Product Description

Many people think modernist architecture never flowered in California north of the San Fernando Valley. NorCalMod dispels that notion in a copiously illustrated history showcasing extraordinary examples of its proud contribution to the Bay Area and environs. As a style, modernist architecture was hotly debated in its day (why create modern structures where such distinctive Victorian and Arts and Crafts buildings already existed?) pulling heavyweights such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Lewis Mumford, and Walter Gropius into the fray. Ultimately, that existing "Bay Region Style" would remain the area's architectural hallmark, but not before hundreds of important modernist projects, many still standing yet unjustly neglected today, had been established. The remarkable photos in this book open our eyes to a long-lost chapter in the history of California architecture and make NorCalMod a volume to be enjoyed by those interested in California history and style as well as by architecture students and professionals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131550 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

About the Author
Pierluigi Serraino is an architect, theorist, and writer. Trained in Rome and California, he is the author of several books, including Modernism Rediscovered. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Customer Reviews

Of both particular and general value; a fine piece of work.
This is an accessible, well-written and thoughtful book; a rarity in current architectural discourse.
Furthermore, it is handsomely designed and illustrated with beautiful archival photography.
Though it focuses on the seemingly narrow topic of the neglected/suppressed history of modern architecture in Northern California, its value is much broader.
More generally, it provides lucid insights into the mechanisms of architectural history and, by extension, the very nature by which we come to understand and appreciate our built environment in the present age.

Great, Important Work
This underappreciated topic finally gets the attention it deserves. Great photos, interviews, etc which are obviously the result of extensive research. Color photos would have been nice.

Gorgeous photography, great modernist examples
This is a gorgeous book filled with beautiful, precise black & white photos of great examples of modern architecture. Not all the photos are b&w, but the majority are, and their meticulous use of light to capture the essence of these pieces is just as much the point of the book as the modernist evolution in the northern half of California.

The balance of text & photos is good for an architecture book, with the text being more contextual, and less academic than a lot of architecture books which can end up with text that is too dry. There is also a good balance of residential vs. commercial architecture, with an emphasis on the former.