Customer Reviews

Frank Lloyd Wright: A Visual Encyclopedia

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

 

 

This could be a valuable book, but its worth is diminished by a fairly large number of mistakes. Buildings are mis-identified. Some photos of Wright's decorative features are printed upside down. Other photos are backwards. Several of the aerial views are dramatic, but others seem to be space fillers. One in particular of Forest Avenue in Oak Park shows no details of the homes except for the roofs. With a bit more care in the choice of prints, the photos could have a far greater impact on the reader's understanding of Wright's design genius.

An encyclopedia gives brief information on a subject. This one is no different. Sometimes however, I was left wanting to know the significance of the work. What was it that stood out about Mr. Wright's accomplishment on a particular work. The pictures were very nice but left me craving more information and more detailed pictures of the same house or building. This book is a wonderful start and quick reference with good cross links higlighted in each description. You will be left wanting more information however.

The photography is indeed wonderful and the side-bar legend is an interesting, if time-wasting addition (Tufte would have a fit that the legend is only in the front of the book, when it could be reproduced at the bottom of every page). Also, it's not the most helpful book that's organized by the name of the house and not the location (although there's a chronology in the back, how many people only know the name and the date a home was built?).

As I get into it, I wonder about the accuracy of the entries. The single egregious example I found was for the Christian Community Church of Kansas City. There's a wonderful little picture of the "light steeple", gigantic lights shooting into the sky from the church's roof to form a virtual steeple. The caption next to the picture mentions that these lights were blacked-out during WWII.

The problem is that, while Wright envisioned these steeples in his original architectural drawings, according to the church's own website, this was just a concept until 1994. They didn't exist before then. So how these steeples could be blacked-out during the war when they didn't exist is difficult to imagine.

This, coupled with the mistakes other reviewers have found, make me wonder about the accuracy of the research for the book.

12 1/4" tall x 9 1/4". It's not really necessary to own both the paperback and the hardcover versions. One's plenty. Which do I prefer? The hardcover is sort of more stately, the paperback is a bit less formal feeling, but the content is exactly the same. In the end, I prefer having all the text without too much weight and that always means the paperback version. If you prefer hardcover, feel free, this is a tasty version.

It does feel comprehensive, with a paragraph on each of the homes he designed. Thank goodness for the size. At 12" tall it can accomodate lots of big color photos. There's about 15 photos that fill the page and another 15 that cover both facing pages. Excellent usage of the size. There is a key system for the listings, Buildings: Private, Religious, Corporate, Public, Commercial or Civic. And keys for Textile Block, Solar Hemicycle, Usonian, Prairie, Demolished, Planned/never built, Remodeled/altered/reconstructed, Exposed concrete black, Desert rubblestone, General information. Once you get it down it does help identify these various categories more readily. There's a 56 page Chronology listing in the back that uses the key code plus distinguishes between houses built and plans or projects as well as some small photos.

The information is comprehensive without being very in depth while also being quite interesting. Twenty-two structures do go into detail with about 4 to 10 pages each and numerous photos and extensive information. It really is an enjoyable book. I feel like I want to give it 4 1/2 stars because it doesn't feel like a masterpiece. But I'll gladly err on the side of 5 over 4 because it really does cover a wide range and I could keep reading it over years learning new things about his various buildings accompanied by very pleasant pictures almost all in color. chrisbct@hotmail.com

It does feel comprehensive, with a paragraph on each of the homes he designed. Thank goodness for the size. At 12" tall it can accomodate lots of big color photos. There's about 15 photos that fill the page and another 15 that cover both facing pages. Excellent usage of the size. There is a key system for the listings, Buildings: Private, Religious, Corporate, Public, Commercial or Civic. And keys for Textile Block, Solar Hemicycle, Usonian, Prairie, Demolished, Planned/never built, Remodeled/altered/reconstructed, Exposed concrete black, Desert rubblestone, General information. Once you get it down it does help identify these various categories more readily. There's a 56 page Chronology listing in the back that uses the key code plus distinguishes between houses built and plans or projects as well as some small photos.

The information is comprehensive without being very in depth while also being quite interesting. Twenty-two structures are with numerous photos and further information from about 4 to 10 pages each. It really is an enjoyable book. I feel like I want to give it 4 1/2 stars because it doesn't feel like a masterpiece. But I'll gladly err on the side of 5 over 4 because it really does cover a wide range and I could keep reading it over years learning new things about his various buildings accompanied by very pleasant pictures almost all in color. chrisbct@hotmail.com

We collect books on FLW's work, and this one is particularly beautiful.

i got it by 30 canadian dollars from a bookstore in toronto?