Art Architecture Photography Books

Ultimately, Viewing Olmsted is a savvy and thought-provoking, yet diminutive picture book. The collaboration of three brilliant photographers under the sponsorship of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, it guides the reader down three highly personal, present day tours of legendary parks designed by Olmsted, the patron saint of American landscape architecture. Happily, though, its readers are left to intellectually fend for themselves as to meanings or implications of Frederick Olmsted's work, genius, and lasting influence as the man who designed such famous spaces as Central Park. Academics and artists will appreciate the fresh visual perspectives offered on the man's legacy, the sometimes soothing, sometimes haunting nature-by-design retreats for the urban soul. Those with more than a passing interest in the ways in which man interacts with his `natural' surroundings will appreciate vistas evocative of place rather than time. To the authors' credit, the book raises more questions than it answers, and is of a scale to fit neatly into a travel case. Far from definitive, the book is, nevertheless, a must have for architects, landscape architects, photographers, and Olmsted aficionados.

Over 150 architectural masterpieces and architects are featured in Architecture: The Critics' Choice, a title which covers periods from antiquity through the Renaissance and postmodern times. Full-page color photos of architectural creations accompany descriptions of the architect's work and intentions and short historical overviews of the meaning of the structure in architectural and world history.

Dan Cruickshank's editing endeavor, Architecture, The Critics Choice, is in many ways like the architecture featured inside. The book consists of ten chapters, each by a different author and dedicated to a different time period in architecture. The job of the author is to present the fifteen best or most representative buildings of that time and to describe in a rather small space what is special about those buildings. The book has many success, including fine photography and an excellent overall sturcture. The time periods proceed chronologically, and the tendency of the authors to choose buildings at the end of one chapter that seem to almost belong in the time of the beginning of the next chapter creates an excellent transitions for the work. The photography is completely professional and is much richer than one is likely to find in other books, where financial resources might not have been as grand. There are also many fine chapters, including the one on the Renaissance and Palladianism in which everything about the style of writing and order of the building choices describe Renaissance architecture as much as the author's words themselves. Architecture, The Critics Choice, however, also has several weaknesses which will disappoint the knowledgeable reader, and perhaps confuse the unknowledgeable one. Just as some of the chapters feature fine writing and organization, in others those elements contribute nothing to one's understanding of the period. Also, given such a minimal space to write in (500 words) about buildings considered so great, one may be able to survey a greater number of buildings within the book, but one also cannot feature the important details that need to be brought to light. An example of this is the cursory manner in which the Romanesque and Gothic styles were distinguished. Finally, each building features only one shot, and the shot was not actually chosen by the chapter's author, creating some inconsistencies in the photography, and often leaving one to rely on the author's breif description to envision these masterpieces. Architecture, The Critics Choice, while rife with the problems of having such a piecemeal construction, should still be considered a success as an architectural book, and a pleasure to read. Overall the chapters flow very nicely, like a piece of good architecture, the book has a good structure, well defined by its contents, and has plenty of decoration in finely written passages and great photography. The only fault is that there were limitations within the material. My only regret is that the editor didn't take these limitations and use them to create something better, like the great architects inside did.