a small town in Nevada, my daughterlives in New York City. She's an actress, and if you want to act on stage you almost have to live in New York.

We were in a book store and found this book. In flipping it over I found a really neat looking German style beet garden. I asked her where it was, and it was just around the corner, down a few blocks from her apartment. In looking at the book we found all kinds of neat places to go visit, far more than the conventional guide books.

Since she started rehersals while I was visiting, I took the book and did a great deal of walking around the city. One thing I found was an amazing amount of wreckage that you wonder why someone hasn't taken over, built something that uses the wreckage as art and developed into very expensive housing.

Basically this book is a collection of literally hundreds of interesting little tidbits from the past. They are broken down into five general categories:

Quiet Places
Truly Forgotten
History Happened Here
What is this Thing
Forgotten People.

As the author says, all you need is a metro-Card and a good pair of walking shoes.

Forgotten New York.......2007-01-28

A must read for visitors and newcomers to this town, as well as native New Yorkers. Can't wait for Part II.

mp, a lifelong Brooklynite

Excellent if you are visiting.......2007-01-14

If you are visiting NYC or even I supose if you live there, this book would be an excellent resourse. It is packed with interesting bits about the history of NYC. Little did I know that whien staying in Canarsie with friends I was literally 5 blocks from the oldest house in NY State, where teh Duke of York stayed after the Brits took New Amsterdam from the Dutch. yet the log cabin I did see only dated back to the 1930's. Where to find old st lamps, old buildings, what that "L" in that subway station in Brooklyn means cause the "L" train doesn't stop there..... it's all a fun read.

If you like the website..........2007-01-11

As a long time fan of the website, I was really excited to see that Mr. Walsh was afforded the opportunity to expand upon a great and unique idea of his. Bottomline: If you like the website, you'll love this book.

Average customer rating:

Art Deco New York
A superbly organized and presented tour
The panoply of New York City's Art Deco era

Art Deco New York
David Lowe
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criticism | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Art Deco | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0823002845

Book Description

Art Deco New York takes readers on a historically rich and visually spectacular journey through New York in the early decades of the 20th century, when the style known as art deco, with its emphasis on machine-tooled elegance and sleekness of line, replaced the voluptuous beaux arts style that preceded it. It was an era when floating art deco palaces like the Normandie and the Queen Mary, and elegant, speedy trains like Henry Dreyfuss' redesigned Twentieth Century Limited transformed the way people perceived travel. There are dazzling photographs-many never before published-of such art deco icons as Schultze and Weaver's soaring Waldorf Astoria, Jospeh Urban's Zeigfeld Theater and Central Park Casino, and the sky-piercing spire of William Van Alen's Chrysler Building. This book takes a wise, witty, and intimate look at a style that came to New York via Paris in the 1920s and almost overnight became a quintessential symbol of modernity.

Customer Reviews:

Art Deco New York.......2007-07-12

For lovers of the 1920s and 1930s this is a fabulous book. From New York's stunning architecture to the social lives of the rich and famous, everything associated with New York when Gotham was truly the center of it all, this book is a trip back in time. Historically rich and a visual treat! New York in its finest hour.

A superbly organized and presented tour.......2004-12-09

Art Deco New York by cultural historian and author David Garrard Lowe (who is also President of the Beaux Arts Alliance and lectures in such noted forums as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the American Academy in Rome, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York) offers a superbly organized and presented tour of seminal decorative designs during the transformative decades of the 20s and 30s when the art style known as "art deco" was affecting architecture, fashion, furniture, textiles, graphics, trains, automobiles, even Hollywood movie and Broadway theater stage sets. Profusely illustrated with period photography and artifacts, Art Deco New York is an impressive, "reader friendly", coffee-table book that would significantly enhance any personal, professional, academic, or community library architectural studies, art history, or American popular culture collection.

The panoply of New York City's Art Deco era.......2004-11-29

Garrard revives the restless, utopian, sensationalistic mood of the 1920s and '30s giving rise to the inimitable Art Deco style not only by pointing to buildings and their design features representing the style, but also by including posters, advertising, architectural drawings, furniture, and varied aspects of popular culture. The author evokes an understanding of Art Deco not mainly by discussion of aesthetics or art criticism, but by immersion in the spirit of the time between the World Wars, frequently with bountiful and in many cases, unfamiliar visual matter. The Empire State Building and Paul Manship's sculpture of Prometheus ringed by signs of the zodiac in Rockefeller Center are familiar Art Deco images, if often taken for granted. But designs of rooms, architectural details of buildings, trains and cars, and magazine covers and clothing fashion are often overlooked. Garrard demonstrates how deeply--thoroughly--Art Deco pervaded the culture; and points to elements of this vibrant, short-lived cultural period which continue.

Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape

Average customer rating:

Chock full of goodness
An important work

Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape
Thomas Rinaldi , and Robert J. Yasinsac
Manufacturer: University Press of New England
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1584655984

Book Description

Countless books have been published on the historical sites of the Hudson River Valley. But these books have focused over and over again on the best-known, best-preserved places. Every bit as valuable are dozens of other historical sites that haven't fared as well. Many of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historical Places, and a few are even National Historical Landmarks. But in spite of their significance, these structures have been allowed to decay, and in some cases, to disappear altogether.

In an effort to raise awareness of their plight, Hudson Valley Ruins offers the reader a long-overdue glimpse at some of the region's forgotten cultural treasures. In addition to great river estates, the book profiles sites more meaningful to everyday life in the Valley: churches and hotels, commercial and civic buildings, mills and train stations. Included are works by some of the most important names in American architectural history, such as Alexander Jackson Davis and Calvert Vaux.

The book is divided into four parts that correspond to the upper, middle, maritime, and lower sections of the Hudson River Valley. Sites have been selected for their general historical and architectural significance, their relationship to important themes in the region's history, their physical condition or "rustic" character, and their ability to demonstrate a particular threat still faced by historical buildings in the region. The Dutch Reformed Church at Newburgh tells the story of the Valley's oldest religious group; the Luckey Platt department store in Poughkeepsie was for decades the "Leading Store of the Hudson Valley"; and the ruins of the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring are all that remain of what was once one of the river's most important industries. Taken together, these places present a broad picture of the region's past that is relevant to its present and future.

This book was published with the generous support of Furthermore, a program of the
J. M. Kaplan Fund.

Customer Reviews:

Chock full of goodness.......2007-08-29

This book is chock full of information about abandonded places(obviously within the Hudson Valley Region). I honestly wish there were some more detailed photographs of some of these places, but i imagine i might be able to find them on the internet somewhere.Dont get me wrtong There are alot of photographs of the locations and places, and a color plate section in the center but they are like brief narriations of places that could be shown in so much more detail. I can honestly recommend this book to anyone interested in urban decay, preservation of old places, or interested in those abandonded places from times past. Urban Explorers might also find this book of some use as well.

An important work.......2006-09-12

This book is well-researched and well-written. A must-have piece of work for anyone interested in or involved in preservation.

Building the Empire State (Norton Book for Architects & Designers)

Average customer rating:

The "Dead Sea Scrolls" of the Empire State Building.
Astonishing insight in the building process of this landmark

Building the Empire State (Norton Book for Architects & Designers)

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0393730301

Book Description

A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building. Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent. The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement.

Customer Reviews:

The "Dead Sea Scrolls" of the Empire State Building........2000-08-11

This is actually three stories in one. First, the discovery of a personal notebook documenting the construction of the ESB by an involved, but unknown author. Meticuously typed, with photographs, the manuscript was obviously a labor of love. Second, the written manuscript provides details of the construction which are engrossing, and the notebook's photos show the processes of constuction - not what was done but how they did it. Finally, the first 40+ pages provide a great summary of the ESB's history for the uninitiated. One of the most intriguing aspects of this book are the full-page photocopies of the notebook's actual pages, which only add to the historical sense and mystique of the manuscript. A great gift for the "construction-type" in your life, which is how I got mine...after numerous hints.

Astonishing insight in the building process of this landmark.......2000-06-19

Based on actual records the construction company kept during the building process, this book gives an insight of how such an astonishing effort was completed. The whole process of buying the spot, finding an architect(!), tearing down the existing building, design, and building the Empire State took only 22 months. It's an outstanding example of how the management of a very complex project can be done and a must read for everyone in the software industry ;-). Fun to browse through yourself, a sure hit as a gift to anyone interested or working in architecture, construction or project management.

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GOLDEN AGE OF NYC
New York, Empire City: 1920-1945
Every brick and window
Ageless and timeless New York
New York, Empire City 1920-1945

New York, Empire City: 1920-1945
David Stravitz
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0810950111

Book Description

New York between the wars: the city of Babe Ruth, Checker cabs, and Zelda Fitzgerald's infamous dip in the fountain at the Plaza Hotel. That is the city that comes gloriously to life in this fascinating collection of 100 historical photographs of New York's notable streetscapes and landmarks. Discovered serendipitously by author David Stravitz when he was on a hunt for used camera equipment, these rare photographs of the city are accompanied here by informative captions and an insightful essay by architectural historian Christopher Gray.

Not only are these photographs being published for the first time, but the clarity and detail of the images, taken with a large-format camera, are astonishing. One can read the signage on the sides of buildings, examine the items in store windows, and see how people on the streets and sidewalks are dressed. From Trinity Church to Harlem, from Coney Island to Yankee Stadium, these images transport the reader into the heart of a vanished era, when men wore fedoras and the Empire City sparkled with promise. AUTHOR BIO: David Stravitz is a professional photographer, an industrial design consultant and product creator for many Fortune 500 companies, and the author of The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon Day by Day. Christopher Gray, the author of Abrams' New York Streetscapes and other books on New York City architecture, has written the "Streetscapes" column in The New York Times since 1987. Both authors live in New York City.

Customer Reviews:

GOLDEN AGE OF NYC.......2006-10-26

I love the fantastic black and white images in this book, you forget how spectacularly beautiful the New York skyline was before the 50's, 60's and 70's international style of Mies and SOM ruined the skyline blocking many of these breathtaking buildings from view and altering an iconic american image forever. At any rate, this is a really good book, with well researched, interesting text and aforementioned great photo's. As you look at all the beautiful buildings and lament the loss of so many over the years, you can't help but want to throttle Robert Moses and David Rockefeller.

New York, Empire City: 1920-1945 .......2006-06-28

No regrets but I wish there were more photos of the city and street scenes.

Every brick and window.......2006-06-04

When David Stravitz bought around five hundred glass negatives from a New Jersey photo shop in the late seventies I bet he didn't realise what a nice little earner he was onto. This treasure trove of images has so far produced two books, the amazing day-by-day building of the Chrysler Building (ISBN 1568983549) and now 'New York, Empire State'.

Both books follow the same format, page after page of very detailed architectural photographs of the city in the first fifty years of the last century. This book has a hundred images (thankfully in 175dpi) taken by commercial photographers Peyser and Patzig probably for architects and builders as a record of their endeavours.

It is the detail in the photos that makes the book so fascinating. Taken on eight by ten glass negs after carefully selecting the right position reveals street scenes and buildings where you can read the road signs and study the detail work on skyscrapers that would be impossible to see from street level. Nearly all the photos are of commercial property though near the end there shots of tenements, shops, sport arenas and Coney Island. Needless to say many of the buildings shown came down years ago.

Each picture has the name of the building or city area and Christopher Gray adds more detail on six pages at the back of the book and this is where I felt the reader has been badly let down by the publishers. There are 130 photo pages yet only sixteen have page numbers, which makes nonsense of Gray's page numbered captions and the three page comprehensive index. Strangely page 105, with a whole page photo does have a number and this, I assume, was to be the case with every page but someone screwed up! Very frustrating (and do I get a refund?).

I recently reviewed a similar architectural photo book about New York City with 170 stunning photos taken by Samuel Gottscho between 1925 and 1940. Included are some marvellous Manhattan night photos as well as shop and house interiors. Gottscho's work helped to define the popular skyline silhouette image of the big American city. Have a look at 'The Mythic City' (ISBN 1568985622) by Donald Albrecht.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Ageless and timeless New York.......2005-07-19

A wonderful pictoral history of early 20th century New York. One will be astounded at the space between the buildings of the city and the level of architecture throughout. In our daily hustle, this book reminds us of the beauty of the many buildings that make up the skyline of New York. Enjoy.

New York, Empire City 1920-1945.......2004-12-01

I found David Stravitz's new book (New York, Empire City 1920-1945) every bit as thrilling as his book on the Construction of the Chrysler Building, building an Icon Day-by-Day. The photos are spectacular, oversized and chuck full of detail of a grand era in the history of the greatest city in the world. The big question for me is "is there another book to follow?". Can't wait! Lisa Franciosi

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