cover image The Oral History of Modern Architecture: Interviews with the Greatest Architects of the Twentieth Century

The Oral History of Modern Architecture: Interviews with the Greatest Architects of the Twentieth Century

John Peter. ABRAMS, $75 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-3669-0

Featuring conversations with some 70 architects, taped mostly between 1953 and 1966, this handsome volume lives up to its title as a comprehensive oral history. Extended interviews with Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson, Eero Saarinen, Oscar Niemeyer, Louis Kahn, Jose Luis Sert and I.M. Pei are prefaced by a medley of voices of 60 architects from around the world. Their articulate talks reflect the international scope of modern architecture and the extent to which many architects were influenced by modernist painting and sculpture. Accompanied by photographs of the architects and their works, these interviews mirror early modernism's social conscience, its conviction that city planning and simplified design could improve the collective well-being. The CD accompanying the volume includes excerpts from interviews with the 10 architects as well as Marcel Breuer, Alvar Aalto, Pier Luigi Nervi, Kenzo Tange, J.J.P. Oud and Richard Neutra. Peter's previous books include Masters of Modern Architecture. Architect's and Designer's Book Service main selection; McGraw-Hill Architect's Book Club alternate. (Dec.)