New New York: Architecture of a City [Paperback]

Ian Luna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2004

New York architecture has captured the world's imagination for years, and this book offers compelling evidence that the last ten years are no exception. The city draws more tourists than ever and looks the best it's looked in years. In over 350 pages and close to 400 photographs, this new volume will include the top fifty buildings and interiors from the last decade, among them projects by a Who's Who of famous architects: Rem Koolhaas, Gwathmey Siegel, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, and Philippe Starck. There are no books available that document the same time period with this breadth and depth.

Featured projects: Rem Koolhaas's Prada Store, James Polshek's new Planetarium at the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of Natural History, the 42nd Street Redevelopment project with skyscrapers by Arquitectonica and KPF, Philippe Starck's Hudson and Paramount hotels, Renzo Piano's New York Times headquarters project, and Diller and Scofidio's winning scheme for Eyebeam, in addition to smaller cutting edge projects by ShoP, Architecture Research Office, and LOTEK

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Building in New York City is a particular challenge for architects, who face stringent zoning laws and building codes, a fierce preservationist ethos, NIMBY residents, Gallic-like city bureaucracy and, perhaps most dauntingly of all, a population density that rivals that of a particularly large anthill. This exhilarating 9" x 11" catalogue, chockablock with 360 color and black-and-white illustrations (more than the number of pages), crackles with that special energy generated by the tensions of constructing in a city already bursting at the seams. None of the projects, ranging from completed to still-on-the-drawing board, is older than 1992 (with the bulk dating from the last five years) and will either strike horror into the hearts of those who actually have to live and work next to light-blocking monstrosities or bliss in those eager to keep New York City from turning into a lifeless museum of inert architecture. There is no question for whom the book is written, as community activists, city regulations and environmental impact reports are generally treated as irritating flies in the architectural ointment. But it's hard to resist the book's enthusiasm; photographed for the most part without people to muddy their sculptural lines, the projects, which range from Rem Koolhaas's flagship Prada store to MoMA QNS, from the "42nd Street Now!" to, of course, the "New World Trade Center," shimmer irresistibly in cool, professional light.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ian Luna is an architectural writer and lives in New York. He has previously worked on the monographs of Robert A.M. Stern, including Robert A.M. Stern Houses, and most recently, on Rizzoli's monograph of Kohn Pedersen Fox.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (February 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847825744
• ISBN-13: 978-0847825745
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 1.1 x 11.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,939,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ian Luna is an architecture writer who lives in New York City. He previously edited Kohn Pedersen Fox: Architecture and Urbanism, 1993-2002, Rizzoli's third volume on the firm, and New New York: Architecture of a City (Rizzoli, 2003). He is co-author of Rizzoli's Imagining Ground Zero: Official and Unofficial Proposals for the World Trade Center Site.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for the coffee table, January 18, 2007

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Michael B. Flynn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New New York: Architecture of a City (Paperback)

This book was excellent. I bought it as a gift for someone, but I wasnt able to part with it. I really began to appreciate modern architectures presence while living in New York, a city that had no lack of classical architecture. The interplay between buildings, the architects vision and the idea of what a city can be to its inhabits are omnipresent ideas to me everytime I see a decent new building.