Recent Reading No. 2
Posted in Reviews on Mon May 14, 07 by Kyle under Books and Architecture.
This should really be titled Recent Reading No 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, et al. because I all I have been doing recently is organizing after having moved to a new apartment, reading books and working, working, working. Hence the cavernous silence on this very site lately. What can I say, books are much easier than the blogosphere to curl up with in bed when you are tired. Anyway, here is a just partial recap of what has been attracting my attention.
New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age by Robert A. M. Stern, et. al. (The Monacelli Press, 1999)
A huge tome, just one volume out of five of the equally huge series released by The Monacelli Press, New York 1880 chronicles the last quarter or so of architectural development in the 19th century on that famous island and its surrounds. Weighing in at 1164 pages the book is not casual reading, but a good many of those pages are filled with wonderful archival pictures for those more inclined to just browse. I have to admit though I have thoroughly perused the pictures, I have just started to actually read this book and have yet to make it above the mid-60s, which in this book is not even close to being midtown. I am hoping it will be a delightful text, and so far it has been.
My one qualm is that starting in 1880 leaves out many of my personal favorite stylistic eras in New York, the Greek Revival, the Italianate, and the Neo-Grec. I’m sure there will be mention of them, but I would love to see an additional separate volume of New York 1840 or New York 1820. Of course I could easily imagine how a lack of photographs, and sheer exhaustion on the part of the authors might hinder that effort. After all, I just saw the recently completed New York 2000 on the new books shelf at my library and it weighs in at 1520 pages…
The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton. (Pantheon, 2006).
I heard a review or feature about this book on NPR several months ago and it sounded interesting, so when I ended up with a gift certificate to a book store, this was the book that ended up coming home with me. I wondered from the cover design and the title if the book would end up in one of those Modern vs. Old, William Morris vs. Mies polemical battles over style, and was pleasantly surprised that it was not. Although the book does touch on what makes both Modern and “traditional” architecture pleasing or displeasing, its not rigid about it which is very refreshing. The book is far more meditative in its call to action than it is agitative. I suggest using this book as a small but deadly weapon against, um, I mean, gift to some of the more noxious property developers out there.
Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by Judith Flanders. (HarperPerennial, 2004)
Just when I thought that I have every decent scholarly book out there on Victorian houses and architecture a gem like this falls into my hands. This book was one of the best inadvertent gifts that I have received in a long time. I loved the premise, a room-by-room tour of a 19th century English upper-middle class terrace house packed with information harvested from letters, diaries, newspapers, and fiction on what day to day life was like in London at the time. Because of the books focus on the home, women’s lives and what family life was like takes up the majority of the book, but it unfortunately does not include much about the ‘masculine’ sphere of the outside working world and non-domestic culture which would be equally interesting to read about.
I wish there was a companion volume that ventured outside into the street and the city to balance it out a little more. Even so, this book is a must read for someone interested in the 19th century, its scholarly depth and detail makes it stand out in great contrast to the majority of coffee table Victorian decorating books that all paraphrase each other. This book is not really about specific aesthetic historic details and styles, though it does cover them in passing. It is more about the day-to-day experience and the social values attached to the home, but Flanders does an excellent job of explaining the conditions and the context of 19th century life to help us understand why the Victorians made aesthetic decisions that they did.