Sullivan's City: The Meaning of Ornament for Louis Sullivan Review

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Sullivan's City: The Meaning of Ornament for Louis Sullivan ReviewThis book does a good job of covering Louis Sullivan's career as an ornamental architect. The photographs are very clear and detailed; many are in color. If you have studied Frank Furness, you will see his influence on Louis Sullivan's work. If you have studied Frank Lloyd Wright, you will see Louis Sullivan's influence on FLW. Contrary to the author's opinion, if you have studied classical architecture or the Beaux-Arts you will recognize the influence on Louis Sullivan in spite of his contemporary application of classical architecture principles. I must admit though I loved this book, there were several moments where I could not follow the author's theories associated with Louis Sullivan's architecture or ornamentation; it gets complicated. I have always wondered why Louis Sullivan ran out of work after building masterpiece skyscrapers. The author's explanation is that his partner Alder and FLW left the firm. That doesn't make sense to me. A more plausible explanation would be that ornamentation of a Sullivan scale on skyscrapers is simply too expensive; which is why the International style as hideous as it was and is became so successful. It was cost effective. FLW himself had to abandon the Prairie style because of this; thus Falling Water. One thing is for certain, no matter what Sullivan built, except for his houses, his works were and are stunning/enjoyable. Eleven plates of Sullivan's "A System of Architectural Ornament" are included in the last chapter. The work was the last to be completed by Sullivan. These plates show that Sullivan was not only of sound mind at the end of his life but a genius. He is the master of ornamentation.Sullivan's City: The Meaning of Ornament for Louis Sullivan Overview
An interpretive essay about a much-admired genius of American architecture, with an emphasis on the meaning of ornament in his work and life
Among many books about the person and work of Louis Sullivan, this unusual volume explores the idea that Sullivan's ornament became increasingly central to his architectural enterprise as his career unfolded. It holds that he used ornament to articulate the masses of the skyscrapers he built at the peak of his career and to humanize them in an increasingly hostile cityscape. In his impoverished old age, when important commissions no longer came to him, fully developed and exquisite pencil drawings of ornament served as a surrogate for the great projects he was no longer able to carry out. Cervin Robinson's beautiful photographs of Sullivan's work, supplemented by historical photographs of buildings no longer standing and reproductions of plates from Sullivan's crowning achievement, his book of drawings System of Architectural Ornament, illustrate the text by art historian David Van Zanten. Illustrations, photographs, plans

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Historic Preservation and the Livable City Review

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Historic Preservation and the Livable City Review
Everything old is new again. This book tells us why. Not since Jane Jacobs' THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES has a book so clearly drawn out the things that make a city livable. Turns out a lot of it has to do with a sense of time and place.

I learned a lot about myself and where I live (Greenwich Village). Though I guess the target audience is also planners, economic development people, preservationists, housing people, etc. - professionals whose job is making a city work and thrive. But this book is a gift for curious and innocent city dwellers like me who half killed themselves restoring old housing stock because it felt more like a place to live than some modern sheetrock box. Now I understand a lot more about why I did it.

The authors are also out to change opinions. The main argument is that heritage (historic) preservation needs to be integrated into the planning and upkeep of cities as an integral part of creating and maintaining livable environments, not treated as an impediment. Turns out it's actually cheaper in many cases to restore existing sturdy housing stock than to bulldoze it for structural crap. (No wonder luxury Park Avenue housing always advertises itself as "pre-war," code for plaster, not quarter-inch sheetrock.)

The book also provides a library's worth of case studies of cities across the country that have seen the light and renovated and saved their architectural heritage. This annotated catalogue (with a treasure trove of photos) is itself reason enough to include the book in any collection of record. It also convincingly argues for cities to include sustainability and heritage preservation in any comprehensive planning, cutting across all the different agencies involved. Given how historic preservation enriches us all, it should be a starting point, not an afterthought.

This book tells us in detail where we've been. I hope it also tells us where we're going.
Thomas Hoover
www.thomashoover.info
Historic Preservation and the Livable City OverviewFor both the preservation professional and urban planner, this book shows how preservation is a key to the creation of livable cities. The author Eric Allison, the founder and coordinated of the graduate historic preservation program at Pratt Institute in New York City, offers tools and case studies that preservationists and planners can learn from in implementing preservation projects or plans in cities large and small. This book is a must read for anyone working in or interested in these fields and the creation and maintenance of livable cities.

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