3 Review(s)

Carter Wiseman presents an original, readable, and literate overview of the major figures, influential movements, and landmark buildings that have defined American architecture over the past hundred years. In a survey that is "as good . . . as anyone is likely to write . . . accurate in its facts, wise and fair in its judgments"(New York Times), he focuses to a large extent on architecture's makers--the commanding figures who by force of personality and sheer artistic ability indelibly influenced its progress: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, I. M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Louis Kahn, Frank Gehry. The triumph of modernism; the growth of architectural preservation; the eclipse of the practical arts by money, theory, and abstraction; and the uncertain future of architecture in a country that celebrates both individualism and community are just some of the issues addressed in this highly praised work. Originally published in hardcover under the title Shaping a Nation.