The Architecture of New York City: Histories and Views of Important Structures, Sites, and Symbols, Revised Edition

Rating:
Summary: A good book for a visitor to NYC
Review: I bought this book a few days before my first visit to New York City. However, just reading very first part of this book gave me good knowledge of both history and architectures of NYC.

This book starts with the born of New York City in 17th century, and covers many famous (and not so famous) architectures with about 200 photos taken by the author. It covers Georgian influence of 18th Century, Greek revival of 19th century, the Chicago school...etc. The Art Deco Skyscrapers, such as the Empire State building and the Chrysler building are well described. A whole chapter is devoted to Rockefeller Center. The history of MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) is interesting...

For me, this book seems to have some small shortcomings. This book lacks "up to date" information. (This revised edition was first published in 1994.) Also, as a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, I hope Guggenheim Museum have been covered more.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: This is a wonderful book that extensively covers the architecture of buildings in New York, from past to present. Full of interesting background information. I can recommend this book to anyone that is interested in New York architecture. Unfortunately, photographs are kept to an essential minimum. Other than that, it was everyting I hoped for.