A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding work on contemporary arcvhitecture!
Review: A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture picks up where every other book I've looked at leaves off. It not only tells about the building styles of the last 50 years, but it also lets you know that contemporary american architecture is defined by much more than style. Rifkind makes a large and complex subject easy to take. I enjoyed reading about shopping malls, public housing, and school and college buildings -- which most books don't touch. I appreciated the many clear and informative photographs. Kudos to the author for making sense and speaking clearly -- the same qualities that I enjoyed in her earlier book on historic buildings, A Field Guide to American Architecture.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating architectural and cultural history
Review: A really nicely written survey of building forms and their uses. This book is a sequel to the author's earlier book, A Field Guide to American Architecture, which I also really liked. This book is better because it presents a more sophisticated view of the cultural landscape. Excellent photos and excellent choice of buildings--some familiar and many brand new to me. Overall, a great resource and guide.

Rating:
Summary: Poor illustrations
Review: I don't know what book the other reviewers saw, but the copy I have has illustrations that rank with those in high school texts of the 60s. All black-and-white, or rather darkish gray and white, no snap, very bland, on low quality (for reproduction) paper. An office inkjet printer could do much better. With the importance of color in contemporary architecture this is ridiculous (especially for the price). I think that books on visual matters should look good themselves --- otherwise, how do we get excited? How do we begin to want to read it?