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Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design

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Mr. Rapson's most significant works took place at a time in architectural history where, "everything was possible" and the future was limited only by one's imagination. It's the attitude that inspired this current generation of architects to go into the field. Anyone who remembers Disneyland's, Tomorrowland will be impressed with this book. It has struck childhood memories of the future as well as serving as a reminder of why I entered the profession.

This book captures that spirit and is replete with drawings and pictures that tell the story of this amazing and underrated architect. In the brief time I've spent with the book, I've been awestruck at the depth and breadth of the work this man produced. He embodied modernism at its best. This is a very comprehensive book detailing Mr. Rapson's life.

While most monographs focus on raising an architect to that of a deity, the story of Rapson remains quite simply a story. Along with the drawings, buildings, and furniture which made Rapson famous (which is well displayed), a timeline of Rapson's professional and personal life allows the reader to gain more insight as to some of the formitive forces of his designs. As any purveyor or architecture may know, design is quite interdisciplinary, and often design descisions are based on firmly rooted 'everyday-life' ideals and experience, not solely as a spark of genious to the gifted few. This book reflects not only the genioius of Rapson's work, but also the real life story which had an equally profound impact.