PrairieMod

The Reviews Are In

Mark Hertzberg has posted a bevvy of new reviews over at his blog, Wright in Racine. They include reviews of Patrick Mahoney's new book about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Davidson House; Randy Henning's 2011 book about Alfred Browning Parker's work; Roland Reisley's 2001 "Usonia" book, and a link to a demo of Tim Sakamoto's iPad app. Read them all here.

Image credit: Cindy Hertzberg

A Look At LA's Early Moderns

Here's a link to an article on kcet.org (with loads of great photos) that reviews the book LA's Early Moderns. Check out the article and pics here.

Image via kcet.org

Saving Wright Review

Mark Hertzberg's Wright in Racine website has a review of the recently published book, Saving Wright: The Freeman House and the Preservation of Meaning, Materials, and Modernity by Jeffrey M. Chusid. Read it here.

Image via amazon.com

Book Review: Under Arizona Skies & Frank Lloyd Wright Quotations

Good things come in small packages. That adage turns out to be doubly true with respect to two new Frank Lloyd Wright-related books recently published by Pomegranate: Under Arizona Skies: The Apprentice Desert Shelters at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer and Victor Sidy and Frank Lloyd Wright on Architecture, Nature, and the Human Spirit: A Collection of Quotations edited by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer. Read more about each of them after the jump...

Book Review: The Architecture Of Alfred Browning Parker

Unless you are deeply interested in Organic design and are steeped in the history of America's important Modernist architects, it is a sad fact that you probably have not heard of Alfred Browning Parker. Luckily, the new book by Randolph C. Henning, The Architecture of Alfred Browning Parker: Miami's Maverick Modernist, places the life, philosophy and work of this mid-twentieth-century architectural icon squarely into the spot light where it belongs. Read more after the jump...

Book Review: Reveal: Studio Gang Architects

Reveal: Studio Gang Architects is as unique a monograph as the architecture firm it highlights. I've been a fan of Jeanne Gang and the talented crew at her Studio ever since I heard her speak at a Unity Temple lecture. Jeanne spoke and presented numerous slides depicting the amazing variety of work the Studio completed to date. With her award-winning "Aqua" skyscraper waiting to open, Jeanne Gang was still relatively unknown beyond Chicago. After hearing her speak, though, I was hungry to learn more and wished that a monograph of her work existed.

Luckily, when I recently sat down to finally absorb this book, published by Princeton Architectural Press, I was not disappointed. Read more after the jump...

Book Review: Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, Illustrated By Vintage Postcards

2011 is an important milestone year for Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Spring Green, Wisconsin: The 100th anniversary of the home's creation. In the century that has passed, the "Shining Brow" has seen its share of triumphs, tragedies and transformations. Even though there have been many books written about Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin over the years, there is still so much we don't know about what is arguably the Architect's most personal creation. Luckily, Randolph C. Henning has released a new book that helps dispel some of the fog surrounding the iconic building through an unlikely medium: historic postcards. Read more after the jump...

Taliesin — In Postcards

Wright in Racine's Mark Hertzberg offers up a review of the new book, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin - Illustrated by Vintage Postcards by Randolph C. Henning. Read the review here and order the book here.

Image via taliesinpreservation.org

Book Reviews: Pauson House And Louis Sullivan

March comes roaring-in like a lion with two fantastic new books released from Pomegranate—Building The Pauson House by Allan Wright Green and Louis Sullivan: Creating a New American Architecture by Patrick F. Cannon with photography by James Caulfield. I had a chance to pore over each book and offer-up my thoughts for PrairieMod readers. Read the reviews after the jump...

Book Review: Wright Panorama

Thomas R. Schiff has accomplished something remarkable. He's taken the concept of photographing the architectural work of Frank Lloyd Wright and put a new "spin" on it. A 360 degree spin, that is. Wright Panorama, a new book recently produced in collaboration with The Westcott House Foundation and Orange Frazer Press, contains over 75 of Schiff's engaging and sometimes startling photos and is not you're average "Wright photo book." Read more after the jump...

Welton Weighs-In On Adler And Sullivan

Here's a link to a lengthy review by J. Michael Welton of the new (and long-awaited) book Complete Architecture of Adler and Sullivan on Huffingtonpost.com. Read it here.

Image via amazon.com

Three Wise Gifts For This Holiday Season

If you're looking for the last-minute gift for the lover of art and design on your list, then you're in luck! Three new books from Princeton Architectural Press explore a diverse variety of topics—from the developement of a visual language, to a fascinating miniature domestic world to a behind-the-scenes look at bringing large sculpture to life. Read the reviews after the jump...

We Three Kings

Here's a link to a review of the new book Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White—Art, Architecture, and Class in America’s Gilded Age from the Boston Globe. According to the article, author Mosette Broderick "presents the architecture of McKim, Mead & White in a rich social context by interweaving detailed portraits of the three partners, their friends, families, patrons, and other significant personalities." Read more here.

Image via amazon.com

Book Review: Born Modern The Life And Design Of Alvin Lustig

Alvin Lustig is one of the most important Modernists you've probably never heard of. Prior to his tragic death at a young age, Lustig was responsible for a revolution in book jacket design, experimental typography, print technique, design education and a host of contributions to interior and product design. But this unique and important figure in Modern design has been largely forgotten. Thankfully, a new monograph titled Born Modern: The Life And Design Of Alvin Lustig has been published by Chronicle Books and written by design guru Steve Heller and Alvin's widow, Elaine Lustig Cohen, sheds light on this Modern Master. Read more after the jump...

Book Review: Frank Lloyd Wright's SC Johnson Research Tower

Rising 15-stories, the SC Johnson Research Tower in Racine, Wisconsin is Frank Lloyd Wright's stunning modern exclamation mark at the end of the poetic statement created in his earlier (and adjacent) SC Johnson Administration Building. When it was completed in 1950, it stood as a triumphant symbol of innovation for both Wright and the SC Johnson corporation, published and admired around the globe. Yet, 31 years after it opened, the Tower was abandoned and has stood empty ever since—an exquisite architectural corpse—shrouded in mystery and out-of-reach to both employees and the public. Just in time for the Tower's 60th anniversary, we are lucky to receive a much appreciated window into this misunderstood masterpiece through Mark Hertzberg's new book, Frank Lloyd Wright's SC Johnson Research Tower. More after the jump...

The Heroes Of L.A. Modernism

Here's a link to another review of Thomas S. Hines' new book on the West Coast architectural modernists, Architecture of the Sun: Los Angeles Modernism 1900-1970. Read it here.

Architecture Of The Sun

Flavorwire.com offers a review of Thomas Hines' new book, Architecture of the Sun, a beautifully illustrated overview of Los Angeles modernism from 1900 to 1970. Read more and see photos here.

Book Review: Marina City

The city of Chicago has one of the most iconic skylines in all the world. With so many amazing works of architectural in one spot, it can be difficult for any one building to stand out. However, the Marina City twin towers by Bertrand Goldberg has become one of the most instantly recognizable and beloved structures in "The Second City." However, finding in-depth information in book form about this Modern masterpiece has been next to impossible for architecture lovers. Luckily, the new book, Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban Vision by authors Igor Marjanovic and Katerina Rüedi Ray is a comprehensive history of the iconic towers. Read more after the jump...

Triangle In The Sky

Here's a link to a review in the Wall Street Journal about Alice Sparberg Alexiou's new book "The Flatiron," which explores New York City's "Triangle in the Sky," the Flatiron Building designed by Daniel Burnham. Read the review here.

Book Review: The Sutton House

When I picked up Donald Morgan and John Altberg's book The Sutton House, I wasn't aware that I'd be reading a love story. No, it's not Loving Frank, where architecture meets heavy-breathing. Instead, The Sutton House is more about the love between a small Nebraska town and a special house. It's a story of love that spans 100 years, 6 different sets of owners, a tragic fire, several renovations, the threat of total loss and a wondrous rebirth. Read more after the jump...

Get Your Bookmarks Ready

As the holiday season approaches, there are two new Frank Lloyd Wright books that should be on any architecture lovers wish list. Read a review of each after the jump...

Studio Second Look

A PrairieMod reader sent a link to this review of Communities of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin and Beyond by historian Myron Marty. Part of the article shows this photo of the Oak Park Studio entrance prior to a 1970s restoration. It's a great contrast to the photo I posted previously of the same entrance in an earlier configuration. Have any cool, old photos of historic buildings? Send them and we'll share with everyone!

Image via Illinois Times

Review: Chicago Building Books Series

Want to increase your knowledge of some of the most famous buildings in Chicago? Looking for the perfect gift for that architecture-fanatic on your list? Then you're gonna want to get your hands on this 9-book set from Pomegranate titled the Chicago Building Books series. Read more after the jump...

Krier's Community

Léon Krier thinks the path of Modern architecture has been a disaster and says so in his new book, The Architecture of Community. Though there have definitely been misfires, I can't imagine the world being a better place without Modern architecture.  Read this review and see what you think.

Designing Your Natural House

PrairieMod reader Paul R. just finished a great book titled Designing Your Natural House by Charles G. Woods and Malcolm Wells that sums up Frank Lloyd Wright's Principles really well and according to Paul is highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject. Check out more here. Thanks Paul!

Image via amazon.com

Kahn's Take On Sacred Space

Here's a link to a book review on Susan Solomon's new book, Louis I. Kahn’s Jewish Architecture: Mikveh Israel and the Midcentury American Synagogue, which explores projects specifically for Jewish institutional patrons that were important in Kahn’s development as an architect. Read more here.

A Review: Communities Of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin & Beyond

Linda Falkenstein read and reviewed the new book, Communities of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin & Beyond by Myron A. Marty, for the Isthmus Daily Page. Read what she though here.

Image via Isthmus

John Van Bergen Book Review

I recently received my copy of the updated book on the life and work of Prairie School architect John Van Bergen. All I can say is that if you love Prairie School architecture, you're going to want to get this book. Read more about it after the jump...

Modernism's Monster

Here's a review of the new biography on Le Corbusier: architect, urbanist and International Style cornerstone. It's an excellent reminder on why the principles that drove Organic Architecture are so important as counter balance to people like Le Corbusier. Read the review here.

Image courtesy of the Washington Post

From The Library

We've got another review for all of you book worms out there! Downsizing Your Home With Style by Lauri Ward, published by HarperCollins.

From The Library

We've got another review for all of you book worms out there! Frank Lloyd Wright Mid-Century Modern by Alan Hess with photographs by Alan Weintraub. Published by Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

From The Library

We've got another review for all of you book worms out there! Building A Century Of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago’s 1933-1934 World’s Fair by Lisa D. Schrenk. Published by the University of Minnesota Press.

From The Library

We've got another review for all of you book worms out there! House: Black Swan Theory by Steven Holl. Published by Princeton Architectural Press.

D.I.Y. Book Review

It was ironic that one of my cohorts posted about the sessions.edu blog because I wanted to post today about a book review I read on that website by Katharine Feo.

The book D.I.Y. Design It Yourself by Ellen Lupton, a champion of the DIY movement, appears to be an easy to use guide that places high design in the hands everyday folks to help them improve the way they work, live and create...without paying a professional. I must confess that this sounds incredibly provactive.

Read Katharine Feo's full review here.

From The Library

We've got another review for all of you book worms out there! Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer's Journey by Pedro E, Guerrero. Published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Death in a Prairie House

I recently finished the new and grisley book, Death in a Prairie House by William R. Drennan. While it was an interesting read, I found myself with more questions than answers by the end of it.

Rather than run through a laundry list of a review, I'm going to refer you to an excellent one written by our good friend, Mark Hertzberg at the Wright in Racine blog. He does a thorough job pointing out the pros and cons of this book--many of which I echo. Read the review and then read the book and judge for yourself.

From The Library

We're starting a new column here at PrairieMod called "From The Library." As designers, we love books--so much so we even have our own PrairieMod Library! With all the great books that get added to it, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight some in a little more detail, so that you can decide whether or not you might like to pick up a copy. We're always looking for suggestions, so if there's a book you'd like us to review, let us know!

We're kicking off this column with Crafting A Modern World: The Architecture and Design of Antonin and Noemi Raymond by Kurt G.F. Helfrich and William Witaker, editors. Published by Princeton Architectural Press.