Customer Reviews

Richard Neutra, 1892-1970: Survival Through Design (Taschen Basic Architecture)

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I have written two research papers on Richard Neutra and therefore have read lots and lots of books about the architect and his evocative buildings. This book, while admittedly just a quick look at Neutra's major works, is well-written (even lyric at times), packed with information, and interesting. She discusses his background and influences, theories of biorealism and technology, and characteristic stylistic language. The quality of the photographs is excellent--they are crisp and clear and literally pop out of the page, alive with contrast and color. I bought this book on a whim thinking that it would be just "fun" compared to longer, more involved texts, but it has become my favorite!!

The German Publishing Company, Taschen has recently introduced a series of paperback monographs covering the lives and works of the Twentieth Century's greatest architects.

The series follows a standardized format. The books are 96 pages long and begin with an introductory biographical chapter. The book then moves onto brief chapters highlighting the master architect's most iconic buildings. The book is very well written and his covered head to toe with beautiful photographs. The book is of the high quality that one generally associates with Taschen publishing.

Richard Neutra, an Austrian immigrant helped introduce the United States to European "modernism". His early works shows the clear influence of Bauhuas. What made Neutra one of the great architects is that he took modernist ideas and gave them a uniquely American character. We are currently experiencing a mid century modern revival and Richard Neutra was one of creators of that style. This book is a wonderful introduction to the works of this great architect. Taschen hits another home run! A great value. Highly recommended.

A nice presentation of representative works selected from throughout Neutra's long career. While none of the buildings receive truly in depth coverage informative text is provided on each. Photographic coverage, mostly b&w with a generous smattering of color, has each building covered adequately, with photo size ranging from full page down to a smallish 2x3 inches. Reasonably sized floor plans are also included, though they suffer from a lack of room indentification labels. Works covered include 15 houses, an apartment building and various types of community structures. Also touched on are the "Diatom Series" prefab housing designs and the utopian "Rush City Reformed" urban planning scheme. A "Life & Work Timeline" concludes the presentation.

All in all, an economically priced introduction to the work of Richard Neutra which left me hungry for more.

For a very thin book, very informative, lots of photos, though most interior shots are black and white. Barbara Lamprecht provides insight into one of the pre-eminent Modernist visionaries whose work still captures the imagination today.

I purchased this book as a gift to my school library. R.J. Neutra designed our school, R.J. Neutra Elementary, back in his early years. The building wasn't constructed until 1960, and opened in 1961. We are the "ring school" that he had dreamed of, and like all of his buildings, nature was incorporated into the design. Our students love having a book about the designer, and have been honored to meet two of his sons. This book was highly recommended to me by Dion Neutra. After receiving it, I can understand why it was so highly recommended. It gives an excellent timeline of Neutra's life and his accomplishments. The buildings depicted in the book are a good cross-section of his designs. I also liked that the book mentions the things that he tried that did not work. The book appeals to a wide range of readers. My fourth and fifth grade students are enjoying this book, and staff members are also enjoying it.

this book cost me 9.99 dollars an it is a good book for that money, it has nice photos and a good description text of each work, the only thing that bother me was the blueprints (which is a great add, not many books has them), they are simplify and they remove any doors and labels, so you get lost reading them, you don't know what space the text is talking about because there are no labels....other than that good book for 9.99 i'm happy with it :)

Beautiful book. Arrived promptly and in perfect condition .... Gives some lovely insight on Neutra's work . A real "for keeps" book... Already i keep goung back to re-read parts .....

Overall this is a good book about Neutra, but it is pretty light. It's very short and most of the pictures are old. Compared to other books on specific architects (especially those by phaidon) this is severely lacking in content. If you're just looking for a quick overview of some of Neutra's more famous work than this book is for you.