AIA Guide to New York City (Paperback)

~ Norval White (Author), Elliot Willensky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This very up-to-date new edition of AIA's Guide to New York City is a descriptive and interesting look at the city's changing assortment of architecture, including firehouses, parks, schools, parking garages, churches, bridges, and other landmarks. Composed of over 2000 new photographs (several per page), 100 maps, and hundreds of new short but brutally honest entries, the guide is arranged geographically by borough, and while it does indeed cover each one, the book inevitably focuses on Manhattan. White, an architect and educator, and Willensky (When Brooklyn Was the World) have divided each borough into sectors and then into neighborhood areas, and fairly lengthy commentaries under each heading describe the character of each division. There is an extensive index and a fairly interesting glossary at the beginning of the book. There is also a picture of a library that completed construction in late 1999. It has been 12 years since the last edition, so public and academic libraries may desire an updated copy, especially if there is interest in New York or its architecture.DAlison Hopkins, Queens Borough P.L., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Blithe in spirit and unerring in vision."
-- New York Magazine

"An architect's romp though five boroughs."
-- The Daily Record, New Jersey

"A book for architectural gourmands and gastronomic gourmets."
-- The Village Voice

"Keen wit and perceptive observations."
-- The Book of the Month Club

"A definitive record of New York's architectural heritage . . . a witty and helpful pocketful which serves as arbiter of architects, baedeker for boulevardiers, catalog for the curious, primer for preservationists, [and] sourcebook to students. For all who seek to know of New York, it is here.
No home should be without a copy."
-- Municipal Art Society

"Smart, vivid, funny, and opionated."
-- The New York Times -- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1088 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 4 edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812931076
• ISBN-13: 978-0812931075
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete guide to New York City Buildings., August 11, 2000

By	Grahame R. Davis (Ottawa, ON (Canada)) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful guide to many of the thousands of buildings in New York City. It is not, however, strictly an architectural piece. A study of the significant edifices in Manhattan this is not, since the photographs are mostly the size of postage stamps, and the text is limited. What it is is likely the most complete guide to the significant and not-so-significant buildings and monuments in New York's five major boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island). The most surprising aspect of this book is its sheer size and complexity. There are hundreds of small photographs (all in clear black-and-white) of nearly every building mentionned, and dozens of others of a more substantial size. There are also over 100 maps of each area, in sufficient detail to be useful for navigation, and a compehensive glossary and index.

Overall, this is a monumental book, and one which is definitely worth the price for anyone who is interested in the landscape of one of the most exciting cities in the world - New York. For the type of book it attempts to be, The Forth Edition AIA Guide to New York City is virtually without flaw.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maximum coverage at the cost of excessive brevity, May 20, 2001

By	saskatoonguy (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews

With any guide of this type, there is the dilemma of whether to cover briefly as many buildings as possible, or to cover relatively few buildings in greater depth. This book opted to maximize the number of buildings covered, about 5000 in all, each of which has a 1 x ¾ inch photo and a description that is often a single sentence. Those seeking a more intense treatment of individual buildings will not be satisfied. The emphasis here is on quantity of buildings covered, and of these, roughly half are beyond Manhattan Island. The book, which includes many detailed maps, seems written for someone wandering the streets investigating these buildings on foot, but the very awkward dimensions of this book make it impractical to put in a pocket.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive, August 10, 2000

By A Customer

If you live in New York or you are fascinated by its architecture, you really should buy The AIA Guide to NYC. It is a remarkable tome, including more than 5000 buildings and 3000 stamp album style photos of structures in all five boroughs, ranging from Brooklyn to far Queens and from Staten Island through Manhattan and up to the extreme Bronx. It will hit your coffee table with a serious thunk, and provide endless browsing enjoyment. If you're visiting New York on a quick trip or want a selective overview, I discovered a new book that makes a good companion volume: The Architecture Traveler, by Sydney LeBlanc, which covers 250 American buildings. The author is evidently a New Yorker. About 60 of the buildings are in and around the city. It presents fewer buildings but presents a full page story on each of them. I bought both books: the AIA guide for comprehensiveness, the more selective Architecture Traveler for it's intriguing stories and for the rest of America, which it also includes.