Review by Choice Review
Architecture critic Filler's collection of reprinted and updated New York Review of Books essays explores the careers of 17 major 20th-century architects. Filler authored an essay in Josef and Anni Albers: Designs for Living (CH, Apr'05, 42-4438) and another in Art + Architecture + Landscape: The Clos Pegase Design Competition (1985). Organized chronologically, his essays are erudite and well researched while remaining concise and readable. Filler assumes some knowledge of the field but thankfully refrains from jargon in his critique of each architect's works and of existing scholarship. His opinions and biases, such as a violent dislike of the Getty complex, Philip Johnson, and anyone who might have collaborated with the Nazis, are clearly presented. Several entries seem to be mislabeled, as they focus more on a specific building or city than on the architect in question. A scant one or two color illustrations per essay is clearly insufficient. Of interest to the general reader as well as practitioners. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; professionals. L. M. Bliss San Diego State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Made up of essays that originally appeared in The New York Review of Books, this work is a wonderful introduction to 20th-century architecture. Filler focuses each chapter on a single architect or firm, discussing their place in the history of architecture as well as some of their most important works. For some architects, particularly those who have become synonymous with high-profile projects-such as Frank Gehry or Richard Meier-Filler uses a single signature building to shed light on the architect by reading its structure and features as representative of their style. For others-such as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright-design philosophy is his focus: Filler demonstrates how their aesthetic vision shaped everything they created, from furniture and fixtures to residences and office buildings. The result is magnificent from start to finish. Filler writes elegant prose that captures the feeling of these buildings in a way that makes the illustrations almost unnecessary. He also discusses architecture in a way that will be both satisfying to specialists or practitioners and accessible to non-specialists. No matter the level of previous experience with architecture, anyone with an interest in the subject will find Filler?s work rewarding. (July) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Review by Library Journal Review
Most of these 17 short essays by Filler (architecture critic, House & Garden) originally appeared in the New York Review of Books; some have been expanded and updated. They touch on aspects of the work and lives of 20-plus giants of modern architecture (e.g., Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier) as well as contemporary practitioners (e.g., Frank Gehry, Richard Meier). For the contemporary architects, Filler shares his personal tastes. But his dislike of, e.g., Renzo Piano's redesign of the Morgan Library in New York may not be shared by the public, and he doesn't always make a detailed argument as to why such buildings are unsuccessful. While many of the earlier chapters rely heavily on long quotations from other authors (the chapter on Louis Sullivan, e.g., uses Robert Twombly's eponymous biography of the American architect to provide insight and analysis), there are no specific citations and no complete bibliography of works cited, appurtenances that would have been useful to serious architecture students. A longer introductory chapter on the nature of modernism and postmodernism in architecture would also have made this a more valuable addition to public library collections of art and architecture. Nevertheless, Filler's engaging observations and insights are worth reading.-Herbert E. Shapiro, Empire State Coll., SUNY Rochester (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
