Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture

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I don't know what book the other reviewers saw, but the copy I have has illustrations that rank with those in high school texts of the 60s. All black-and-white, or rather darkish gray and white, no snap, very bland, on low quality (for reproduction) paper. An office inkjet printer could do much better. With the importance of color in contemporary architecture this is ridiculous (especially for the price). I think that books on visual matters should look good themselves --- otherwise, how do we get excited? How do we begin to want to read it?

A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture picks up where every other book I've looked at leaves off. It not only tells about the building styles of the last 50 years, but it also lets you know that contemporary american architecture is defined by much more than style. Rifkind makes a large and complex subject easy to take. I enjoyed reading about shopping malls, public housing, and school and college buildings -- which most books don't touch. I appreciated the many clear and informative photographs. Kudos to the author for making sense and speaking clearly -- the same qualities that I enjoyed in her earlier book on historic buildings, A Field Guide to American Architecture.

Most field guides to American archiecture end with buildings from the 1950's. It is a rare field guide that goes forward to the Twenty First Century. Yet, most of the nation's buildings were constructed in the past fifty years. There is a real reluctance to identify and catalog contemporary American architecture.

Carole Rifkind and her Field Guide to Contemporay American Architecture boldly goes where other field guides dare to tread. What makes this book so interesting is that she is prepared to define styles and give these new styles names. As an example she has chapters on "Abstract, Technical and Regional" and "Expressionist, Organic, Manipulated Space and Deconstructivist." In the staid world of architectural field guides, this is pretty bold stuff. Rifkind is defining a path that future field guides will probably follow.

The illustrations and floor plans in this book are good but nothing to write home about. All of these homes and buildings are still to new to receive the close attention of the Survey of Historic American Buildings. It is going to take a few more decades for these buildings to enter into the realm of historic.

This is a book for all those who already feel comfortable with being able to identify Tudors and Bungalows and who now want to enter into something just a bit more daring. Highly recommended.

A really nicely written survey of building forms and their uses. This book is a sequel to the author's earlier book, A Field Guide to American Architecture, which I also really liked. This book is better because it presents a more sophisticated view of the cultural landscape. Excellent photos and excellent choice of buildings--some familiar and many brand new to me. Overall, a great resource and guide.