Customer Reviews

Discover America's Favorite Architects (Preservation Press Series)

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

 

 

Through short biographies and cartoon illustrations, this book provides an introduction to some of America's greatest architects. It is informative and interesting without going into too much depth.

Despite its overall look, this is not a children's book. Much of the vocabulary and prose seems appropriate for an educated audience. Based on the book's appearance, I was expecting something for the under-10 set. Instead this book might be better for a teenager/tween interested in architecture, but would a teenager want to read a book illustrated with cartoons? (And yes, the illustrations are more like children's cartoons than comix/graphic novels.) So, I will say that this is a basic introduction for "children of all ages," particularly if they are not actually children. Amazon notes that this reading level is ages 9-12. School Library Journal claims grads 6 through 9. That seems correct.

One note about the selection of the architects: It is far from exhaustive, and it reflects a certain view of American architecture. Philip Johnson, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and I. M. Pei--three classic glass-and-steel modernists--are included. But modernist Louis Kahn, who was very American in a way, is absent. And since the book was published in 1996, no postmodernists are in the book. No Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, Peter Eisenman, or Daniel Libeskind.