Customer Reviews

The Campus Guide: University of Cincinnati - An Architectural Tour

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The scope of this book is commendable. Photographs and graphics are of high quality. But the many errors that I recognize make me wary of the rest of the information in the text. Examples: Michael Graves, in his introduction, refers to the street fronting the campus as McMicken Street rather than Clifton Avenue; the most recent additon/enclosure of the Law School is attributed to the wrong architect; President Steger is mistakenly credited with initiating the idea to commission the campus master plan, when the credit should go to Dean Jay Chatterjee. If the publishers plan a second edition, they should see that their writer gets his facts right.

I feel I need to address the first reviewer's concerns about the accuracy of this book (with the exception of Mr. Grave's foreword). Indeed, the reviewer is correct about the Law School Library. The architect of that work is mistakenly identified in the text. It was E. A. Glendenning and not Herbert Hilmer. The records of the University architect and archivist both contain this mistake; and it wasn't until I researched the records of the Law School itself (on this reviewer's prompting) that I discovered the truth. I apologize for this, and any other instances of mis-attribution.

However, I must take issue with the alleged mis-identification of the person responsible for the master plan. Steger, McGirr, and Chatterjee all verify that the organization of that master planning committee was initiated by the president's office, and not by Chatterjee alone. However, most everyone involved with the process credits Chatterjee with being the primary mover of the entire idea of remaking the campus by pushing for high quality, high profile architecture. This is made explicit in the introduction of the book, and much credit is given to Chatterjee for this. However, it would be wrong to say that he orchestrated the master plan committee and gave it its landscape focus.

Taking into account the comments of the above reviewer, this is still a wonderful book. I have a copy and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It has excellent colour 3D maps and colour photos, with a couple of pages of text for each building. A good read if you are interested in architecture, particularly modern.

It is an old school. My collage teacher graduates from this school.

I study in engineering and interest in computer engineering.

This is a campus that was in the middle of the master plan construction and many things have been finished or changed since the book came out. It is an excellent reference but you will be thoroughly confused using it as a guidebook. I would recommend waiting for an updated edition and I will purchase it as soon as it comes out!

This is another book in the excellent series by Princeton Architectural Press covering US campuses. The book gives a 15 page history of the campus with reference to its architectural roots.Then there are chapters covering each part of the University. Each chapter starts with 3D view of the area to be covered. Then a colour photo of each building is shown together with a page or two of text describing the buildings history, architecture and use. If you are interested in architecture I can strongly recommend all guides in this series. I bought one and was so pleased with it I buy them as they come out and have never been disappointed.