Reading List
Books worth reading on American architecture, urbanism, and the built environment.
The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment
1969Reyner Banham
The best account of how technology — heating, cooling, lighting — has shaped modern architecture. Banham is always readable and always right.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
1961Jane Jacobs
The foundational text of contemporary urbanism. Still the best argument for why cities need density, mixed uses, and old buildings.
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture
1966Robert Venturi
The book that broke modernism's self-confidence. Venturi's argument for complexity, ambiguity, and the lessons of history is still compelling.
Will They Ever Finish Bruckner Boulevard?
1970Ada Louise Huxtable
Collected criticism from the New York Times. Huxtable is the model for what architectural criticism can be: rigorous, accessible, and genuinely engaged with the city.
Why Architecture Matters
2009Paul Goldberger
A clear, intelligent argument for why architecture is worth caring about. Good for readers coming to the subject for the first time.
City Life
1995Witold Rybczynski
A history of the American city and the forces that have shaped it. Rybczynski is a reliable guide to complex material.
New York Modern: The Arts and the City
1999Donald Albrecht & Thomas Mellins
The best account of mid-century modernism in New York. Useful for understanding the broader context of the Sarasota School.
The International Style
1932Henry-Russell Hitchcock & Philip Johnson
The catalogue for the 1932 MoMA exhibition that introduced European modernism to American audiences. A historical document as much as a critical text.
New York 1960
1995Robert A.M. Stern, Thomas Mellins & David Fishman
A comprehensive survey of New York architecture from 1945 to 1965. Invaluable as a reference for the period when Brutalism was at its peak.
Modern American Houses
1996Clifford Pearson (ed.)
A survey of American residential architecture from 1945 to 1995. Includes several Sarasota School houses.