A History of American Architecture: Buildings in Their Cultural and Technological Context
Gelernter (Univ. of Colorado, Denver) adds to the constellation of concise histories of American architecture while trying to refrain "from a traditional form of architectural writing that stressed connoisseurship." He is more successful with cultural than technological context. Throughout, he stresses European precedents, though the illustrations are not always well placed for optimal comparison. There are several refreshing and original inclusions of more vernacular examples as illustrations of the broad influence of styles. But despite Gelernter's argument in their favor, his illustrations are perhaps the book's greatest liability. Sometimes, as with the Monadnock Building, the author overlooks the key technological significance of the building. Although his summaries are at times substantive, Gelernter's expression of them can be less than elegant. His work does not eclipse the central position of Leland Roth's A Concise History of American Architecture (1979) or Vincent Scully's American Architecture and Urbanism (1969), both of which exhibit more polished writing, more thorough analysis, and more expansive thinking.APaul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.