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AIA Guide to New York City [Paperback]

Norval White , Elliot Willensky , Fran Leadon
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 9, 2010 Aia Guide to New York City
Hailed as "extraordinarily learned" (New York Times), "blithe in spirit and unerring in vision," (New York Magazine), and the "definitive record of New York's architectural heritage" (Municipal Art Society), Norval White and Elliot Willensky's book is an essential reference for everyone with an interest in architecture and those who simply want to know more about New York City.
First published in 1968, the AIA Guide to New York City has long been the definitive guide to the city's architecture. Moving through all five boroughs, neighborhood by neighborhood, it offers the most complete overview of New York's significant places, past and present. The Fifth Edition continues to include places of historical importance--including extensive coverage of the World Trade Center site--while also taking full account of the construction boom of the past 10 years, a boom that has given rise to an unprecedented number of new buildings by such architects as Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, and Renzo Piano. All of the buildings included in the Fourth Edition have been revisited and re-photographed and much of the commentary has been re-written, and coverage of the outer boroughs--particularly Brooklyn--has been expanded.
Famed skyscrapers and historic landmarks are detailed, but so, too, are firehouses, parks, churches, parking garages, monuments, and bridges. Boasting more than 3000 new photographs, 100 enhanced maps, and thousands of short and spirited entries, the guide is arranged geographically by borough, with each borough divided into sectors and then into neighborhood. Extensive commentaries describe the character of the divisions.
Knowledgeable, playful, and beautifully illustrated, here is the ultimate guided tour of New York's architectural treasures.

Acclaim for earlier editions of the AIA Guide to New York City:

"An extraordinarily learned, personable exegesis of our metropolis. No other American or, for that matter, world city can boast so definitive a one-volume guide to its built environment."
-- Philip Lopate, New York Times

"Blithe in spirit and unerring in vision."
-- New York Magazine

"A definitive record of New York's architectural heritage... witty and helpful pocketful which serves as arbiter of architects, Baedeker for boulevardiers, catalog for the curious, primer for preservationists, and sourcebook to students. For all who seek to know of New York, it is here. No home should be without a copy."
-- Municipal Art Society

"There are two reasons the guide has entered the pantheon of New York books. One is its encyclopedic nature, and the other is its inimitable style--'smart, vivid, funny and opinionated' as the architectural historian Christopher Gray once summed it up in pithy W & W fashion."
-- Constance Rosenblum, New York Times

"A book for architectural gourmands and gastronomic gourmets."
-- The Village Voice

Frequently Bought Together

AIA Guide to New York City + New York: 15 Walking Tours, An Architectural Guide to the Metropolis + Blue Guide New York (Fourth Edition)  (Blue Guides)
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Editorial Reviews

Review


"Covering each borough almost block by block, building by building, it is an extraordinarily learned, personable exegesis of our metropolis. No other American or, for that matter, world city can boast so definitive a one-volume guide to its built environment....The AIA Guide to New York City sees that what matters about buildings is not solely their window treatment or spandrels, but the life lived in and through them. THe best city architecture is that which makes possible the world of the street." Phillip Lapote, The New York Times


"Blithe in spirit and unerring in vision."
New York Magazine


"An architect's romp through five boroughs."
The Daily Record, New Jersey


"A book for architectural gourmands and gastronomic gourmets."
The Village Voice


"Over its more than four decades of existence, the guide has evolved into a New York institution, as much a city fixture among a certain crowd as Fourth of July fireworks over the East River."--Constance Rosenblum, New York Times


"Reading [the AIA GUDIE] is a joy, and one immediately sees how anyone--the feverish real-estate broker, the stunned tourist, or the pontificating college historian--would love it."--Thessaly La Force, newyorker.com


"Today in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, 20 people aimed cameras at a three-story row house, snapped photos, and cheered. Part of the reason for their excitement may have been that the building was once the home of Jane Jacobs, the writer and activist. More likely, though, is that the picture-taking session marked the official end of the lengthy research phase for the fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City, the wryly written block-by-block directory of landmarks that's become an essential reference for architects, planners, and developers, as well as residents."--C.J. Hughes, Architectural Record


"The new guide, readers will be pleased to know, is a vast improvement over its predecessor, beginning with a redesigned retro-'70s cover that replaces the widely loathed faux-metal version of the fourth edition. The new book is also trimmer than its predecessor, though its content is greatly expanded, thanks to a shift to a two-column page layout. A team of writers, led by White and Fran Leadon, has done extraordinary work combing the city, and not just Manhattan, adding entries for new buildings and providing 'necrologies' for the dearly departed."--Architect Magazine


"Indeed, the AIA Guide is perhaps the finest-grained study of New York's built environment that exists, a guide in which no Italianate cornice, no Art Nouveau balustrade, no limestone carving or postmodern tempietto seems to go unremarked."--Wall Street Journal


"While the majority of the book celebrates the good, the AIA Guide is at its most entertaining when applying its witty and pithy critiques to things considered by the authors to be crapitechture."--Curbed.com


"The AIA Guide to New York City is an indispensable book that new readers will cherish . . . In fact, it is likely the most comprehensive guide to any city's buildings. The sheer volume of pictures and capsule discussions of building design and histories is one of the great publishing achievements of our time . . . Nobody should leave home for NYC without this book."--BeyondChron.com


"The AIA GUIDE is a 1,055-page love letter to the city. It obsessively details the greatness of well-known neighborhoods, while luring the reader to bucolic corners of Staten Island and the hidden Art Deco grandeur of the Bronx."--Bloomberg News


"A book that belongs in every New Yorker's library."--Dwight Garner, New York Times


About the Author


Norval White is Professor Emeritus, School of Architecture, City College of New York. His architectural designs include the New York City Police Headquarters, among many other buildings. He is the author of The Architecture Book and New York: A Physical History.
Elliot Willensky (d. 1990) was Vice Chairman of New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission and the author of When Brooklyn Was the World.
Fran Leadon is a registered architect and teaches at the School of Architecture, City College of New York.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 1088 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 5th edition (June 9, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195383869
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195383867
  • Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 1.5 x 10 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

A top pick for arts and New York history libraries alike! Midwest Book Review  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Book looked like it had not been opened too many times. kathleen henderson  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Christopher Gray PS The necrology is back! Christopher Gray  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Ur-Guide to New York's Buildings May 30, 2010
Format:Paperback
I had anticipated that this version, with Norval in France, with an interloping 30(?)-something as (new) co-editor, and using student labor, would be thin and watery. Hardly! This version, full of the same level of piquant and candid observation of the Ancient and Honorable first two editions - when the original authors were both driving the bus - but also rich and intricate with observations on the tidal wave of new architecture which has swept over New York in the last decade-plus. And these are not, I feel sure, only the input of estimable but newcomer Fran Leadon, but also Norval White who was intensely interested in what was happening on the New York streets until his last days.

Even back past Lewis Mumford and Montgomery Schuyler, New York has not yet had the equals of Elliot and Norval in writing about New York's buildings - they are on every page.

Christopher Gray

PS The necrology is back!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What an amazing book!! Of course it is impressive for the sheer breadth of entries--like no other book on my shelf, thumbing through it feels like holding the entire city of New York in my hands. As a long-time resident of the city, as the years pass it becomes easy to overlook the marvels all around. This has been especially true of my current neighborhood, the Upper East Side, or, more specifically, Bed Pan Alley, as the NYT dubbed the far-east sixties for its abundance of medical facilities. Apparently a great place to have a heart attack and not much else. But the fifth edition of the AIA guide gives me a whole new appreciation for the architectural and design gems right outside our door--even including my local pharmacy's sign (no not the Duane Reade), which I've always loved! Great to have its importance verified by such a thoughtful expert as Mr. Leadon-- I happened to catch his interview on the Leonard Lopate show on NPR and was very impressed. I hope he writes a long-form narrative about New York one day, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing throughout and found the entries on my neighborhood to be right on the money. Highly recommended for locals and visitors alike.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars For New Yorkers willing to look up and gawk June 14, 2010
Format:Paperback
As a NYC resident of more than 25 years who has broken the spines of both the third and fourth editions of the AIA Guide to New York City, I think the latest edition is a must-have item for any New Yorker with an ounce of curiosity about the buildings and history of the five boroughs. During the decade since the last edition, the cityscape of NYC has been changing at a frenzied pace--at least until the housing bubble popped and the luxury condo boom crashed. This new edition revisits the old, updates the transformed, and point out the new in concise paragraphs of historical fact and pithy architectural criticism. I may not always agree with the authors' opinions but I do appreciate their dry, witty style. The fifth edition has also improved the quality of the maps and the photographs enormously, and I really enjoy the addition of the "necrology" sections--paeans to buildings that are no longer there.

New Yorkers--buy this book and look up! You'll never look at your city the same way.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate of its type....
Fabulous book and ultimate of this type of city or metropolitan area guidebook. I have followed ALL editions since '60s. Not perfect in every description, photos, etc. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Ken Goldberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Review.
l love this book! Yes, it is too heavy - cheaper, more lightweight paper could & should have been used, & it is kind of hard to lug around. Read more
Published 1 month ago by dave strasburg
5.0 out of 5 stars AIA Guide to NYC
Great purchase! I would recommend to anyone who asked me. Book looked like it had not been opened too many times.
Published 2 months ago by kathleen henderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent comprehensive, irreverent guidebook to historic sites.
A prospective reader may ask, "How is it possible to build an architectural survey of New York?" This book is the answer.

This book is about breadth rather than depth. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jon L. Albee
4.0 out of 5 stars Architectural Guide to New York
Having had an earlier edition, this new edition met all expectations. The Necrology listings of demolished buildings are very interesting and useful. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Max S
2.0 out of 5 stars small pictures, poor text
look at this before you buy -- its a great disappointment, especially given the accclaim quoted in the "book description" from New York, the Times, etc. above. Read more
Published 12 months ago by a reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to carry
One Customer Review says, "The latest edition, even in paperback, is so expanded and comprehensive that carrying it on a walking tour is unthinkable." Not true. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Karl Myer
5.0 out of 5 stars Came in perfect condition
I received my book very quickly and as promised - it arrived in like new condition. The other students in my architecture class paid alot more for their copies, even used ones. Read more
Published 20 months ago by ronnie timoner
5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable Guide To New York's Architecture
If this was a restaurant review, "AIA Guide to New York City" would no doubt be described as a succulent dish. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ken
5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide to NY architecture
Architecture is my profession. When a couple of friends asked for advise on a NY architecture guide I begun doing some research. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Architect
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