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Guide to Contemporary Architecture in America: Volume 1,
Western U.S.A.,
by Masayuki Fuchigami.
Coming after the author's three-volume
guide to contemporary architecture in Europe, this first
of three for the United States tackles these western states
in three separate sections: California and Hawaii; Washington,
Oregon, and Nevada; Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah,
and Wyoming. Given the wide expanses and few metropolises,
California makes up a great deal of the book, the Los Angeles
area in particular comprising a good chunk. Using LA as
an example, the selections included in this travel guide
are a mix of the obvious (Gehry's Disney Concert Hall) and
the lesser-known (Hodgett + Fung's Sinclaire Pavilion).
While admittedly focusing on the contemporary, the guide
does not omit Modern gems of the early to mid 20th-century.
In some ways, these buildings might be the ones to search
out, as they have stood the test of time that more recent
architecture has yet to engage in. Fuchigami doesn't prefer
any one style over another, as he enthusiastically praises
alternately Louis I. Kahn's meditative Salk Institute and
Venturi and Brown's "decorated sheds" on UCLA's
campus. As a travel guide, it excels in presentation and
the range of buildings presented, though many of the maps
are not detailed enough to make up for the lack of directions,
an omission perhaps due to the popularity of online map
searches. Whatever its shortcomings, I'm looking forward
to the next two volumes.
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