Raphael Soriano (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Raphael Soriano (1907-88) was one of the early Case Study architects working in postwar Los Angeles and a talented advocate of the new building materials and construction techniques developed at the time. Soriano was a significant member of this informal gang of architects that also included Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen, Richard Neutra and Craig Ellwood. Though not as familiar a name now, Soriano was a major influence on his colleagues and was rediscovered by today's practitioners for his innovative use of steel and aluminum and his early interest in low-cost, prefabricated structures. This is the first monograph on Soriano, providing a comprehensive study of the architect's life and oeuvre. It includes detailed descriptions of thirty key Soriano buildings, and a listing of Complete Works that documents for the first time every known project in Soriano's archive. More than twenty of Soriano's buildings have been destroyed and many others remodelled beyond recognition; this book offers the only published record of these important works.

Wolfgang Wagener is an architect and has written articles on twentieth-century modern architecture. Since 1997 he has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

About the Author

Wolfgang Wagener is a practising architect with offices in Los Angeles and Munich. He has worked in the offices of Richard Rogers and Helmut Jahn, and his writings on twentieth-century modern architecture have been published in books and international architecture journals, including Architectural Record, ARCH+, and a+u. Since 1997 he has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where, as part of his research, he is producing digital reconstructions of non-extant Soriano buildings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; illustrated edition edition (September 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714840637
• ISBN-13: 978-0714840635
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #645,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Raphael Soriano, March 13, 2003

By	Michael Webb (London, England > Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

Of all the important pioneers of modern architecture in southern California, Soriano was one of the most inventive and idealistic, but least successful. If he hadn't won the attention of Julius Shulman--as a photographer and client--he would probably be forgotten, so few are the surviving traces of his modest mid-century output. When he died, in 1988, poor and embittered, few took note. This self-inflicted failure (Soriano alienated Entenza, Eichler and several other key clients) challenged Wolfgang Wagener, an architect who practices here and in Germany, to reevaluate his achievement and develop a complete list of buildings and projects. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mid-Century Must Have, December 6, 2002

By	Edward J. Shannon, AIA (Elgin, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This is a thorough, comprehensive monograph on a talented, yet often forgotten modernist. The book competently chronicles Soriano's career and major projects. However it achieves much more: There is an excellent introductory essay (The Postwar Dream Takes Hold) on the post WWII housing boom and specifically on the typology of the modern California House. This background introduces the reader to the spirit of the era in which Soriano established his practice.

The second essay, entitle Pioneering Steel Houses 1935-1970 focuses on Soriano's career and his strong convictions of the steel frame used as a vehicle to meet the demand of the housing boom. The photos, mostly by noted photographer Julius Shulman are crisp and clear. While it would be nice to see recent photos of Sauriano's structures, the author is clear to point out that most of Soriano's buildings have sadly been demolished or altered beyond recognition.

The two essays are followed by a very thorough catalogue with commentary of all Soriano's projects. The book also contains a map of Soriano's projects in Los Angeles, a Chronology of the Architect's life, and finally the typescript of Soriano's unfinished autobiography (all of about 5 typewritten pages).

I highly recommend this book for the student of mid-century modernism.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn about LA's Modernist "B-List" Architect, Rafael Soriano,

By	Steven Dornbusch "art's reader" (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Rafael Soriano" is a well-researched long-overdue contribution for students of mid-century modernism, especially in and around Los Angeles, California.

Beyond the innovative work of the twin Viennese transplants, Richard Neutra, and Rudolf Schindler. a score of additional talents, mostly younger, made up a "B-List" led by Gregory Ain and Rafael Soriano. Until now, there has been no single, reiiable source on the latter. Author Wolfgang Wagener dissects the myths and fills in the gaps surrounding this lesser-known trailblazer.

Physically handsome, with a vast array of carefully reproduced (black and white) contemporaneous photos, "Rafael Soriano" makes design ideas come to life. Included are 125 vintage pictures by acclaimed architectural photographer Julius Schulman (friend and client). Schulman's photographic PR has achieved a kind of global romantic myth, a promotion of LA's modernist "Good Life" following World War ll. Reference sections, including the "Complete Works," are indispensable. "Rafael Soriano" is a remarkable monograph, scholarly, insightful, and entirely readable.