Building the Getty (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Richard Meier's Getty Center complex in Los Angeles, thirteen years in the making, is the subject of this autobiographical account of what has been frequently called "the architectural commission of the century." Meier has the perfect authorial voice, admirably straddling the personal and the professional with aplomb and understated flair. He opens with a straightforward account of his youthful interest in art and architecture, his basement studio in his parents' suburban new Jersey home, his education at Cornell, and his post-graduation European tour, where he unsuccessfully hounded Le Corbusier for an unpaid apprenticeship and failed to track down Alvar Aalto, another hero. His first "published" house was one commissioned by his parents; his first "freestanding work" was an $11,000 pre-fab Long Island home that was later sold to Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks. "Now I often wonder how it is that my architecture came to acquire what for many people is its singular style: this image of a perennially gleaming white building flooded with light," he writes. The rest of the book, which is punctuated by black-and-white documentary photographs, is Meier's well-crafted, detailed account of the Getty commission, including subtle descriptions of the politics involved in all aspects of its design, siting, landscaping, and daily use. It's all here: the immensity of siting the multi-building complex in the mountains overlooking the Pacific, the hundreds of architects who came to work on the project, and the craftsmen and contractors and construction crews who made it a user-friendly reality as well as a stunning modernist masterwork. Meier calmly takes the reader through the maze of issues and construction phases. Few architecture books could be more educational, or more gracefully written. --Peggy Moorman

From Library Journal

Great buildings often have lives of their own, and it is fortunate when the architect responsible for their creation tells their story. The Getty Center?set to open this month?is a billion-dollar complex n a campus-like environment overlooking Los Angeles. Meier, Getty's prize-winning architect, tells of his struggles in creating a manageable design when faced with residents opposed to the center, the challenges posed by the seismically active area, and a surprisingly penny-pinching J. Paul Getty Trust. After a brief autobiographical sketch that includes summaries of his other major projects, including the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Meier launches into his creation of the Getty Center. His restrained style subtly betrays the braggadocio seemingly required of all great architects. As a document of the construction of one of the great public structures of the late 20th century, this account is indispensable. Recommended for larger architecture collections. [For an account of the contents of the museum, see John Walsh and Deborah Gribbon's The J. Paul Getty Museum and Its Collections, reviewed on p. 102.?Ed.]?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
-?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (November 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375400435
• ISBN-13: 978-0375400438
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,520,538 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text; poor ilustrations., July 15, 1998

By A Customer

I enjoyed very much reading this book. It suprised me, because the lack of photographs did not prejudice the quality of the report given by Meier, although it could have helped it to become a perfect one. Its great for an architecture student like myself to become familiar with all the design process, its problems and joys; in a project that took 13 years to conclude. What I found most interesting was the way the architect exposed his work methods, his life and his own learning during the construction of the building that he considers to be his masterwork.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless way of Building..., June 6, 2003

By	Tigran Haas (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the finest architectural masterpieces of the 20th century is depicted in this wonderful book written by the master builder himself - Richard Meier. This new Parthenon of modern times shows that modern architect are still capable of producing timeless buildings like in the age of classical Greece. The book is an insightful and delightful story about creating a mega project from the idea to implementation. A rare book which reminds of Vitruvius and Alberti in many ways. Higly recommended...

4.0 out of 5 stars MEIER'S GETTY, April 9, 2006

By	Shannon Deason "SchylarRex" (Houston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Building the Getty (Paperback)

This book should be required reading for all architecture students, it illustrates to the reader all that goes into getting something monumental like this built. The process is fascinating and Meier is quite candid. Highly recommended, with one caviat, the images should have been better and more abundent, but all and all a great read.