Desert America: Territory of Paradox (Hardcover)

by Ramon Prat (Author, Editor), Michael Kubo (Editor), Irene Hwang (Editor)
Key Phrases: desert modernism, nuclear nationalism, rock bolts, Las Vegas, Yucca Mountain, Air Force (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A stimulus for thought, prompting readers to ponder the very nature of the desert. --Urban Land -- Pits the perceived silence of the desert against the boisterous development that defines the visual character of the American Southwest. --I.D. Magazine -- This succinct volume reconsiders the American desert from California to Texas. --Metropolis Magazine

Looking at the intersection of nature and technology in America's driest, hottest, and most expansive states, this book explores the variety of strange ways people use this place of paradoxes. --John Hill, Archidose

The book manages to plot out quite nicely, the full spectrum of uses and facilities in the American desert. The large panoramic photos are generally of excellent quality. --Death by Architecture

Product Description
The desert is a huge paradox. Beneath its outward appearance of immensity and silence, are the sounds of various experiments, mysteries, and utopias. The setting of outrageous true histories, entertainment oases founded on consumerism and play, and the secret staging of military power, the desert is far from empty. Instead, it is full of activity: unexpected, uninhibited, and excessive. Not subject to barriers and seemingly free of the formal, ideological or cultural ties of global society, the desert cultivates alternate architectures, urbanisms, and built phenomena. Through photographs, essays, and history, this book emerges as an exploration of some of these phenomena and the protagonists that made them possible.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Actar (December 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 849654009X
• ISBN-13: 978-8496540095
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 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: #888,508 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating journey through America's desert, February 10, 2009

By	Laure (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

"In contemporary culture, the American desert stands as a monumental symbol of emptiness, as vast, seemingly infinite landscape that has traditionally served as a powerful embodiment of the 'natural,' the untouched and the sublime," says the introduction to the book. "But a journey through the space of the desert reveals that the experience of its immensity and silence is just a mirage."

With a rich combination of photography, essays and history, Desert America takes us on a fascinating journey through the "different, parallel strata of the occupation, appropriation, and transformation of the modern desert landscape," using seven interrelated themes:

- Promised Lands: native tribes, pioneers, suburbanites, immigrants
- The Elements: drought, dead seas, wind, solar and water power
- Eden: mirages, oases, ideal cities, leisure worlds
- Hostility: homeland security, nuclear test sites, rocket science, aircraft boneyards
- Other Worlds: space quest, biomes, UFOs, giant craters
- Expansion: alternative communities, instant cities, suburban grids
- Isolation: alone in the vast emptiness.

A most recommended read. You will never feel alone again driving for hours on those 'empty' desert roads.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, great photos, a bit thin on information, November 6, 2007

By	Mario Cipresso "deathbyarchitecture.com" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most residents of the southwest are well-aware that the desert is hardly 'deserted'. It is, in fact, being increasingly developed and at quite a rapid pace. The desert offers many the opportunity to start anew, providing a tabula rasa of sorts. Developers plan "ideal" cities from scratch, importing lifestyles and landscapes to a climate and topography that doesn't easily accept these foreign ideals. Large, water-thirsty lawns and golf-courses abound, recklessly demanding irrigation in drought-prone areas.

The perceived isolation of the desert provides cover for an array of typically illegal activities such as gambling and prostitution. These are the lifeblood of Las Vegas.

What isn't common knowledge however are the multitude of uses beyond recreation and habitation that the desert has accommodated. A large military presence pervades the region in the form of missile testing and combat training facilities. Underground nuclear missile launching stations, now relics of the Cold War, reside in the Arizona desert floor awaiting the curious gaze of tourists. The dry, arid climate of the Arizona desert provides an ideal resting place for retired commercial and military aircraft. Here, the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, often referred to as "The Boneyard", is believed to hold the highest concentration of aircraft in the world.

The book manages to plot out quite nicely, the full spectrum of uses and facilities in the American desert. The large panoramic photos are generally of excellent quality and are effective in demonstrating the matter at hand. The text is a bit thin for most of the sites but provides a good starting point for further research.

4.0 out of 5 stars pretty good, September 19, 2007

By	Jaime R (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

Beautifully designed. Great photography. Lots of typos though. Great travel-log description of tons of interesting, influential, and obscure places in the American desert, written from the perspective of an architectural anthropologist. The writing itself is very brief and concise, but insightful.