The Architectural Guidebook to New York City [Paperback]

Francis Morrone (Author), James Iska (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

Francis Morrone has returned to the buildings of his original guidebook once again to detail additions and changes in name and usage, and the book has been modified to reflect post September 11th New York City. With its thoughtful detail and out-of-the-ordinary observations, this guidebook is a must-have for New Yorkers, tourists, and architectural lovers everywhere.

Francis Morrone is a lecturer and tour leader for the Municipal Art Society of New York, a nonprofit civic organization founded in 1893. His writings on architecture and New York history appear in The New Criterion, the City Journal, and other publications. His other books include An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn and An Architectural Guidebook to Philadelphia. He lives in Brooklyn.

James Iska, whose work has been exhibited all over the world and has appeared in the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune, is currently on the staff of the Art Institute of Chicago.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Right from the start, the reader will realize that he is undergoing the expert ministrations of a man who understands New York and its infinite variety of constructions as few others do. . . . In fact, this is a book that does not chart the usual walking tours but outlines the esthetics that one might look for in the course of a Manhattan amble. Each item is its own little essay, written with as much attention to the literate architecture of his wordage as to the structural architecture of what he is looking at. He can put things together as you may never have thought to. . . . There was something that was news to me on almost every page, if not in fact then at least in some new angle of observation. . . . If there is anything wrong with this book, it is that it will absorb you in reading when you might be out looking."

--Richard F. Shepard, The New York Chronicle

Revised, Updated, and Expanded

This brand new edition of the popular Architectural Guidebook to New York City details, the most recent changes to Manhattan's built environment, including modifications that reflect post September 11. Hundreds of entries are thoughtfully presented in the context of the architectural, historical, and cultural settings.

Author Francis Morrone is a lecturer and tour leader for the Municipal Art Society of New York, a nonprofit civic organization founded in 1893. His writings on architecture and New York history appear in The New Criterion, the City Journal, and other publications. He can be contacted through his World Wide Web site at http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/fmorrone, where updates and corrections to the present book will be regularly posted.

Photographer James Iska, whose architectural photography has been exhibited all over the world and whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Chicago Sun Times adn the Chicago Tribune, is currently on the staff of the Art Institute of Chicago.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Francis Morrone has authored other books on Architecture, such as The Architectural Guidebook to New York City, and An Architcural Guidebook to Philadelphia. He lhas lived for tweny-some years in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

James Iska, wose work has been exhibited all over the world and has apeared in the Washington Post, Financial Times, Chicago Sun-TImes, and Chicago Tribune, is currently on the staff of the Art Institute of Chicago. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith; Revised edition (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879058412
• ISBN-13: 978-0879058418
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,899,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great companion to see Manhattan with, July 7, 2000

By 

Timothy Ritter (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Architectural Guidebook to New York City (Paperback)

The most obvious reason to replace the AIA Guide with this book is size. Dealing with only one borough enables the author to go into more detail while reducing the size of the book. The AIA Guide is about half the size of a large yellow pages. The Architectural Guidebook to NYC is about the size of an average novel. That makes a big difference when you're stuffing it into your backpack or purse for a trip on subway or foot.

The more extensive entries are very welcome. In Union Square with this book and a view of the surrounding buildings, I was able to spend a pleasant and informative hour on a park bench, for free. That's a better bargain than the Staten Island Ferry.

Morrone keeps the architect's jargon to a minimum and knows his subject well. The historical insights and views on clashing aesthetics were skillfully presented. He pointed out a couple of museums of very high caliber that I wasn't even aware of. A book like this is a perfect jumping off point for thousands of topics, from neighborhoods to cultures to politics to construction.

I would encourage him to write similar books on the other buroughs, or better yet, an even more detailed work on each of the neighborhoods of Manhattan: each of them has at least a thousand buildings worth writing about.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for a quick trip, July 26, 2001

By 

"rustichut" (Elgin, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Architectural Guidebook to New York City (Paperback)

This book is really good and best used if you have a fair amount of time to wander around New York. It is like trailing through the city with a friend who has lived there for a long time; Marrone has great excursive lengthy interesting descriptions of a number of buildngs, and that's great. The problem is that each chapter has its own tiny map, and they are never put together in a larger overall map anywhere, making navigation difficult. If you have a lot of time, and want to do just a few buidings per day, that's fine. If you want to storm through NYC and see as much as possible in a limited amount of time, if is difficult.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not quite, December 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Architectural Guidebook to New York City (Paperback)

I was a bit disapointed by this book. There is information on a lot of NY buildings, but the information does not always concern architecture and is usually very limited. Gives you an impression of all there is to see, but does not do much more than that. Photographs are not impressive. Much more intersting is The Architecture of New York City, by Donald Martin Reynolds.