Art Architecture Photography Books

Great coffee table book of little-seen aspects of NYC. One warning I'd mention is that not all of the pictures are of things underground/unseen. Some are simply of neglected/abandonded/decaying above ground sites (not exactly what I'd expected but it's still a good collection). Perhaps it would be best to peruse this book at your local bookseller before making a decision on the purchase.

"Invisible New York" is a splendid collection of photographs which pay tribute to New York City's technological past. Stanley Greenberg's large format camera yields dignified, poetic images of long-forgotten historic structures throughout the city. These range from beautiful pictures of bridge supports and hidden passageways to a deserted building at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, once the city's primary airport. Although others have found New York City's architecture to be a rich source of photographic imagery, few have been as tenacious as Stanley Greenberg in creating stunningly beautiful visual poetry. I must commend Johns Hopkins University Press for publishing this beautiful tome of black and white photographs and keeping it in print. I eagerly look forward to seeing Greenberg's next book, which I think may be on a recent project documenting New York City's water supply system. He is surely one of the most distinguished photographers ever to have graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School.

I have an obsession with abandoned buildings. They are a place I know I can go to be alone because no one visits them anymore but the spirits of those who brought life to the buildings as more than just concrete and steel still linger.

It gives one a time to reflect on the temporality of our lives and the finiteness not only of our beings, but of our dreams and visions. It gives us pause to reflect on what is important and profound about life.

When we are in these places we are really inside of parts of ourselves we don't recognize.

This book lived up to my expectations with it's beautiful photographs, insightful comments about each location photographed and rich, deep printing. A great book for anyone interested in wonderful black and white location photography, or in learning more about New York City and its' surroundings.

Invisible New York is one of the three or four most treasured books in my library. Greenberg's black and white photography is beautiful and lush. To me, the book's one shortcoming is that it's not longer! Greenberg has a sharp eye for reading and presenting spaces. A treat for all of us who wonder what lives down there under the manhole cover or over there behind that fence.

Watkin knows his stuff. But I don't so I bought this book which didn't clear things up as much as I hoped. There are far too many details, not a sense of narrative through history. Then there are far too few photos of things he expose's so that I have to guess what he means. And no maps. My geographic knowledge is not that good. I think it could be improved by streamlining, photos near the text which refers to them, and a map at the start of each section. But his prose is beautiful sometimes.

First time I read D. Watkin's book almost 10 years ago. Basically, it is a comprehensive and detailed throughout. However, I was struck by one 'little' improper detail - instead of the picture of Haja Sophia (St. Sophia Cathedral) in Kiev built in 11 cent. I found a picture of a Neo-Byzantine style church which dates to the beginning of the 20 cent. I'm just curious is it that difficult for a recognized art historian to tell the difference? Or it's just a matter of 'neglegence'? In 1996 I wrote a letter to the Publishing house and recieved a nice answer saying that in the case of the third print they would definitely check and replace the picture with the proper one. No changes so far.

This is the fourth edition of this monumental book. This edition has been expanded to include additional coverage of Egyptian and Mesopotamian architecture at the early end, and the coverage of the architecture of the twentieth century has been greatly expanded. There is also expanded coverage of the architecture from Asia, particular that of Japan.

The book now has 50 color and 931 black and white photographs. Most of these are from Europe, but the rest of the world does have some coverage.

The increased size and scope of the book now presents a continuous coverage of the evolution of architecture from the earliest building, about 5000 B.C. to buildings constructed in the twenty first century. It is the most complete single volume history of architecture available and it's new edition is greatly improved.

The author, David Watkin is Professor of the History of Architecture at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Watkin and his publishers would have done better to have deleted virtually all of the text from this tome, leaving more room for the most successful part of the book, its photographs. While the bleeding of the images helps make the format seem more up-to-date, this book remains hopelessly out-of-date, the inclusion of Frank O. Ghery's Bilbao Museum and I. M. Pei's glowing pyramid on the cover notwithstanding. The gaps in this book are egregious as are the waxing and waning from over- to under-statement. While the color images are lovely, many of the black & white images of pre-20th century works seem as if they were taken from a photocopy.

Dr. Watkins' propensity to treat "the New World" as a lost appendage of the British Empire colors the latter chapters in particular. The influence, for example, of "The Chicago School" barely registers within his stylometric system. As is often the case with survey books, in the end it seems quite a lot about all too little.

Suprisingly the book begins with Ancient Rome, leaving the Caves, Stonehenge, and Egypt out, but as a result has more time to explore Western Architecture in greater depth for a Survey Book. The photographs are excellent, with many in color.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hover magically over a coffee table while watching your husband sprinkle plant food on your neighbor's dandelions? This is the amazing book that will no doubt show you how.

If you like Italian architecture, then you will surely enjoy this book.
The book contains many illustrations with complete descriptions. Honestly, if you like italian villas, this book is certainly a must for your private library.

This is a very informative and interesting book. The pictures though well executed are not as vivid as I expected, I don't know if it's because of the paper used or the exposer, they just don't pop vividly off the page like you often see in books of this price but they are well done and are clear. Having said that the villas covered are great and the picture ARE well executed, all the major areas of Italy are covered and the villas chosen are the best. I really did like this book, it's just that I have owned such fine books, I expect alot, but I do highly recomment the book to anyone interested the subject, it is a fine book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you dream your swimming pool as a mediterranean paradise, well, this is the book to look for. Exquisite pictures expose exotic pools accompanied by dramatic views on mediterranean coasts. The author provides brief explanations on materials, landscapes and, best of all, square footage, which I find very helpful. I personally was hoping for tropical themes and landscapes, and even "smaller" pools in "smaller" patios/backyards. So, most of the scenes exposed in this book do not apply to my particular situation. However, if I was to mimic a mediterranean look for my pool or patio, I'd find this book quite inspirational.

Thank You.

This book was full of wonderful scenery but it was not helpful in providing ideas about how to landscape an exsisting site. This was more an armchair travel book, not helpful in designing our own space.

Since 1968 Marcus Binney and photographer Alex Starkey have been producing regular articles on the country houses and places and stately homes of Europe and the UK for Country Life magazine. This book describes the challenges of photographing these houses, both in Black and White and colour. Photos that you take for granted have a lot more art and skill involved in producing them than is readily apparent - especially if you haven't tried to take these sort of photos yourself. ( I have, and they never look as good as what you see in this book)

This is a wonderful book and covers 25 houses. The photos are a mixture of black and white and colour. All pictures are beautiful and sharp and printed on high quality glossy art paper. The houses range from Castello di Guarene in Piedmont, Palazzo Albrizzi in Venice, Schloss Bruhl in Cologne, Chateau de Bussy-Rabutin in Burgundy, Hotel de Lauzun in Paris and Skoloster in Sweden as just an example of a few.

Some of the houses/castles covered in this book only have a few photos, while others are up to 4 or 5 pages long. Sometimes you wish for colour pictures, but not all these photos were originally taken with colour film, and even when printed in black and white all these pictures are of excellent quality. The text for each house gives you some of the background history of it, but unfortunately doesn't tell you if the house is open to the public today - or even still intact with its contents (some of these photos are decades old)

Country Life magazine today continues its regular articles on the Country Houses of both the UK and Europe, and it is lovely to see the best of their archives being printed in these books. The great Country Houses of Europe are one of the great wonders of the world and usually represent some to the best of preserved artistic endeavour over the centuries if you take your time to search them out. This book stands out from the crowd for the unusual range of houses covered and as a snapshot of some of the more outstanding examples.