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  • Published: 1 November 2013
  • ISBN: 9781590176887
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $79.99

Makers of Modern Architecture, Volume II

From Le Corbusier to Rem Koolhaas



In this much-anticipated  sequel to his critically acclaimed Makers of Modern Architecture (2007)
longtime New York Review of Books contributor Martin Filler—“probably the best all-round architecture critic currently working in the United States,” according to the architectural journalist David Cohn—offers another penetrating series of concise but authoritative studies on leading exponents of the building art from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. Exemplifying his belief that an architect’s personality and character have a direct and profound bearing on this most public and social of art forms, Filler’s lively melding of biographical and aesthetic perspectives gives these accessible yet scrupulously researched interpretations a rare human immediacy.

From profiles of such universally admired masters as Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier to emerging figures including Michael Arad, creator of New York City’s National September 11 Memorial, and the international design collaborative Snøhetta, Filler’s shifting focus remains consistently trained on the enduring values of great architecture. His panoramic vision encompasses the historically inspired Gilded Age urbanism of the celebrated New York bon vivant Stanford White as well as the expressive collages of ancient and modern elements orchestrated by the reclusive Venetian intellectual Carlo Scarpa. The increasing role of women in architecture is given special emphasis in this new collection, from the pioneering work in 1920s Germany of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, inventor of the standardized modern kitchen, to such innovative contemporary practitioners as Elizabeth Diller, Kazuyo Sejima, and Billie Tsien.

  • Published: 1 November 2013
  • ISBN: 9781590176887
  • Imprint: NY Review Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $79.99

About the author

Martin Filler

Martin Filler is the architecture critic of House & Garden and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and The New Republic. He is the co-author, with Olivier Bossi’re, of The Vitra Design Museum: Frank Gehry, Architect.

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Praise for Makers of Modern Architecture, Volume II

Praise for Makers of Modern Architecture, Volume I: There is only one regular critic in the American press who writes consistently well about architecture and whose pieces are a guaranteed pleasure to revisit - or to read for the first time. He is Martin Filler, whose collection of essays is entitled Makers of Modern Architecture...by far the most intelligent and shapely writing on architecture done in recent years. Filler’s opinions are direct, subtle, written with clarity and intense feeling, and (not least in importance) clean of hidden interests: in a field often disfigured and muddied by undeclared allegiances, he is a highly trustworthy critic -Robert Hughes, The New York Review of Books This work is a wonderful introduction to 20th-century architecture.... The result is magnificent from start to finish. Filler writes elegant prose that captures the feeling of these buildings in a way that makes illustrations almost unnecessary. He also discusses architecture in a way that will be satisfying both to specialists or practitioners and accessible to nonspecialists. No matter the level of previous experience with architecture, anyone with an interest in the subject will find Filler's work rewarding. -Publishers Weekly Filler's assessments in The New York Review stand apart, eschewing fashion and offering polished, carefully edited and backed-up, though highly personal, assertions.... Filler's razor-sharp mind and sharper tongue set him apart. We gobble up what he thinks, as well as how he serves it up. - Robert Ivy, Architectural Record Martin Filler's book is liberating.... For those seeking a brilliant if potted guide to modern architecture, Filler fits the bill. His book bristles with bracing insights, incisive judgments, and wicked lines.& -Robert Zaretsky, Houston Chronicle Martin Filler is held in high regard by fellow professionals, and his newly published Makers of Modern Architecture justifies that esteem -Franz Schulze, Art in America Martin Filler's writing demonstrates his lucidity and independence of mind.... Filler is an elegant writer, clearly committed to thinking about his subjects, and working hard to engage his audience. He seeks to place architecture in a wider cultural context rather than leave it trapped in the self-regarding discourse of criticism. He is not afraid to express his opinions -Deyan Sudjic, The Architect's Newspaper