Customer Reviews

Modernism Rediscovered

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

 

 

Modernism Rediscovered is not just another book of gorgeous Julius Shulman photographs, but a serious and scholarly attempt to right a wrong done to each of the worthy edifices featured in this book.

To secure an enduring place in the public consciousness a new building must be photographed, and those photographs printed in a variety of publications, both professional and popular. Why do photographs of some buildings get wide exposure and others not? A history-altering book, Modernism Rediscovered explores that conundrum and, at the same time, attempts to redress the omission of these buildings from the public forum.

A fascinating convergence of elements determines which buildings are deemed editorially appealing and which fall through the cracks. Prevailing trends, editorial policy, financial considerations, the photographer's interpretation, and even personal editorial taste all contribute to the selection process and resulting exposure of a building project. Ideally, all these elements coalesce to lend the building and the architect validation and prestige, establishing recognition of the work within the profession and to the general public. As Modernism Rediscovered shows, this has often not been the case.

Now nearly ninety years of age, Julius Shulman granted access to his archives for the first and only time ever to architect Pierluigi Serraino. From this treasure trove of architectural history Serraino selected such underexposed projects as the breathtaking Spencer Residence, a steel cage cantilevered out over the Malibu coastline; the Upton Residence, an Arizona winter retreat combining the lightness of an open glass box anchored by desert stone and concrete; and the C.Y. Stephens Auditorium at Iowa State University featuring steeply cascading balconies jutting out of folded concrete side walls.

This book is an elegant window back to a magnificent period of residential architecturel. Julius Shulman reminds us of not only his incredible eye for architectural drama, but of the many architects of modernism that invited us to live at the magical boundary between nature and architecture.

This is a wonderful retrospective of many, many talented architects who deserve a closer look at their work and their optimism and clarity of vision.

If you love modern architecture and design, this book is a must-have for your library. The photos are gorgeous (of course), the text is informative, the quality is top notch.

I've got several modern architecture books, and most of the buildings in them are in CA or along the east coast. This is the first book I've seen that includes many buildings from more overlooked parts of the country, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc. [In fact, my grandfather was an architect in OK in the 50's, and it was a great surprise to see two of his firm's (Conner and Pojezny) buildings in the book.]

Finally, whenever I'm in the mood to take one of my architecture books off the shelf to look at, it is usually this book I pick up. It's such a fantastic addition to my library that all I'm asking for Xmas is the three-volume follow-up!

The pictures alone justify the price; the commentary is standard stuff. Top quality coated paper and soft binding, too. Makes you appreciate this famous photographer.

I have more than a few books on the modern style of architecture. Most all of the properties are from California however and you seem to see a lot of the same ones over and over. This book, however, is different as it includes pictures of houses that I have never seen before from obscure or extinct magazines and weeklies spanning from the late 40s all the way up through the mid 70s. Some of the pictures are in glorious color as well. A lot of them are still from California but a lot are from all over the states. This book is really wonderfully done.
The only thing knocking off a star is that Taschen still insists on providing three languages (English, French, and German) wording throughout which unnecessarily adds pages where they are not needed. Why they do not publish in each market is beyond me as otherwise this is a quality book. The second point I want to make is that there really isn't a lot of expository writing describing each of the properties. The reader will have to go elsewhere to gain that knowledge, if they can. (as I mentioned before, a lot of these properties were pretty obscure to me.)
I especially enjoyed the E Stwart Williams Palm Springs properties, but truthfully all are very nice.
If you love modernism, then you need to buy this one for your collection.

This is a great book, do not hesitate to buy it! No better houses photgraphed in one book. This book will blow your mind, you will be bummed that you can't buy houses like these today! Must have for every modernist!

This book is made of the essence of modernism. All photos are taken during the original time period. It is a great lesson of architecture. To be read after a Frank Lloyd Wright book's and an Art & Craft anthology to discover how tasteless is the architecture of the end of the millenium.