San Antonio College Library

"The texts were written by a single person (complemented by a report from an inhabitant); the photographs, reproduced in duotone, all come from the same lens using an approach repeated again and again. Both attempt to show the objective state of affairs of Mies van der Rohe's solitary buildings with carefully collected and organized materials. An inner confrontation over decades opened up access to Mies' oeuvre for Werner Blaser, and thus, to this...

"Over the last seventy years, the firm Hedrich Blessing has raised the commercial and documentary nature of architectural photography to a high art. Building Images: Seventy Years of Photography at Hedrich Blessing chronicles the history of this landmark firm through over 160 fantastic images from its photographers. With the mantra "Don't make photographs, think them," the studio has been responsible for revolutionizing the way in which buildings...

This text collects the best of architecture critic Blair Kamin's columns. Using Chicago as a barometer of national design trends, the book sheds light on the state of American architecture during 'the Nervous Nineties'.

In 1871 a huge fire ravaged Chicago. It was a unique opportunity for a generation of young American architects to break away from European forms and think up the new shapes of a typically American style of architecture. The Chicago Auditorium Building (1887-1889) is considered as the main work of Adler & Sullivan. It is a mixed program which houses a monumental auditorium with excellent acoustics, offices and a hotel facing the lake. At the time,...

"Frank Lloyd Wright firmly believed that "life could be formed anew if new form could be brought to its setting, architecture." His revolt against customary architectural design was shared by rugged individualist Fred C. Robie, who chose Wright to build his dream house in 1908. In this painstakingly researched and illuminating account of the design and construction of the Robie home, a noted architectural authority presents an in-depth study remarkable...

In 1893, the 27.5 million visitors to the Chicago World's Fair feasted their eyes on the impressive architecture of the White City, lit at night by thousands of electric lights. In addition to marveling at the revolutionary exhibits, visitors discovered something else: beyond the fair lay a modern metropolis that rivaled the world's greatest cities. The Columbian Exposition marked Chicago's arrival on the world stage, but even without the splendor...