Pocket Guide to Los Angeles Architecture (Norton Pocket Guides) [Paperback]

Judith Paine McBrien (Author), John F. DeSalvo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Norton Pocket Guides | Publication Date: April 6, 2009

This guidebook organizes 100 architectural highlights into three walkable downtown tours and two side trips.

Sprawling Los Angeles may never be considered a walking city, but this concise handbook organizes one hundred must-see architectural highlights into three downtown walkable tours and two delightful side trips. It covers such classic sights as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Griffith Observatory; modernist landmarks such as the Schindler House; creative reuses such as the hip Standard Hotel, once the Superior Oil Building; and the latest new public and cultural buildings, including Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Hall and Richard Meier’s Getty Center. Each entry summarizes the structure’s history and significance and is illustrated with original drawings that capture the essence of the place. 150 line drawings

Editorial Reviews

Review

These are not bland guidebook entries; McBrien infuses a tiny bit of criticism into each, commenting on whether a building 'works,' referencing what once sat on the site, and mixing in literary, film (of course!) and other cultural references….McBrien makes it clear…Los Angeles has a lot to offer the visitor interested in architecture and urban renewal. (Michelle Jones - BookPage )

[O]utshines its competition. (Christian Science Monitor )

About the Author

Architectural historian Judith Paine McBrien, author of the best-selling Pocket Guide to Chicago Architecture, directs the Archimedia Workshop, which produces films and media about architecture, development, and urban design. She lives in Wilmette, Illinois.

John F. DeSalvo, illustrator of the Pocket Guides, is a registered architect. He previously worked in Berlin with Foster & Partners and Murphy/Jahn. Now based in Chicago, he is a practicing architect and teaches architectural design at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 143 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393731901
• ISBN-13: 978-0393731903
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting guide with some nice illustrations, July 10, 2009

By 

Ursiform (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Pocket Guide to Los Angeles Architecture (Norton Pocket Guides) (Paperback)

I ordered this book because I saw it in a bookstore and liked the illustrations. (I enjoy architectural illustration.) As a guide it's rather thin for a subject the size of Los Angles, covering exactly 100 sites. Each is accompanied by a good illustration and about half a page of decent prose history and description. The book is divided into five sections, three "Downtown Tours" and two "Sidetrips" of much larger areas, the first covering west of downtown to about La Cienega, and the second continuing west to the ocean. The book is very much about Los Angeles in this swath, although it does include one site in West Hollywood and six in Beverly Hills. Don't expect anything north or south in LA (such as in the San Fernando Valley or the harbor area) or in surrounding cities such as Pasadena, Long Beach, or Santa Monica. If you collect books on Los Angeles architecture and architectural illustration you might enjoy this book. If you just want to look around downtown or maybe drive from there to the ocean you might find this a useful guide. But if you really want a guide to architecture of the LA area consider a more expansive and comprehensive guide like "An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles" by Robert Winter and (the, sadly, late) David Gebhard.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and helpful guide to Los Angeles architecture, June 7, 2009

By 

Local Architect (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pocket Guide to Los Angeles Architecture (Norton Pocket Guides) (Paperback)

Pocket Guide to Los Angeles Architecture: (Pocket Guides)

As an architect living in Los Angeles, I found this guide to be a great resource to give to friends, colleagues and family members visiting Los Angeles and interested in the local architecture. I bought ten books a few weeks ago, and have handed out six already. I took one of the walking tours of downtown with friends and discovered things that I didn't know about buildings I have driven by for years. The building descriptions are concise and entertaining, the organization clear and simple, and the guidebook manages to break down Los Angeles into bite sized neighborhood pieces that are walkable and thoroughly enjoyable -- the best way to experience the city. This guidebook proves the point that when you walk in Los Angeles the city rewards you with wonderful stories and characters and historical detail, many of which are recounted in the building descriptions. There's a nice balance between famous buildings from the 1920's and 30's, classic Mid-Century Modern buildings and the most current, cutting-edge cultural buildings from the past few years. There are also nice drawings of each building and an architects' index, which was a great help to friends who were interested in the buildings of a certain architect, i.e. Rudolf Schindler or Frank Lloyd Wright.

All in all a great resource and handy guide to the best of LA's neighborhoods and architecture - greatly appreciated and recommended.